Kabul: Once a thriving Sikh and Hindu community of Afghanistan is dwindling fast as many of them have decided to leave the country of their birth to escape growing intolerance and discrimination.
As compared with around 220,000 members before the collapse of the Kabul government in 1992, Afghanistan’s Sikh population now numbers even less than 220 families, which has fallen to an estimated 2,500, according to Avtar Singh, chairman of the national council of Hindus and Sikhs.
The reason for this societal discrimination in the Muslim majority country, and an inability to reclaim Sikh homes, businesses and houses of worship that were illegally seized years ago.
According to media report, in one of latest incident, Jagtar Singh Laghmani, traditional herb shop owner was at his shop when a man turned up, drew a knife and told him to convert to Islam or he would cut his throat. Those who came to his rescue were the bystanders and other shopkeepers.
The incident gave the clear picture of how these minority communities are struggling with growing insecurity caused by an Islamist insurgency and economic woes.
“This is how we begin our day - with fear and isolation. If you are not a Muslim, you are not a human in their eyes,” said Jagtar Singh.
He added, “I don’t know what to do or where to go.”
For centuries Hindu and Sikh communities played a prominent role in merchant trade and money lending in Afghanistan, although today they are known more for medicinal herb shops.
Once spread across Afghanistan, the community is now concentrated in eastern provinces of Nangarhar, Ghazni, and capital Kabul.
Although Afghanistan is almost entirely Muslim, its constitution, in theory, guarantees the right of minority religions to worship freely.
"The good old days have long gone when we were treated as Afghans, not as outsiders," Singh said from a temple in Kabul, all the while keeping an eye on visitors using monitors linked to security cameras.
He added, "Our lands have been taken by powerful figures in the government, especially by the warlords. We are facing threats, and this small community is getting smaller and smaller every day."
Even harassment is also common here in Afghanistan. Although, large number of Sikhs and Hindus have came back to their motherland, but some say they remain foreigners wherever they go.
"When we go to India, we are known as Afghans, but when we are here, we are seen as outsiders even if we are native Afghan," told Baljit Singh, a shopkeeper in Kabul to media.
He added, "We are lost between both worlds."
