Afghan Sikhs, Hindus among 104 airlifted, scriptures brought back

New Delhi, December 10

The government on Friday evacuated 104 persons, comprising 10 Indian nationals and 94 of Afghan Hindu-Sikh minority community, from Kabul in a special charter aircraft.

The flight brought three copies of Guru Granth Sahib and Hindu religious scriptures from ancient places of worship in Afghanistan that are now derelict. Union Minister Hardeep Puri and BJP president JP Nadda led the procession for carrying the birs of Guru Granth Sahib to Gurdwara Guru Arjan Dev Ji, Mahavir Nagar. Hindu religious scriptures, including Ramayana, Mahabharata and Bhagavad Gita, from the fifth century Asamai Mandir in Kabul are being sent to Asamai Mandir in Faridabad.

External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said the flight was arranged under India’s operation Devi Shakti, which was launched to evacuate Indians from Afghanistan after it fell to the Taliban on August 15. The flight is likely to fly back over 90 Afghan nationals stranded in India along with some medical supplies, officials said. The marshalling of people willing to relocate to India was done by Puneet Singh Chandhok, president, Indian World Forum, and the flight was chartered by the Union Government. “It is a matter of pride that the religious texts have been brought along with distressed Afghans, who will be rehabilitated by Sobti Foundation,” said Chandhok.

He said the family of Mahram Ali, a security guard who was killed during a terror attack on Gurdwara Guru Har Rai in Kabul, had also been airlifted. — TNS