India to give Afghan Hindus, Sikhs visas; examine citizenship requests
Sikh
Indian government will give Afghan Hindus and Sikhs visas and examine their Indian citizenship requests.
The spokesperson of India's ministry of external affairs Anurag Shrivastava, in response to a WION question at the weekly presser said that Indian government has been receiving requests from these communities that "they want to move to India and settle down here" and despite the COVID-19 pandemic, "we are facilitating the requests".
Indian mission in Kabul is "providing them necessary visas" to come to India and once they reach the request for citizenship will be "examined and acted upon" based on "rules and policies", he explained.
While no details have been given on the rules, India could give citizenship to the Afghan minorities under the citizenship amendment law passed last year by India which gives citizenship to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian religious minorities from three countries - Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan with a cut off date of December 31, 2014.
The development comes days after Delhi-based Afghan Sikh Nidan Singh was abducted in the eastern Afghan province of Paktika that borders Pakistans. He was later released.
Delhi sees the "recent spurt of attacks on Hindus and Sikh community" in Afghanistan by "terrorists at the behest of external supporters", indicating Pakistan's involvement.
The wife of kidnapped Afghan Sikh had written to Indian Prime Minister Modi requesting for assistance from Indian government for the release of her husband and also grant citizenship.
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Mahrwanti wrote to PM Modi on June 25 saying, "I request you to kindly repatriate him back to New Delhi immediately after his release and grant us Indian citizenship at the earliest".
Nidan Singh was kidnapped from Gurdwara Tala Sahib, Chamkani in Afghanistan. He was there to maintain the Gurdwara where according to history Guru Nanak Dev, founder of Sikhism had visited. He was the lone person managing and performing community service in the Gurudwara.
Singh and his family of 6 - wife, two sons and three daughters had moved to India in 1992 due to civil unrest in Afghanistan and have been staying in New Delhi as refugees.