400 Afghani Sikhs and Hindus are to be brought back and rehabilitated in India

Vikramjit S Sahney is all set for the mission

Friday, 7th August 2020

Centre, along with an NGO and the Afghanistan consulate, is going to bring back more than 400 Afghani Sikhs and Hindus living in several camps of war-torn country to India for rehabilitation.

26 people died in the terrorist attack that took place in a Gurdwara in Kabul. World Punjabi Organisation’s president and Padma Shri recipient Vikramjit S Sahney has been anxious since 25th of March regarding the same.

Sahney has been working with Kabul’s Afghan community to arrange for Sikhs and Hindus there to return to India. “But there were no flights then and now that the flights are operational, these Sikhs and Hindu families based in Kabul, Jalalabad and Ghazni are so poor that they can’t afford the fare to come back to India”, Sahney said. Currently, Sikhs and Hindus want to come back to India even though there are several gurdwaras and two Sikh MPs in Afghanistan- Anarkali and Devender Singh Khalsa.

Sahney has arranged for chartered flights to rescue 400 Sikhs and Hindus in coming days with WPO’s aid. He has coordinated with Kabul’s Indian Embassy and the Ministry of External Affairs and Indian Embassy have issued long-term visas to them. After a while, they will be given Indian citizenship with a permanent residency.

Sahney said, “Dalip Singh Sethi and Paramjit Singh Bedi, two prominent Sikhs in the USA, have sponsored the migrant families under the project, ‘My Family My Responsibility’. The families will be given homes in West Delhi and their household expenses will be met for one year, as we hope they will find their feet here. I will be happy and satisfied once the families are safe here”.

The children will be trained for various skills so that they can find jobs and live dignified lives. “We will feel we have been able to extend a helping hand once they all are rehabilitated and after a year, we will evaluate the progress”, he expressed.

Source: Indian Express