A day after heavily armed fighters claiming to be from a special unit of Taliban forcibly entered Gurdwara Dashmesh Pita in Kabul and intimidated the members of the Sikh community, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) chief Sukhbir Singh Badal said that the Union government should take this matter to the international forum.
Talking to the reporters, Badal condemned the incident and said that Sikhs and other religious minorities are being attacked in Afghanistan.
On Taliban seeking recognition, he said that a State where the minority is not safe should not be recognised.
International pressure should be created on them, he added.
On Friday, Puneet Singh Chandhok, President of the Indian World Forum said he had received distressed calls from the Sikh community in Kabul.
He said that around 2 pm heavily armed men entered the Gurdwara Dashmesh Pita, intimidated the community present inside the gurdwara and abused the sanctity of the holy place.
“They are not only raiding the gurdwara but also the entire premises of the community school attached next to the gurdwara,” he had said.
When private security guards of the gurdwara prevented them from entering they were also threatened with dire consequences and also manhandled.
He also claimed that the group raided the erstwhile residence and office of former MP Narinder Singh Khalsa located near the gurdwara.
Urging the Indian government to immediately raise the concerns of the Hindu and Sikh communities living in Afghanistan with its counterparts at the highest level, Chandhok said that the incumbent regime in Afghanistan should ensure compliance with the UN Charter and the well-being of minorities living there.
Earlier this month, Gurdwara Karte Parwan in Kabul was vandalised by Taliban fighters after which Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi had said that the incident had raised concerns not just for India but for the world.
Minorities in Afghanistan have been at the receiving end ever since the Taliban stormed to power.
Yesterday, 47 people died after Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K) carried out a suicide attack in a Shite mosque in Kandahar.
