New Delhi, Nov 24: Shocked over reports of attacks on members of their community in Kandahar, Sikh leaders today asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to use diplomacy to ensure their safety in that country.
The Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee (DSMGC) also shot of letters to Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai and US President George W Bush through their embassies here requesting that Afghan Sikhs intending to travel to India should be given a safe passage.
“We demand the government take very serious note of gross violation of basic human rights of the Sikh community in Afghanistan and use diplomacy to ensure they live their lives with dignity and in a safe environment,” DSGMC Chief Harvinder Singh Sarna told reporters here.
He also urged that the government grant citizenship to migrants from Afghanistan, insisting they have been facing hardship in their own country of origin after being forced to leave Afghanistan under the Taliban regime then.
“News reports about humiliation and attacks on Sikhs in Afghanistan have shocked the entire community. We trust that the Prime Minister would take immediate remedial measures in this regard,” he said.
Those Sikhs and Hindus who have migrated to India should also be granted citizenship that they have been long asking for, Sarna said.