Close X
Friday, November 1, 2024
ADVT 
India

25 Sikh Families From Afghanistan Seek Indian Citizenship, Sushma Swaraj Assures Aid

IANS, 09 Jul, 2018 12:18 PM
    There are about 25 Sikh families in the city, which left Afghanistan a decade ago over security concerns. They have sought Indian citizenship and government support for their rehabilitation.
     
     
    Kulwant Kaur, a widow, said she had come to India about eight years ago with her son and daughter, while her husband was killed by militants in Afghanistan. “We are living in penury, but at least we are safe here. Come what may, we are not going back to Afghanistan. I work as a domestic helper. I hope the government provides me a job,” she said.
     
     
    Another family said they were “tortured” in Afghanistan. “Here, at times we get food from a gurdwara. Some of us are daily wagers, while others drive auto-rickshaw. We have our passports and other documents. We need government support,” said one of them.
     
     
    Shammi Singh, 54, lives in a rented dilapidated house at Chawni Mohalla. He said as a youth, he had never imagined that he would leave Kabul. “There used to be around 1.8 lakh Sikh families in Afghanistan and there was no discrimination. But things started getting worse in the last 10 years, as people there started treating us as traitors,” he said.
     
     
    “We request the government to give us Indian citizenship and provide us accommodation,” he added.
     
     
    Former SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar said: “The issue needs to be addressed by the governments. We can provide them food, but that is not a permanent solution. The SGPC should provide them financial assistance.”
     
     
    External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Sunday said she had spoken with Iqbal Singh, a Sikh man who was admitted to the AIIMS here after being injured in the blast that claimed 19 lives in Afghanistan’s Jalalabad last week, and offered all assistance to him.

    MORE India ARTICLES

    Revenue Officials Bust Gold Smuggling Racket At Delhi Airport

    Revenue Officials Bust Gold Smuggling Racket At Delhi Airport
    Eight people, including the mastermind father-son duo, have been arrested in the case and 6.5 kgs gold, with an estimated market value of Rs. 2.1 crore, has been seized recently, a statement issued today by the DRI said.

    Revenue Officials Bust Gold Smuggling Racket At Delhi Airport

    Gujarat Man Arrested For Uploading Video Of Communal Clash On YouTube

    Gujarat Man Arrested For Uploading Video Of Communal Clash On YouTube
    According to Vasava, Kadam had been earlier charged in 2016 in a case related to the burning of an effigy of Islamicpreacher Zakir Naik.

    Gujarat Man Arrested For Uploading Video Of Communal Clash On YouTube

    Elderly Woman Beaten Up And Thrown Out By Daughter, Son-In-Law In Gujarat

    An elderly woman was allegedly thrashed and dragged out of her house by her daughter and son- in-law in Gujarat's Chhotaudepur district, police said yesterday.

    Elderly Woman Beaten Up And Thrown Out By Daughter, Son-In-Law In Gujarat

    Coaching Centres In Chandigarh Barred From Giving Tuitions In Morning

    Coaching Centres In Chandigarh Barred From Giving Tuitions In Morning
    Private coaching centres in Chandigarh will not be permitted to give tuitions to school-going students from 8 am to 3 pm for 60 days from July 1 in public interest, a senior official said here today.

    Coaching Centres In Chandigarh Barred From Giving Tuitions In Morning

    AIIMS Topper From Punjab’s Sangrur Wants To Be A Cardiologist, Serve Hometown

    AIIMS Topper From Punjab’s Sangrur Wants To Be A Cardiologist, Serve Hometown
    Eliza Bansal (17) from Punjab's Sangrur district, who topped the prestigious AIIMS MBBS exam this year, wants to serve her hometown Lehragaga which faces a shortage of doctors, her family said today.

    AIIMS Topper From Punjab’s Sangrur Wants To Be A Cardiologist, Serve Hometown

    Ludhiana NRI Jimmy Sandhu Had Ketamine Unit In Goa

    Jimmy Sandhu, an NRI who hails from Ludhiana, who was arrested from a private hospital here by a team of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence on June 14, is a key player of an international drug racket busted recently by the DRI, Mumbai zone.

    Ludhiana NRI Jimmy Sandhu Had Ketamine Unit In Goa