Move came after attack on gurdwara in Kabul
The Union Home Ministry on Sunday granted emergency e-visas to 111 Hindus and Sikhs from Afghanistan, hours after Saturday’s terror attack at a gurdwara in Kabul.
Many Hindus, who are Afghan citizens, had applied for visas in September 2021, but the applications were cleared only after the Islamic State in Khorasan Province (ISKP), a terrorist group, attacked the gurdwara on Saturday, killing two people, including a Sikh Granthi, a member representing the community said.
According to Home Ministry sources, over 100 e-visas have been granted by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) after the terror attack on the Karte Parwan Gurdwara in Kabul on Saturday.
According to the Ministry, some people who were granted e-visas are safely staying in other countries like the United Kingdom and Canada currently, though they hold Afghan passports. Only 159 minorities remain in Afghanistan, who are citizens of that country, after the Taliban took control in August 2021, including three members who do not have any passports.
According to Puneet Singh Chandhoke, president, India World Forum who has been coordinating with the Indian Government to evacuate Sikhs from Afghanistan, the applicants had applied for a visa as early as September 12, 2021, but it was being blocked due to pending security clearance.
“Though the visas had been pending for months they were cleared within hours of the attack at the gurdwara on Saturday. The person who died (Satwinder Singh) was also among those who intended to travel to India,” Chandhoke said. Last year, 163 members of the minority community came to India after they were granted an “e-Emergency X-Miscellaneous visa.”
India had suspended all kinds of visas after the Taliban took over governance in Afghanistan in August 2021. On August 17, the facility of special emergency visas was announced for stranded citizens but most visas were only granted to people from the Hindu and Sikh communities.
Meanwhile, many are living in London and Canada. More than 80 members of the communities who fled to Dubai and Russia after the Taliban takeover have also been waiting for visas to be cleared. At least 11 people who came to India last year but returned to Afghanistan citing personal reasons are also among the list of people awaiting evacuation from Afghanistan.