Kashmir Sikh Body To Donate Rs 10 Lakh For Repair Of Gurdwara Damaged In Kabul Attack

A Sikh body in Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday announced it will donate Rs 10 lakh for the repair of a gurdwara damaged in a terror attack in Kabul over the weekend, News 18 reported.

Idrees Bukhtiyar

United Kashmiri Sikhs Progressive Forum (UKSPF) Chairman Baldev Singh Raina said, ¡°United Kashmiri Sikh Progressive Forum will give Rs 10 lakh for the repair and renovation of Karte Parwan Gurdwara and we will raise more funds. In these difficult times we want to assure that every Sikh of India is with Afghan Sikhs and Sikh Community will rebuild the whole Afghanistan and always support the government¡±.

Condemning the attack, the UKSPF chief urged the Government of Afghanistan to take care of Sikh minorities.

¡°We urge the Government of Afghanistan to take care of Sikh minorities and I assure you that they will always be available for the growth and development of the country. Sikhs of Afghanistan and India also share a bond of love and brotherhood,¡± said Raina.

Idrees Bukhtiyar

He termed the attack in Karte Parwan Gurdwara as an ¡°attack on humanity and Sikh community which is staying peacefully in Afghanistan.¡±

¡°In these difficult times we want to assure that every Sikh of India is with Afghan Sikhs and Sikh Community will rebuild whole Afghanistan and always support the Govt,¡± Raina said.

Several blasts tore through Gurdwara Karte Parwan in Kabul's Bagh-e Bala neighbourhood on Saturday.

AFP

The Islamic State¨CKhorasan Province (ISKP), an affiliate of the Islamic State militant group, has claimed responsibility for the deadly terror attack on a gurdwara here in Afghanistan that killed two persons, including one Sikh community member, calling it ¡°an act of support¡± for the Prophet.

It was the latest targeted assault on a place of worship of the Sikh community in Afghanistan. The three attackers were killed by the Taliban forces.

Idrees Bukhtiyar

In the past too, the ISKP has claimed responsibility for attacks on places of worship of Hindus, Sikhs and Shia Muslims in Afghanistan.

In March 2020, at least 25 worshippers were killed and eight others injured when a heavily armed suicide bomber stormed his way into a prominent gurdwara in the heart of Kabul, in one of the deadliest attacks on the Sikh community in the strife-torn country.

In 2018, a suicide bomber struck a gathering in the eastern city of Jalalabad, whilst another gurdwara was attacked in 2020.

On Monday, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) granted emergency visas to 111 Sikhs from Afghanistan so that they can go back to their homes.