“Everything is gone,” says Narender Singh Khalsa who was among Hindus and Sikhs evacuated by an Indian Air Force plane from Kabul on Sunday
Agencies
NEW DELHI: Afghan Sikh MP Narender Singh Khalsa, who was among those evacuated from Kabul by Indian Air Force on Sunday, broke down after landing here.
Fighting back his tears when he was asked how he felt leaving his country, Khalsa said, “Isi ko lekar toh rona ata hai (That is what makes me feel cry). We have been living in Afghanistan for generations and we never thought that things would come such a tragic pass. But this tragedy is unfolding now in Afghanistan. Everything – the economy – and everything that the government created in 20 years has gone. Sab kuchh khatam hai, ab zero hai (everything is gone, it’s zero now).”
A day earlier, Singh, one of the two minority community MPs in Afghanistan, was among a group of 72 Afghan Sikhs and Hindus who were stopped by the Taliban from boarding an IAF plane and sent back from Kabul airport.
The Afghan Sikh MP pleaded with the Indian government to evacuate all 200 Hindus and Sikhs stuck in Afghanistan.
“The situation in horrible and there is an atmosphere of fear and people are scared. Hindus and Sikhs are going through a horrible situation there. Only religious places are safe as of now,” he said.
Narender Singh Khalsa said he felt safe on landing in India. “My life has been spared and my daughter is now safe.”
Khalsa’s father, Avtar Singh, was killed in an attack by Islamic State terrorists in Jalalabad in 2018. He was a candidate for the elections in October that year.
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