Skip to main content
Latest news
Thumbnail

Indian Embassy: Visas Provided for Afghan Sikhs

The Indian embassy in Kabul said Sunday that Afghan Sikhs and Hindus have been helped by the Indian government to get visas for India.

“Travel of some members of the Hindu and Sikh Community, interested in moving to India, was...facilitated,” the embassy tweeted, along with a notice that the "eighth batch" of stranded Indians had left Kabul for Delhi.

The Afghan Sikhs received the visas from the Indian embassy in Kabul on Saturday, according to media source Indian Express.

This comes after an attack in March on a Sikh place of worship in Kabul in which 25 people were killed and more than eight others were wounded. 

The Indian Express quoted Chhabol Singh, a community leader in Kabul, saying that those who received visas included Nidan Singh Sachdeva, who was abducted from a gurdwara in Paktia province last month and then released, and a teenage girl who was recently rescued from an alleged attempt at forced conversion and marriage. 

Nidan Singh was kidnapped in Paktia province during June and was released from captivity by the cooperation of the Afghan security forces and with the mediation of tribal elders. 

According to Chhabol Singh the embassy granted them six month visas. 

The report says that they reached New Delhi on Sunday. 

An investigation by TOLOnews in June 2016 found that the Sikh and Hindu population numbered 220,000 in the  1980s. 

That number dropped sharply to 15,000 when the mujahideen was in power during the 1990's and remained at that level during the Taliban regime. It is now estimated that only 1,350 Hindus and Sikhs remain in the country.

Indian Embassy: Visas Provided for Afghan Sikhs

The 11 Sikhs reached New Delhi on Sunday, according to Indian media reports.

Thumbnail

The Indian embassy in Kabul said Sunday that Afghan Sikhs and Hindus have been helped by the Indian government to get visas for India.

“Travel of some members of the Hindu and Sikh Community, interested in moving to India, was...facilitated,” the embassy tweeted, along with a notice that the "eighth batch" of stranded Indians had left Kabul for Delhi.

The Afghan Sikhs received the visas from the Indian embassy in Kabul on Saturday, according to media source Indian Express.

This comes after an attack in March on a Sikh place of worship in Kabul in which 25 people were killed and more than eight others were wounded. 

The Indian Express quoted Chhabol Singh, a community leader in Kabul, saying that those who received visas included Nidan Singh Sachdeva, who was abducted from a gurdwara in Paktia province last month and then released, and a teenage girl who was recently rescued from an alleged attempt at forced conversion and marriage. 

Nidan Singh was kidnapped in Paktia province during June and was released from captivity by the cooperation of the Afghan security forces and with the mediation of tribal elders. 

According to Chhabol Singh the embassy granted them six month visas. 

The report says that they reached New Delhi on Sunday. 

An investigation by TOLOnews in June 2016 found that the Sikh and Hindu population numbered 220,000 in the  1980s. 

That number dropped sharply to 15,000 when the mujahideen was in power during the 1990's and remained at that level during the Taliban regime. It is now estimated that only 1,350 Hindus and Sikhs remain in the country.

Share this post