Sikhs and Hindus who remain in Afghanistan fear that they will die under Taliban rule, say families and advocates in Canada who are hoping to be reunited with their loved ones.
Anu Kaur’s family have spent weeks desperately trying to get their uncle out of the beleaguered country.
“We don't know what’s going to happen to him in the next day or even the next hour,†she told CTVNews.ca in a joint phone interview with her father from Brampton, Ont.
Kaur said the family is constantly calling and texting her uncle, Jasbir Singh, to ensure that he is still alive.
“His kids are devastated right now and want him back home safely,†she said, describing her uncle as one of the “kindest people I know.â€
Many Sikhs and Hindus fear a return to Taliban rule because women were forced to wear burqas, Sikhs had to wear yellow symbols to identify themselves, and Sikhs and Hindus were attacked or abducted with impunity.
Kaur’s uncle is now among the 170 people taking refuge in a gurdwara, or Sikh temple, near the Kabul international airport, she said.
“They’re only living on chips and water right now. They’re already had seven people die in the last two days from hunger -- waiting to get out,†she said. “I can’t imagine what he’s going through.â€
Harinder Singh Grover, Kaur’s father, said the family is extremely frustrated with the Canadian government’s response so far. “I’m very upset but I can’t do anything," he said.
The looming deadline of the U.S. and Canadian military pullout has led to mayhem at the airport, with Afghans trying to make their way into the perimeter to what they hope will be safety.
Canada’s special forces have been operating outside the airport in order to get people out of Afghanistan, according to Canadian officials. Like manyin Canada, Kaur wants to see the Canadian government do far more to help those attempting to flee.
“Just from a humanitarian basis, [how] can you just let them die there like this?†Kaur said. “People are losing their children and dying unnecessarily.â€
Balpreet Singh, legal counsel and spokesperson for the World Sikh Organization, has been in touch with many Sikhs trapped in Afghanistan and says the threat of death is palpable.
“It’s a really bad situation and they're fearful for what the future holds,†he told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview on Tuesday, adding that many Sikhs fear being shot or killed. “Making the journey to the airport and waiting outside the airport is incredibly dangerous.â€
Singh said that Taliban members had already met with the people huddled in the gurdwara and confiscated personal items and anything resembling a weapon. “So they're completely vulnerable… they were [also] essentially told to record a video in which they said that they are happy and that they trust the Taliban,†he said.
Singh’s group had been lobbying the Canadian government to create a special program to bring refugees over, harkening back to what Canada did for Syrian refugees in 2015.
But beyond that, he can only hope for the best. “There are incredible expectations and hope that Canada will be able to assist in the situation,†Singh said.
The presence of Hindus in Afghanistan goes back thousands of years, with Sikhs’ history in the area dating back to the 1500s.
Singh estimates that, in the 1970s, there were about 250,000 Sikhs in Afghanistan, but that number has now dwindled to fewer than 200 people.
“The community there is now finished… it’s a real tragedy,†Singh said. “This will go down in Sikh history as the time when Afghanistan lost its [Sikh] community.â€
He said that under Taliban rule in the late 1990s, Sikhs faced severe discrimination and targeted harassment.
“Women [could] not leave the house without a burqa, even though it’s not a Sikh practice, there [was] a real threat of women being kidnapped and being forcibly married to others,†Singh said.
“There's just really sad stories of kids being bullied so much that they can't go to school. They tell stories of when they [would] go out to run errands or groceries, they get pelted with tomatoes or eggs,†he said, adding he’s heard other stories of Sikhs at the time being attacked, abducted or held for ransom – with many rarely travelling alone.
Shamsher Singh, who arrived in Canada as a refugee in 2019, says Sikhs have faced overt and more systemic discrimination in Afghanistan for decades. Now, he fears what will happen to the Sikh community there.
“I’ve always had the pain in my heart about what will happen to the community there,†he told CTVNews.ca via a translation from Punjabi during a phone interview. He laments the loss of his home and culture.
Grover said that one of his relatives, before he became trapped in Kabul, spent weeks sending various religious texts to India in an effort to ensure the remnants of his community’s traditions aren’t destroyed by the Taliban.
In the meantime, Grover’s daughter Kaur says it’s been heartbreaking waiting for her uncle to flee and abandon decades of family history in Afghanistan.
“It brings tears to my eyes and I feel [my family’s] pain…. this is by far the worse of what they’ve seen.â€
With files from CTV National News Montreal Bureau Chief Genevieve Beauchemin
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