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Washington:
An influential American congressman has praised India for giving refugee standing to Sikhs and Hindus from Afghanistan and urged the Trump administration to do the identical for the persecuted spiritual minorities from the war-torn nation.
The Ministry of External Affairs stated on Thursday that there was a latest spurt of assaults on Hindus and Sikhs in Afghanistan by terrorists on the behest of their “external supporters” and India has been offering vital visas to members of those communities who need to come.
“We have been receiving requests from the members of these communities. They want to move to India, they want to settle down here, and despite the ongoing COVID situation, we are facilitating these requests,” MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava stated.
He stated as soon as those that need to come and settle in India arrive within the nation, their requests shall be examined and acted upon primarily based on current guidelines and insurance policies.
Responding to India’s transfer, Congressman Jim Costa stated in a tweet, “This marks an important step toward protecting Afghanistan’s Sikh and Hindu communities from imminent destruction at the hands of terrorists.”
“While I’m pleased that India has offered them refuge, more needs to be done to ensure their safety in the long term. I will continue to advocate for more permanent solutions that will provide these families with security, economic stability, and a brighter future,” Mr Costa stated as he referred to a information story from The New York Times.
In April the lawmaker had written a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo searching for comparable refugee standing for Hindus and Sikhs from Afghanistan.
“In April, I wrote to Secretary of State Pompeo urging him to provide help to these families and consideration for potential resettlement in the US,” Mr Costa tweeted.
In its information story, The New York Times reported the assertion of Ministry of External Affairs that India has determined to facilitate the return to India of Afghan Hindu and Sikh group members going through safety threats in Afghanistan.
According to the each day, the Hindu and Sikh communities in Afghanistan as soon as numbered within the tens, if not the a whole bunch, of hundreds, with well-established companies and high-ranking positions within the authorities. But almost all have fled to India, Europe, or North America over many years of struggle and persecution.
Last month, a bipartisan group of 20 US senators urged the Trump administration to grant emergency refugee safety to Sikh and Hindu communities in Afghanistan going through persecution as spiritual minorities.
“Sikh and Hindu communities in Afghanistan face an existential threat from ISIS-K because of their religion. To protect religious freedom, we urgently ask that you take these essential steps to defend these threatened religious minorities,” they stated within the letter.
The Sikhs and Hindus as soon as numbered round 250,000, however now fewer than 1,000 folks reside in Afghanistan attributable to many years of persecution, they added, the senators wrote.
A closely armed ISIS-Khorasan (ISIS-Okay) suicide bomber attacked a gurdwara within the coronary heart of Afghanistan’s capital on March 25, killing 25 Sikhs and injuring eight others.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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