Leaving the Homeland to Survive
People who have felt pain, discrimination, violence, and bloody attacks on their skin and bones during historical periods in their own country, Afghanistan. How painful is this violence against a peaceful minority! After the Taliban took control of Afghanistan on August 15, 2021, many Hindu, Sikh citizens, and the last Jewish survivors who lived in Afghanistan left the country. After the deadly attack by the Khorasan branch of the ISIS group on the place of worship of Afghan Sikh and Hindu citizens in the fourth district of Kabul city, the Indian government announced that it would prioritize the issuance process of emergency visas for Sikh and Hindu citizens. After the bone-chilling discrimination against Sikh and Hindu citizens and the bloody attacks forced them to leave their homeland to survive.
The Forced and Unwanted Farewell
So, On Sunday, June 29, the Ministry of Interior Affairs of the India Government announced in a statement that it has decided to prioritize issuing emergency electronic visas for more than 100 Afghan Sikh and Hindu citizens, which will speed up the process of their evacuation from Afghanistan. Out of hundreds of Sikh and Hindu families in Afghanistan, only 20 families are left now, and they have decided to say goodbye to their dear country of Afghanistan forever due to security threats and to save their lives. How sad is the forced and unwanted farewell of the home where they have lived for years.
Under the Shadow of Terror and Dread
Although it is difficult for them to leave the country, they have emphasized many times that they belong to this country and will not leave Afghanistan and love Afghanistan. But now, under the shadow of terror and dread and terrorist attacks in Kabul city and other provinces of Afghanistan and leaving the country, they prefer to escape and save their lives. On Saturday, June 28, armed attackers attacked the Sikh and Hindu temple where about 25 people were worshiping and set their temple on fire. Terrorists have always shown us no mercy under different names. So, this is the common pain of ethnic and religious minorities in Afghanistan, and these crimes against the most peaceful people are undeniable. Human rights organizations should pay serious attention to prevent the wounds of these people from getting deeper and deeper.
Abdul Nafee Takour, the spokesman of the Taliban group, said that a Sikh citizen and a Taliban soldier were killed, and seven others were injured in this attack. But ISIS group has claimed responsibility for this attack. After the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, this country became a graveyard of ethnic and religious minorities. This extremist group considers themselves the only rulers of the truth, and except for their extremist beliefs, they do not show any flexibility towards the ethnicities, religions, and beliefs of other citizens of Afghanistan. Repression, violence, and systematic killings are important components of the Taliban.
The Killing and Systematic Elimination of Minorities in Afghanistan
It is not surprising why all the killings and crimes against human beings in Afghanistan end up in the name of the ISIS group, while the presence of ISIS in Afghanistan is nothing more than media propaganda. So, what are the hands behind the curtain that have been victimizing the people of Afghanistan for three decades, especially religious, ethnic, and racial minorities such as Hazaras, Sikhs, Hindus, and other minorities living in Afghanistan. Why are the self-proclaimed rulers of Afghanistan, from the Republic to the Emirate, not accountable for these crimes, attributing all these killings, attacks, and crimes to different names. In the first days of entering Kabul, the Taliban attacked some places of worship of Hindus and Sikhs, beat the guards, and harassed the citizens. Despotic rulers have attributed the crime to various names for decades, and it has been a kind of plan to kill and eliminate ethnic and religious minorities in Afghanistan systematically.
Zablon Simintov, the Last Jewish Survivor in Kabul
However, the Taliban dismissed the security officers and soldiers assigned to protect Sikh and Hindu places of worship during Afghanistan’s previous and collapsed government. Taliban also removed all the security barriers placed in most of the streets of Kart-e Parwan in Kabul city to protect their living places of Sikhs and Hindus. After the Taliban entered Kabul, some Hindus and Sikhs went to other countries, including India, and others who remained have decided to leave the country after the recent attacks. Zablon Simintov, the last and only remaining Jew in Kabul, also left the country in September 2021. He told the media a few months before the arrival of the Taliban that he would stay in the country, but the arrival of this extremist group also forced him to escape from Afghanistan. Meanwhile, the US State Department had previously announced that the situation of religious freedom in Afghanistan is getting worse.
The Media Under Threats and Censorship
In the recent months, several Afghan Sufi monasteries (mosques) have been attacked in the city of Kabul and Kunduz province in the northeast of Afghanistan, leaving behind a lot of human and financial losses. The Khilafa Sahib Monastery was targeted by an explosive attack on Friday, April 29, at Alauddin Road in the Darulaman district of Kabul. According to eyewitnesses, more than 70 people were killed, and dozens more were injured in this attack. But the domestic media, heavily under threat and censored in favor of the Taliban, reported very few casualties and killed in this attack. While the Taliban always claimed that the rights of ethnic, religious, and minorities would not violate in Afghanistan. In practice, what is seen is contrary to this group’s commitments and is nothing more than a lie. So, this bloody terrorist attack has brought widespread international and domestic reactions.
The Internal and International Reactions
The Office of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has called for an end to attacks on civilians and for protecting Sikhs, Hazaras, and Sufis living in Afghanistan. Richard Bennett, the UN Special Rapporteur on Afghanistan, wrote in a tweet that “stopping the systematic attacks on religious minorities in Afghanistan requires actions including documentation, investigation, and accountability.” Dr. Anarkali Honaryar, the representative of Sikhs and Hindus in the Senate of the former government of Afghanistan, has written in a harsh reaction to this attack Hindus and Sikhs are the main inhabitants of “this land.” Meanwhile, Mrs. Honaryar added, “Hindus and Sikhs of Afghanistan are the main inhabitants of this land.” Therefore, some of our compatriots said it’s because of new relations between Kabul and New Delhi that Hindus and Sikhs are being attacked. I am an Afghan national, and we are Afghans. We are not even allowed to stay in India without a visa. But this is an obvious thing that some of our compatriots tease us for being an Indian in Afghanistan.
The Compatriots Who Are Not with us Anymore
Afghanistan citizens also condemned the attack on the Sikh and Hindu places of worship in Kabul and expressed their regret for their decision to leave the country. It’s a pity that our compatriots are no longer with us and how hard it is to be gone. Many citizens of Afghanistan believe that the “Rainbow Society” of Afghanistan has been a symbol of the country’s beauty. The departure of our Sikh and Hindu compatriots is like a flower that travels from this grass. Alas! Afghanistan will not have its former beauty without these peaceful people. Based on the statistics and statements of Hindus living in Afghanistan during the presidency of Hamid Karzai, about 400 Hindu and Sikh families lived in different cities, including Kabul, Ghazni, and Nangarhar.
After 2018, due to the bloody attacks on religious places and their pilgrimages, most of them fled to other countries, including Canada and India, for security threats. With the Taliban’s control over Afghanistan, ethnic and religious minorities have been more exposed to attacks, massacres, and persecutions than ever before. Even now, a small number of Hindu and Sikh citizens who have remained in Afghanistan will soon say goodbye to their country, Afghanistan. After years of living and tasting the bitter greed of discrimination in schools, cities, and on the roads, they have to leave their country to survive.
Add Comment