New Delhi: The Government of India has arranged a special chartered flight to bring back stranded Hindus and Sikhs who were stuck in Afghanistan. A total of 110 Hindus and Sikhs will return to New Delhi from Kabul on Friday, 10 December.
Citizens from India and Afghanistan will be onboard the repatriation flight.
The Centre has also arranged to bring back three Shri Guru Granth Sahib from historical Gurudwaras in Afghanistan and Hindu religious scriptures including the likes of the Ramayana, Mahabharata and the Bhagwat Gita.
The Sikh holy book will be sent to Gurudwara Guru Arjan Dev Ji in Mahavir Nagar and the Hindu religious scriptures will be taken to the Asamai Mandir in Faridabad.
Union Minister Hardeep Puri and BJP President JP Nadda will be present at the Airport to receive the holy scriptures.
According to the India World Forum, the Sobdi Foundation will take the noble initiative of rehabilitating the Afghan Nationals.
Last week, the Centre stated in Lok Sabha that the Government has successfully managed to evacuate as many as 565 stranded personnel from war-torn Afghanistan since August. However, the mission has not yet been fully accompanied as there are Indians who are still trapped in Afghanistan.
V Muraleedharan, the MoS External Affairs said that the Ministry of External Affairs is in touch with the stranded Indians and are trying their level best to bring them back to India.
The situation in neighbouring Afghanistan began to go downhill after the Taliban took over the country by force on August 15. Surprisingly, the Afghan National Army (ANA) showed little to no resistance against the insurgents as a result of which some major cities fell without a shot being fired.
Despite the fact that the Taliban announced an amnesty for everyone, many people especially the minority community and the officials of the erstwhile Ashraf Ghani Government were terrified and feared for their lives as a result of which there was widespread chaos across the country and people were desperate to get out of the country.
The Taliban have a notorious reputation for their vengeful action against their adversaries and are definitely not known for sparing their critics.
During their previous rule from 1996-2001, the Taliban brutally oppressed the minority communities like the Hazaras and the Tajiks residing in Afghanistan. They also did not spare religious structures. The most prominent one is the blowing up of the Bamiyan Buddhas which dated back to the 5th century AD and were once believed to be the tallest standing Buddhas in the world.
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