"Wahe Guru ji ka Khalsa, Wahe Guru ki Fateh," the room gets filled with the words chanted in chorus in response to Chhabol Singh’s greetings to everyone seated in the administration room of Guru Arjan Dev Gurudwara at Tilak Nagar in Delhi.
Partap Singh, the president of Guru Arjan Dev Gurdwara, carefully reviewed the documents while listening to the grievances of the Sikhs who had recently been evacuated from Afghanistan after two persons died in a terror attack on Gurdwara Dashmesh Pita Guru Gobind Singh Karte Parwan in Kabul on June 18.
In between all of this, the kahwah, a traditional preparation of green tea widely consumed in India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran served in the room with bakery biscuits. “Lelo putar, ye bohut phaydemande hoti hai (Have this, son. It’s very good for your health),” Partap forced us.
Forty-year-old Ragubir Singh was one of the 11 Afghan Sikhs, who was evacuated from the Taliban-ruled Kabul on June 30. Raghubir displayed the black scar that he sustained while saving himself during the attack on the Gurudwara. "Around six in the morning on that day, I went to the Gurdwara Karte Parwan to pray. More individuals were starting to congregate for prayer at the location. I overheard the hubbub of the incident as I was speaking to my friend. I saw there was an attack in progress right away, so I jumped from the gurudwara’s first floor."
After the incident, my family was concerned for my safety. Later, the President of the Gurdwara reassured them that I am still alive and in good health. In 2009, Raghubir shifted his family to Tilak Nagar, Delhi for a better future. Raghubir has the responsibility for five family members including his three kids, mother and wife.
Raghubir used to run a grocery shop at Kabul since 1998, he said his earnings from the grocery shop was decent enough to fulfil the needs of his family. However, he must now relinquish what he himself built and rely on the gurdwara for both food and financial support. "For the past two months, I have been unable to pay my room rent. My two sons are forced to forgo their studies during the Corona time, while a girl is able to attend a local school with the help of a gurdwara," said Ragubir, while hoping that his fate would change soon as he observes the lines on his palm.
Sikhism in Afghanistan – which has been in practice for more than five hundred years – has grown vulnerable due to ongoing conflict, poverty and intolerance. The Sikh population, which was in the thousands in the 1970s, has now been reduced to just a few hundred people. Sikhs and Hindus have traditionally lived as traders and merchants. They were well-known lenders in the Afghan financial system.
After the Taliban returned to power, the situation turned more hostile for the Sikhs living in Kabul and Jalalabad provinces. Multiple attacks on the religious places of Hindus and Sikhs were reported in Afghanistan forcing them to flee to other countries, mostly to India.
Gurinder Singh, 38, who escaped a blast by jumping from the second floor of a Gurdwara, now resides in a small house in Mahavir Nagar with his wife, Harshdeep Kaur and two children. Back in Kabul, Singh used to own a modest spice shop that provided for his family, but since he arrived in India, things have got worse for them financially.
According to Partap Singh, more than 30 families consisting of 125 members have been evacuated safely from Afghanistan after the Taliban conquered the Country. He said there are still more than hundreds of ‘Sikh brothers’, residing in Afghanistan who will soon be evacuated safely with the help of the Indian government.
Partap said if the Indian government will pace up the work to give emergency e-visas to the people who are stuck, then these procedures would be done earlier. Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, the apex religious body of the Sikhs, has facilitated the accommodation and flight expenditure of the evacuees along with the India World Forum and the government.
Partap says the cost of a flight from Kabul to Delhi, which was previously Rs 10,000, has increased to Rs 25,000. “Many NGOs and Gurdwaras assisted these Sikh families that were evacuated from Afghanistan as part of the “My family” initiative. In accordance with this programme, we offer rations, financial help, education for children, medical assistance and any other necessary assistance,” said Partap, president of Guru Arjan Dev Gurdwara and Afghan Sikh Community leader.
“When they returned from Kabul, we gave them shelter at our Gurdwara, though most of them shifted with their families. But employment is a key problem for all of them,” said Partap. Most of these people have no documents from India and they are also not used to the working environment of the area. So they are facing double challenges getting a job and getting a secure job, said Partap while sipping kahwah. He added, “A delegation of our leaders also met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri regarding the problems. But we did not receive any response from the government either.”
Most of the Afghan Sikhs move to the Guru Arjan Dev gurdwara in Delhi, which has a historical connection to the Afghani Sikhs. The gurdwara possesses copies of the Guru Granth Sahib that Sikhs from Afghanistan brought when they faced persecution.
Of the 15,000 Afghan Sikhs who are thought to reside in Delhi, 90 per cent are thought to reside in the west of the city in places like Shiv Nagar, Ashok Nagar, Fateh Nagar and Tilak Nagar. Older Afghan Sikhs can be heard conversing with one another in a mixture of Pashto and Punjabi.
Gurinder Singh, 38
“On the day of the attack, I was relaxing with my friend in a chamber situated in the basement of the Gurdwara, when suddenly, we heard loud gunshots and explosions. I sought refuge in a nearby elementary school till the gunfire subsided. When I arrived back at the Gurdwara, the Taliban instructed me to wait while they searched the wrecked area for bodies and terrorists. I was quite anxious and startled after the blast, but my native Muslim friends were gracious enough to let me stay at their home till the day of my flight to India. I have two kids who are enrolled in a Gurdwara-funded government school but besides that we have a dire financial condition as I am unemployed due to my lack of education”
(Gurinder owned a spice shop in Kabul)
Sukhbir Singh, 50
“I have dedicated my entire life working as a sewadar at a Gurudwara in Jalalabad, however in 2021, when the Taliban began capturing cities, I had initially fled to Kabul out of terror. Nonetheless, in August 2021, when Kabul was finally captured, I decided to go back to Jalalabad. On the day of the Kabul Gurdwara bombing, I was heading with 30 fellow sewadars from Jalalabad to Kabul. Fortunately, our driver was running behind schedule, so we arrived later than expected. Thus, we avoided the explosion, but this was simply our fate. I am grateful that the Indian government has issued me a six-month visa, but life here has been difficult. Thankfully, my sister was married in Delhi in 2004; as a result, I currently have a roof over my head. But I cannot stay with her indefinitely. I’m hoping to find a job shortly”.
(Sukhbir worked as a sewadar in a Jalalabad gurdwara)
Kundan Singh, 25
“My wife, our 11-month-old daughter, and I travelled to India for the first time on July 14, 2022. Fortunately, on the day of the Gurudwara blast, I was at home with my family, and we were all unharmed. Nevertheless, hostility against our Afghan Sikh community has reached an all-time high since the Taliban took over. There was an alarming feeling of apprehension throughout the extremely difficult month that followed the blast in Kabul. No refugee or asylum status has been awarded to my family; we have just been given a 6-month visa. My daughter, who is eleven months old, has had serious health concerns, and life has been particularly difficult. In Mahavir Nagar, my family and I have rented a modest room, but because I am unemployed, I am unable to make the rent payments, and the debt is mounting. I beg the Indian government to assist us”.
(Kundan used to own a small cloth shop in Kabul)