The Taliban regime funded the reconstruction of Gurdwara Dashmesh Pita in Kabul, which had been destroyed in a single, two months earlier. gun and bomb assault The declare was made by the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), in response to members of the Hindu and Sikh communities answerable for the development work.
“His own men, including engineers, came here, assessed the damage, calculated and paid us money,” mentioned Ram Saran Bhasin, head of the Hindu-Sikh society in Kabul and supervising the work.
Using the formal title for the regime in Afghanistan, he mentioned, “The Taliban gave 4 million Afghani … the reconstruction is almost entirely funded by the Islamic Emirate.” “We didn’t raise any other funds.”
At the location of Karta Parwan, The Indian Express noticed Afghan staff portray partitions, slicing marble panels, laying ground tiles and finalizing the principle congregation corridor – the Takht – the place the Guru Granth Sahib might be saved.
Located on a slippery street off the principle street, this gurdwara is now guarded by the Taliban.
The Gurdwara Dashmesh Pita Sri Guru Gobind Singh ji Singh Sabha Karte Parwan in Kabul. (Photo: Pritpal Singh/File)
On 18 June, as hearth tenders extinguished the flames within the gurdwara quickly after the assault, the Sikh holy e-book was retrieved with none injury and brought safely to the house of a Sikh household within the neighbourhood. Gone.
“This is the No. 1 gurdwara in Kabul, and it is our priority to make it operational at the earliest,” Bhasin mentioned, as he pointed to the huge iron gate and marks on the partitions exterior the meeting corridor. The Gurudwara might be prepared by the top of August.
According to Bhasin, a significant a part of the advanced, together with the Gurdwara workplaces, was engulfed in flames in the course of the encounter between the IS attacker and the Taliban group who reached the spot.
Bhasin and several other members of the Sikh group, who lived behind the gurdwara and had been on their technique to the premises for “ardas” (prayers) within the morning, had been “panicked” once they heard gunshots and explosions from inside. They began operating in direction of the gurdwara however had been stopped by Taliban guards as a suspicious automobile was parked exterior. A couple of minutes later, the automobile exploded.
“If we had not been stopped, around 40 people would have died,” Bhasin mentioned. In the top, two folks died – the gate opening guard and Ghazni resident Surinder Singh, who was looking for work in Kabul and ship cash to his household, which he had despatched to Delhi. Three folks had been injured, together with Sevadar Tarlok Singh, who misplaced his passport together with different private belongings within the hearth that broke out in a big a part of the premises.
Marks on the excessive, fortified iron gate point out that it was probably the sufferer of the explosion. The gate was put up in 2020 after an IS assault on Gurdwara Har Rai Sahib in Shor Bazar, Kabul, through which 25 folks had been killed. In 2018, a suicide bombing within the japanese metropolis of Jalalabad killed 19 folks, together with Avtar Singh, who was a candidate in parliamentary elections that yr.
Ever for the reason that Taliban took over Afghanistan a yr in the past, India has evacuated all however 100 members of the Sikh group. By December 2021, three batches of Sikhs had been evacuated and three extra had been pulled out after the Karta Parwan assault.
As of 2020, the Sikh and Hindu inhabitants was estimated to be round 650. About 400 of them migrated to India after the Shore Bazar assault. Some members of the group nonetheless moved from Delhi to Kabul to take care of their professions, largely in Unani and different conventional medicines. But after the Karate Parwan incident, many requested Afghan mates to handle their enterprise. Those who had the sources went additional away to Europe or Canada.
The Bhasin is considered one of about 15 Hindu households that dwell in Afghanistan. “In this country, the two communities, Hindus and Sikhs, are one,” mentioned the septuagenarian, who was made the caretaker head of the Karta Parwan gurdwara after a number of Sikh group leaders moved to India.
Bhasin’s household has lived within the capital of Afghanistan for 4 generations however not too long ago they despatched their sons and their households to India. Now solely he and his spouse are left in Kabul.
Sukhbir Singh Khalsa, who’s awaiting his Indian visa, mentioned, “The Taliban has not troubled us, but it is a difficult time for us.” “We have been told it will come in two weeks,” he mentioned.
Manjit Singh Lamba, who misplaced a brother, a cousin and two brother-in-law within the Shore Bazar assault, mentioned that “it is difficult to live even after suffering so much”.
“The Taliban have told us not to leave, they are telling us that we are Afghani, this is where we were born, here is our business. They really want us to stay but these are tough times, life has become unpredictable,” mentioned Lamba, who helps Bhasin on the gurdwara.
Most of Lamba’s relations at the moment are in Delhi. “Even if we are left, what will we do ourselves? Dukh-sukh kisse kare kare (with whom will we share our joys and sorrows)? My Indian visa will come soon, but I will be here in the gurudwara, before leaving for my responsibilities. Will do it,” mentioned Lamba, as he opened a tough register and ready the employees to be paid for the day.
With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
