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KABUL: Hundreds of Hindus and Sikhs have recently fled their homes in Ghazni province due to insecurity.
Ghazni is one of areas home to thousands of the Hindu and Sikh religious minority along with the capital Kabul, Nangarhar, Khost, Parwan and Baghlan provinces. Most of Sikhs have been busy in traditional medicine.
The Hindus and Sikhs have five temples in Ghazni and own farmlands and houses.
Attacks against their communities in recent years have caused great panic as most of Hindus and Sikhs who were significantly involved in the Afghan business, left their assets and properties behind and took refuge to abroad.
The Ghazni Sikhs fled the province after it fell to Taliban for a few days in 2018.
Surbi Singh is one of Ghazni Sikh residents with several happy and bitter memories with his Muslim neighbors. He said Monday that 500 Sikhs lived in Ghazni until a few years ago, while the number has reduced to 100 now.
Singh said that economic problems and lack of security forces them to leave their homes.
He called an attack on the Sikh community in Jalalabad city of Nangarhar province as the bitterest incident, calling for more government attention to their safety.
A number of teenager Sikhs who have never visited parks and other recreational sites in Ghazni, gather inside a Gurudwara (Sikh temple) in the center of the city.
Ranjit Singh, one of the youth said he wished to educate, work and live in Afghanistan, but he gained none of them.
Singh said the Hindus and Sikhs would have to end their several thousands of life in Afghanistan by leaving their homeland if the situation remains unsafe.
Hindu and Sikh children are also facing discrimination, being annoyed outside home sometimes violently.
Translated from Salam Watandar
