With the Taliban foraging into vast areas of war-torn Afghanistan, the government planning elite forces to counter them, the conditions for Muslims inimical to the Taliban and to Sikh and Hindu minorities who are still entrenched there grows fearful and scary by the minute. As per the World Sikh News data, some 300 Sikhs and Hindus are still left in Kabul, Ghazni city and Jalalabad. Many more, who had come to New Delhi for a haven, are languishing there with the hope of resettlement in the West. Hopeful of a positive response as in the past, the World Sikh Organisation of Canada, Khalsa Aid Canada and the Manmeet Singh Bhullar Foundation have sought a special arrangement by Canada to airlift these vulnerable sections given the lurking danger. WSN reports.

In a joint communique issued by WSO, Khalsa Aid Canada and the Manmeet Singh Bhullar Foundation, they have asked the Government of Canada to act swiftly by providing a way of safety for vulnerable populations in Afghanistan which include Sikh and Hindu minorities.

The attack in Jalalabad two years ago and the attack in the Gurdwara Guru Har Rai Sahib in Kabul last year demonstrates that for long the  Sikh and Hindu minorities -men, women and children, have been targets of extremist groups. 

“As the situation on the ground in Afghanistan continues to deteriorate, we are seeing Afghan interpreters who worked side by side with Canadians, coming under threat and fearing for their lives. Reuters journalist Danish Siddiqui, who himself was doing all he could to share the stories of the devastation of the Afghan people, lost his life.”

How strong the fear is can be gauged from the statement, “Further loss of life is not a matter of if, it is a matter of when.”

“Since 2015, the Manmeet Singh Bhullar Foundation has worked with The Government of Canada and community partners to bring 60 refugees to Canada with 120 remaining in the queue to arrive shortly through the Private Sponsorship of Refugees Program.”

“As the situation on the ground in Afghanistan continues to deteriorate, we are seeing Afghan interpreters who worked side by side with Canadians, coming under threat and fearing for their lives. Reuters journalist Danish Siddiqui, who himself was doing all he could to share the stories of the devastation of the Afghan people, lost his life.”

However difficult it may appear, if US, Canada and UK-friendly interpreters can be air-lifted, making immigration possible for a few hundred is not an uphill task. It will be a humanitarian gesture for which the Sikhs will ever remain grateful to Canada if it will “allow for these vulnerable religious minorities to find refuge in Canada.”

“Now is the time for progress to be expedited to ensure that we can assist as many Afghan Sikhs and Hindus that face deep uncertainty and imminent danger on an hourly and daily basis,” said Tarjinder Kaur Bhullar, of the Manmeet Singh Bhullar Foundation. 

“We urge the Government of Canada to expedite and reaffirm their commitment to work with us to ensure the safe settlement of these families in Canada at the same time as they address the critical and urgent need to assist Afghan translators,” she added.

Jatinder Singh, National Director for Khalsa Aid Canada clarified that “as an international humanitarian relief agency, we have seen first-hand what happens to marginalized communities during the civil conflict. We urge the Government of Canada to not only provide safety to those who assisted it as interpreters but also to ensure that minority communities such as the Afghan Hindus and Sikhs are also provided safe settlement as a matter of urgency.”

“The situation for Sikhs and Hindus in Afghanistan is dire and they face an existential threat to their very survival.”

WSO President Tejinder Singh Sidhu said, “The situation for Sikhs and Hindus in Afghanistan is dire and they face an existential threat to their very survival.”

Under Section 25.2 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, the government of Canada can create a special program and the beleaguered Afghan Sikhs await this gesture from the Canadian government, as all of the NATO forces withdraw from Afghanistan in a few weeks. 

The time to act is now or else, God forbid, the sitting ducks in Afghanistan may become victims.