New Delhi: Minority groups representing Afghan Hindus and Sikhs urged the Taliban regime to renovate and protect gurdwaras and temples in the Central Asian nation, while calling for greater representation in the administration, during a meeting with the Acting Foreign Minister of Afghanistan Amir Khan Muttaqi, here Monday.
“There are a number of gurdwaras and temples that have damaged walls and need repair. We requested the restoration and maintenance of these buildings,” Guljeet Singh, President of the Gurudwara Guru Nanak Sahib-Ji at Manohar Nagar in New Delhi told ThePrint.
Singh added: “We further requested greater representation in the government from minority communities. We requested that at least one person from the Hindu community and one person from the Sikh community be appointed in the government.”
Seven community leaders and businesspersons met Muttaqi at the Embassy of Afghanistan Monday morning. The acting foreign minister of Afghanistan is in India on a six-day visit from 9 October till 15 October. Muttaqi’s visit to New Delhi is part of India’s efforts to carve out a working relationship with the Taliban, which returned to power in Kabul in August 2021.
The return of the Taliban led to a number of minorities fleeing Afghanistan. At least 350 Sikhs were welcomed to India through repatriation flights. In the lead up to the return of the Taliban government in Kabul, Sikh religious sites faced a number of attacks, including an attack on the Karte Parwan Gurdwara in the Afghan capital in June 2021 that left 50 people dead.
Muttaqi assured community leaders of support from the Taliban regime, in particular over the renovation of gurdwaras, as well as the property rights of minorities and the security of the buildings. Members of the delegation told ThePrint that the Taliban leader “welcomed them to visit the sites” and promised all support required for visas for the same.
“He (Muttaqi) informed us that they (the Taliban) will always welcome us. He said, “If you want to come, please come. We are trying to save your properties.” There are less than 50 minorities remaining in the country (Afghanistan),” Harbhajan Singh, President of the Afghan Hindu Sikh Society told ThePrint.
The community leaders further raised issues of visas for businesspersons, while also calling for the Taliban regime to allow a joint delegation of prominent Hindu and Sikh leaders from India to travel to Afghanistan.
Muttaqi’s six-day visit to India is the first by a leader of the Taliban. India does not formally recognise the Taliban regime. However External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar Friday announced that New Delhi will be upgrading the status of its technical mission in Kabul to that of an “embassy”.
The Acting Afghan Foreign Minister added that the Taliban will soon appoint diplomats to their missions across India. New Delhi has not formally accepted the credentials of Taliban appointees.
The meeting between Jaishankar and Muttaqi was notable for multiple reasons, including the lack of flags, given the lack of formal recognition. The old Republic flag of the previous government in Afghanistan still flies over the embassy here. The white standard of the Taliban inscribed with the Shahada was seen for the first time on the embassy premises during a press conference hosted by Muttaqi Sunday.
The Acting Foreign Minister visited the Darul Uloom in Deoband Saturday, as India has sought to stake its soft power links with the Taliban. New Delhi has sought to deepen its ties with Kabul, as the relationship between the Taliban and Pakistan has deteriorated in the last ten months.
Late Saturday night, the Taliban launched raids across the disputed border—the Durand Line—and claimed to have killed 58 Pakistani military personnel. Islamabad has accused the Taliban of harbouring the Pakistani Taliban within its borders—a charge Muttaqi denied Sunday.
The Acting Afghan Foreign Minister’s visit has come under scrutiny by a section of opposition leaders in India, after women journalists were not invited to a press conference Friday. However, Sunday Muttaqi held a second press conference where both domestic and international media was invited, and included women journalists.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)
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