In the aftermath of a terror attack on a Kabul gurudwara, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has granted e-visas to over 100 Sikhs and Hindus in Afghanistan on priority, news agency ANI reported. The Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) had condemned the terror attack, and urged the Centre to take up the issue in the United Nations General Assembly. A delegation of DSGMC under the leadership of president Harmeet Singh Kalka also met Union Minister of State Jitendra Singh and apprised him about the current situation at Gurdwara Karte Parwan. Kalka said they have urged the Indian government to help the Afghan Sikhs who wish to come to India.
Addressing a press conference here, DSGMC president Harmeet Singh Kalka and General Secretary Jagdeep Singh Kahlon said it is highly condemnable that terrorists targeted the gurdwara, killed its guard and injured many pilgrims. Noting that such incidents are repeatedly happening in Afghanistan and Pakistan in which minority communities are being targeted and their holy shrines are being wiped out, they said it is a "clear violation" of human rights of the minority communities in these countries.
Several blasts tore through a gurdwara in Kabul on Saturday, while Afghan security personnel thwarted a bigger tragedy by stopping an explosive-laden vehicle from reaching the place of worship of the minority community in the war-torn country.
In the latest targeted assault on a place of worship of the Sikh community in Afghanistan, Gurdwara Karte Parwan in Kabul's Bagh-e Bala neighbourhood was attacked early Saturday morning and a gun battle lasting several hours between the terrorists and Taliban fighters ensued, said Abdul Nafi Takor, a spokesperson for the interior ministry.
