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Hugging his elder brother, Jagjeet, who had just arrived at the Delhi airport from Afghanistan, an emotional Amarjeet said, “I have been waiting for him for a year now. We have always been together and I won’t leave my brother again. He has suffered a lot there. I will help him and his children get jobs here.” Jagjeet, who owned a department store in Afghanistan’s Jalalabad, and his sons were among at least 28 Afghan Sikhs who were evacuated to India on Wednesday.
The evacuation was facilitated by the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandak Committee (SGPC) in coordination with India World Forum and the Government. Concerns about the security of Sikhs in Afghanistan have risen since the attack on a gurdwara in Kabul in June, which killed two people. SGPC officials said around 65-70 people have been evacuated recently, and that more would be brought to India as soon as their visa applications are cleared and planes are arranged.
A tearful Amarjeet said, “Jagjeet was severely injured two years ago during the grenade attack in Afghanistan. He can’t hear or speak now. I was also in Afghanistan, but I managed to escape while he was stuck. I have been feeling helpless since then. It aggravated after the Taliban took over. I tried a lot but could not bring my brother back. He is here now, and I am very happy.” The brothers left the airport holding each other’s hands.
Newly married Manjeet and Gurmeet said they had to leave everything overnight to save their lives.
Kamaljeet, who ran a herbal medicine shop in Afghanistan, said, “Everything seems blurry now. It has been difficult staying in Afghanistan. My family would stop me from going to our shop because they were afraid that someone would attack me. We left our shop. The past few days have been hectic.”
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Many of the families were welcomed by their relatives who either left Afghanistan a few years earlier, or came all the way from Punjab.
Taranjeet Singh, a medical store owner, said he only had time to pack clothes and essential documents for his wife and two sons. “My shop was damaged during the Gurudwara attack. I have lost all my money and don’t know what will happen, but I do feel safer now. We were hoping to get on a plane and leave as soon as possible. It is scary to think about what happened,” he said.
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