Washington, July 18: Hindus and Sikhs in Afghanistan are its original residents and not migrants from India, the Afghan Ambassador to the US has said here at a memorial service for the minority community members killed in a terrorist attack in Jalalabad recently.
At least 19 people were killed on July 1 when a suicide bomber targeted a convoy of Sikhs and Hindus on their way to meet Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani in Jalalabad. Eighteen Hindus and Sikhs were among those dead in the terror attack claimed by the Islamic State.
“This occasion is one that brings us together to recognise a community that has deep roots in Afghanistan,” Afghanistan Ambassador to the US Hamdullah Mohib said at the memorial service held at his embassy in Washington DC on Sunday.
“For many, they often think of the minority Hindus and Sikhs as migrants from India. But in reality, the Hindus and Sikhs of Afghanistan are the original residents of this country,” the top Afghan diplomat here said.
Sena Lund, president of the New York-based Afghan Hindu association, read out the names of the 18 slain leaders, while Asha Kapoor of the local Asamai Hindu Mandir recited a speech in Dari, the official language of Afghanistan, to commemorate the victims.
In his brief remarks, Puneet Kundal, the deputy chief of mission at the Indian embassy here, condoled the loss of lives in the “dreadful violence”. “The very fact that you are organising this event here today is a representation of the sentiments that the government of Afghanistan feels for these communities,” Kundal said.
Tulsi Gabbard, the first Hindu lawmaker in the US Congress, in a statement read on the occasion said that this brutal attack was yet another example of the fear, bigotry and hatred that sadly exists in the world.
“During the Taliban regime, Hindus and Sikhs were forced to wear yellow patches to identify themselves in public, furthering extreme prejudice, and eventually forcing many to seek asylum in India,” she said.
“These fear tactics and attacks attempt to divide us, but we cannot give into this hate. We must confront hatred with love, fear with understanding and darkness with light. We must continue to stand up to bigotry and hatred in Afghanistan, here at home and around the world,” Gabbard said.
Source Tribune India
