Taliban helped, provided funds to rebuild Gurdwara hit by Islamic State: Report

The Taliban regime has funded the rebuilding of Gurdwara Dashmesh Pita in Kabul, which was reduced to rubble in an attack by the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) two months ago, a report said.

The report by the Indian Express said that Hindus and Sikhs are in charge of the repair and construction work of the Sikh temple which is nearing completion.

“Their own people [the Taliban], including engineers, came here, assessed the damage, made the calculations and gave us the money,” Ram Saran Bhasin, who heads the Hindu-Sikh society in Kabul and is supervising the work, told Indian Express.

Another report by the Print mentioned that the Taliban government in Afghanistan, which celebrated a year of return to power on 15 August, has not just ordered a 24-hour security detail to be placed outside the Dashmesh Pita Guru Gobind Singh gurudwara since the June attack, but promised a sum of 40 lakh Afghanis (nearly Rs 40 lakh) for the reconstruction of the gurudwara.

The gurudwara will be ready and open for devotees by August end, it said.

The gurudwara is said to be the second largest Sikh temple in Afghanistan and came under IS attack on June 18. The attack killed two people and left three injured sending panic among Hindus and Sikhs who frantically applied for Indian visas to escape the country.

Following the attack, over 150 Afghan Sikhs said they “desperately” wanted to move to India in the immediate aftermath of the deadly attack on June 18, according to The Hindu.

IS attack on the rise post Taliban takeover:

Financing the temple may be seen as a welcome move by the radical group but since it took over in August last year, Afghanistan has been under attacks by rival Sunni Muslim militant group Islamic State, that is still trying to keep a foothold in the region bordering Pakistan.
The Islamic State had claimed responsibility for the deadly terror attack calling it "an act of support" for the Prophet.

Urging Indian govt to issues visas and speed up evacuation:

Reports say over 150 Sikhs who were staying in a gurdwara in Kabul that was struck by IS terrorists on June 18 have been waiting for Indian visas.
The Sikh community has been constantly urging the Indian government to step up evacuation efforts for the minority Hindus and Sikhs.

India has given e-visas ''on priority" to over 100 Sikhs and Hindus living in Afghanistan following the deadly terror strike on the gurudwara in Kabul on June 18, government sources told news agency PTI on June 19.

(with sources inputs)

Published on: Thursday, August 18, 2022, 08:49 PM IST