With evacuation from Afghanistan in full swing, India on Tuesday brought back home 78 of its citizens, besides some Afghan Sikhs and Hindus. Union Minister Hardeep Puri received them here besides copies of three holy Guru Granth Sahibs.
The rescue missions which commenced more than a week ago has been named “Operation Dev Shakti”, revealed External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.
“Op Devi Shakti continues. 78 evacuees from Kabul arrive via Dushanbe. Salute @IAF_MCC, @AirIndiain and #TeamMEA for their untiring efforts. #DeviShakti,” Jaishankar tweeted.
Giving due honour to the holy Sikh scriptures, Puri along with Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan received the copies. They also welcomed 44 Afghan Sikhs who reached India from Kabul on a special Air India flight after a stopover in Tajikistan’s capital city of Dushanbe.
“Blessed to receive & pay obeisance to three holy Swaroop of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji from Kabul to Delhi a short while ago,” Puri tweeted along with a video showing him carrying a copy of the holy book. Puri on Monday had shared photos of three copies in three suitcases being carried at the Kabul airport.
Visuals shared by Puri show the trio bearing the packed boxes atop their head and walking through the airport.
The Guru Granth Sahib is the central religious scripture of Sikhism. A “swaroop” is essentially a copy of the holy book. The original copy is believed to be in the possession of the Sodhi family of Kartarpur village, and is placed at Gurudwara Thum Sahib.
An Air India flight brought back the people from Dushanbe. “Joined Minister Shri @HardeepSPuri ji at Delhi Airport in receiving Swaroop of Shri Guru Granth Sahib ji arrived from Afghanistan along with evacuees,” V Muraleedharan tweeted.
Manjinder Singh Sirsa, president of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee, said the evacuation of these 46 Afghan Sikhs and Hindus at such a challenging time is a big relief. The committee is also coordinating with the Indian government in the evacuation mission.
“US security forces escorted these people to the Kabul airport,” he said. The three Sri Guru Granth Sahibs were later taken in a procession to Guru Arjan Dev Ji Gurdwara in the New Mahavir Nagar area of Delhi.
India began evacuation mission by airlifting 40 Indians from Kabul to Delhi on August 16, a day after the Taliban seized control of the Afghan capital city.
So far, India has evacuated over 800 people amid a deteriorating security situation in Kabul and scramble by various nations to rescue their citizens.
The US armed forces are controlling the Kabul airport and a team of Indian officials is now based there to coordinate with the Americans to ensure safety and security of the Indian citizens and others willing to fly out. Also, the Indian planes are now parked at the Dushanbe and Taskhkent airports in Tajikistan as the Kabul airport right now is crowded.
The Indians and others are flown out of Kabul by the NATO and US planes besides IAF planes to Dushanbe or Doha in Qatar. The contingents are then flown back to New Delhi by special Air India flights besides the C-17 transport planes of the IAF.
The rescue operations are likely to be over within the next few days with most of those registered with the Indian authorities in Kabul are now here.
In a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 17 directed officials to ensure the safe evacuation of all Indians from Afghanistan and provide refuge to Afghan Sikhs and Hindus wanting to come to India.
In the last few days, India stepped up its efforts to evacuate Indians and its Afghan partners from Kabul amid increasing hostilities by the Taliban.
After India evacuated the Indian embassy staff from Kabul on August 17, Jaishankar had described the mission as a “difficult and complicated” exercise.
On Tuesday, India brought back 78 people, including 25 of its nationals and a number of Afghan Sikhs and Hindus from Dushanbe, a day after they were evacuated from Kabul to the Tajik city.