Afghanistan's Sikhs face an uncertain future - labeled like Jews
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2015 Nov 20, 9:23am 1,853 views 2 comments
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I once had a business partner who was first generation American Sikh. Her family was from India very close to the border with Pakistan. She used to to tell me that the Sikhs, who have shared more than their share of discrimination as they are slowly but surely getting assimilated into American culture, are finding it interesting that the West is finding itself in a position that the Sikhs have dealt with for over 200 years. Some of her older relatives have told me about their experience in India. Absolutely horrific. If you are fortunate to know some Sikhs and their family, you will be very impressed with many values they have with work, family, and ethical sensitivities. Most are making a great contribution to our society and we will be a better country/society for it.
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2014/02/afghanistan-sikhs-face-an-uncertain-future-201422312395677867.html
"Khalsa said Sikh history in Afghanistan, which dates back 200 years, has been marred by two "dark periods". He added that the strict Islamic rule of the Taliban - during which Sikhs were made to wear identifying yellow arm bands, hang yellow flags over their homes and businesses and barred from government posts - was not one of them.
Disrespect and marginalisation
Like many Afghans, the Sikh community considers the civil war of the early 1990s as a particularly difficult time. Jihadi leaders fresh from the fight against Soviet occupation turned against one another in a battle for control of the capital, leading to the deaths of 40,000 people and widespread destruction. During that time, seven Sikh temples and a primary school were destroyed by rocket fire.
Uncertain future for Afghanistan's Sikhs
Under the Karzai administration, which has governed Afghanistan since late 2001, Sikhs say they feel more ostracised than ever. The numbers, they say, prove this. Before the Russian invasion of Afghanistan, Hindu and Sikh leaders estimated their combined population at more than 100,000 nationwide. In 1992, more than 15,000 Hindu families fled to neighbouring India, leaving only about 3,000 Hindu and Sikh families in Kabul. Today, just more than 300 Sikh families remain in the capital.
"There is no respect. People will say 'they are kafirs [unbelievers], we won't buy from them'," said 25-year-old Avinder Singh. To make matters worse, a series of land grabs in Kabul's Taimani and Kartei Parwan neighbourhoods, where Sikhs have historically lived, have limited their economic prospects. "We have nowhere to go, especially if we aren't making money," Singh told Al Jazeera.
Singh, who hails from Afghanistan's eastern province of Nangarhar, was one of many youth at a gurdwara - a Sikh temple - in Kabul who complained of physical and verbal harassment when out on the streets.
Kabul was once home to eight gurdwaras, but only one remains today. The youth told of a Sikh man in his twenties who was recently taken to the hospital after being taunted and beaten by a group in Kartei Parwan. Another had his iPhone stolen. "We had few problems during the Taliban. At least then we knew where to go," Khalsa said."