The chief minister of an Indian state on Saturday called for evacuation of stranded Sikh families from Afghanistan, following a deadly attack on a temple in Kabul.
“Dear @DrSJaishankar, there are a large number of Sikh families who want to be flown out of Afghanistan. Request you to get them airlifted at the earliest. In this moment of crisis, it’s our bounden duty to help them,” Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh on urged foreign minister S Jaishankar on Twitter.
At least 25 people were killed in the attack on the temple in Shor Bazaar area of Kabul earlier this week. The attack was claimed by Islamic State militant group.
In a previous tweet, Singh urged President Ashraf Ghani to “find out the perpetrators and look after our people.”
Meanwhile, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, an organization in India which is responsible for the management of gurdwaras, on Saturday offered to rehabilitate Afghan Sikhs if they migrate to India and also announced financial aid to the families of those killed and injured.
SGPC president Gobind Singh Longowal said, “Looking at the threat received by Afghan Sikhs, the government of India should make efforts to help them. The Centre should approach the Afghanistan government to ensure their security and bring them to India, where the SGPC will bear the responsibility of their overall settlement”.
He also announced aid of 1 lakh Indian rupees each to families of those killed and 50,000 India rupees each to those injured in the attack.
“The Sikhs in Afghanistan are in grave crisis as they are being targeted repeatedly. The Indian government should take up this matter on the international front,” he added.
