3 Sikh scriptures, 75 people being flown in from Kabul
SHAHJAHANPUR (UP), Aug 23:
Jeet Bahadur Thapa shudders to recall how he and other Indians thought they might be killed by the Taliban gunmen any moment after they were made to sit on ground in an open area at Kabul airport for five hours by the militia before they could leave for India.
Thapa, 30, a native of Chinore village here, was working as a supervisor in a consultancy company in Afghanistan for two and a half years and was among those evacuated after the Taliban took over Kabul.
As many as 118 people from India worked in the company and all of them started on foot for the Denmark embassy, which was 30 km away, hoping that they will get a safe passage to India.
“There was the fear of the Taliban. Some robbers stopped us and robbed us of about Rs one lakh and all the other belongings.
“Some Taliban members accosted us shortly before we arrived at the embassy and asked if we were Hindus. They let us go after we introduced ourselves as Indian citizens,” Thapa said.
When the Indians told them that they were robbed, the Taliban members claimed that local criminals might be involved and that the Taliban were not involved in such activities, according to Thapa.
“Many people were injured after walking for so long in the dark,” he said.
August 18, they reached the airport area in Kabul where lakhs of people had gathered in a desperate bid to escape from the country. They spent three days there with barely any food.
“The Taliban gunmen present there made all the Indians sit on the ground in an open space for about five hours. We sat silently in fear that the Taliban who had modern weapons might kill us,” he said.
“When an Army plane arrived, we all left for Delhi on August 22 morning,” he said.
Thapa said there is an undeclared curfew in Afghanistan.
“All companies and offices are closed. No one is leaving their house… Women and children in Afghanistan are very afraid and that’s why no women are seen on the roads,” he said.
Replying to a question, he said he did not see the Taliban committing atrocities on women but people fear them due to their past actions.
“The Taliban are on the streets due to which there is an atmosphere of fear. The Taliban are constantly appealing to the people of the country that no person should leave Afghanistan and that that they won’t let anyone cause any trouble,” he said.
The Islamic militia seized control of Kabul on August 15 after taking over almost all key towns and cities, in the backdrop of the withdrawal of the US forces.
Three copies of Sikh scripture Guru Granth Sahib and 75 people, including 46 Afghan Sikhs and Hindus, are being evacuated from war-ravaged Afghanistan on an IAF plane, people coordinating the evacuation efforts with the Indian government said on Monday.
Nearly 200 more Afghan Sikhs and Hindus are still stranded in Afghanistan, said Puneet Singh Chandhok, president of the Indian World Forum, an organisation coordinating the evacuation efforts with the Ministry of External Affairs and the Indian Air Force (IAF).
“These people have taken shelter at the Karte Parwan gurdwara in Kabul, which is close to the airport,” he added.
Announcing the evacuation flight, Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri took to Twitter to say, “Three Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji are being escorted to the IAF aircraft at Kabul Airport. Forty-six Afghan Hindus and Sikhs along with stranded Indian nationals are blessed to return on the same flight.”
“Seventy-five people are on the flight. Three Guru Granth Sahib ji are also being brought to India,” Chandhok said.
Referring to those still stranded in Kabul, he said the 10-kilometre-long drive to the international airport from the Gurdwara Karte Parwan through various checkpoints is one of the biggest challenges in the rescue efforts.
Around 100 more Afghan Sikhs and Hindus are likely to be evacuated in a couple of hours, Chandhok added.
The evacuation of these 46 Afghan Sikhs and Hindus at such a challenging time is a big relief for us, said Manjinder Singh Sirsa, president of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee, which is also coordinating with the Indian government in the evacuation mission.
“US security forces escorted these people to the Kabul airport,” he said.
India on Monday brought back 146 citizens on four different flights from Qatar’s capital Doha, days after they were evacuated from Afghanistan by NATO and American aircraft amid the deteriorating security situation in the war-torn country.
On Sunday, it had evacuated 392 individuals from Kabul on three flights. Among them were 24 Afghan Sikhs, including two Afghan MPs — Narinder Singh Khalsa and Anarkali Kaur Honaryar — and their families.
India is carrying out the evacuation missions in coordination with the US and several other friendly countries. (PTI)
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