A day after the attack on one of the main gurdwaras in Kabul that killed two people and injured at least three, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) granted emergency visas to 111 Sikhs from Afghanistan,?The Indian Express?reported.
They had applied for the visa in September 2021, but the applications were cleared only after the Islamic State in Khorasan Province (ISKP), a terrorist group, attacked the gurdwara, a member representing the community has reportedly said.
Sources said the decision to grant the e-visas were taken within hours of the attack, which took place on Saturday when 25-30 Afghan Sikhs and Hindus had gathered at Gurdwara Dashmesh Pita Guru Gobind Singh Karte Parwan, the central gurdwara of the Afghan Sikh community in Kabul, for the ¡®Sukhmani Sahib¡¯ or morning prayers. A group of gunmen, believed to be around four in number, stormed the gurdwara and opened fire.
Sources said the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) claimed responsibility for the attack, and that the ISKP said the attack was in response to remarks made against the Prophet by two suspended BJP spokespersons.
The attack has also cast a shadow on the government¡¯s plans to restart at least some of the functions of the Indian embassy in Kabul, such as visas, humanitarian help and trade in some sectors.
Sources said that while the intention to restart some of these services remain, a political call has to be taken.
Earlier this month, when an Indian team went to Kabul after more than nine months following the Taliban¡¯s takeover of Afghanistan, it found that the health and education infrastructure in the?country is crumbling.
It, however, found that the security situation had shown some improvement.
This initial assessment had been shared with the top Indian leadership following the team¡¯s visit.
The team, led by a senior official from the Ministry of External Affairs, had met Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Mottaqi and Taliban¡¯s deputy foreign minister Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai on June 2 and 3.
J P Singh, joint secretary in charge of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran in the MEA, had led the Indian team. In the past, he has met Taliban officials in Doha, Qatar. India closed its mission in Kabul soon after the Taliban entered the city last August.
The Indian team had also visited the Indian embassy premises in Kabul, and found that the premises were ¡°safe and secure¡±. They also visited four projects and programmes which had some Indian role, and that was when it found that the country¡¯s health and education facilities were in dire need of help.