More than 20 Afghan Sikhs including Afghan Member of Parliament Narinder Singh Khalsa were rescued by the Indian Air Force on Saturday, 21 August, after Taliban took control in Afghanistan.
In a video shared by news agency ANI, Singh breaks down while speaking to the members of the Indian press, after arriving from Kabul on an Indian Air Force evacuation flight on Sunday, 22 August, morning.
When asked how he felt about leaving his country as an MP, Singh said, “This is what is making me cry," reported ANI.
According to PTI, India evacuated 168 people from Kabul in an Indian Air Force (IAF) aircraft, out of which 107 were Indian nationals and others, like Singh, were Afghan Hindus and Sikhs.
'Never Seen Anything Like This': Afghan MP
“We have never seen this kind of situation in Afghanistan and now that we are seeing it, everything is over. Even the government that was built in the last 20 years is finished. Everything is zero now."Narinder Singh Khalsa, Afghan Member of Parliament
Singh had arrived in India from Kabul on a special IAF flight on Sunday morning. The officials at the airport said that all the passengers will first undergo the mandatory COVID-19 RT-PCR test before being allowed to leave the airport.
The Afghanistan MP further said that at least 200 Hindu Sikhs are stranded in the war-torn country. "The situation is worrisome. But religious places are safe as of now," he explained.
He added, "The Taliban is troubling MPs, senators and others by conducting searches in their homes and seizing guns and vehicles."
Singh's father, Avtar Singh, was killed in a 2018 terror attack in Jalalabad. He was running for the elections in October that year. The Islamic State had taken responsibility for the same.
It is worth noting that Singh was stopped by the Taliban from boarding an IAF aircraft on Saturday.
Besides, Indian Air Force, a special Air India flight carrying 87 Indians from Afghanistan’s Kabul also left for Delhi early on Sunday.
Sense of Fear Looms Across Afghanistan: Passengers
Amid the ongoing chaos in Afghanistan, the passengers were in a happy state of mind after they safely came home.
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168 passengers onboard, including 107 Indian nationals, are seen onboard the Indian Air Force special repatriation flight
(Photo: Twitter/ Arindam Bagchi)
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Afghan Sikhs and Hindus reached Ghaziabad's Hindon air force base on Sunday.
(Photo: Twitter/ Arindam Bagchi)
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The Sikh parliamentarian can be seen among the 168 evacuees, including 23 Afghan Sikhs and Hindus onboard IAF's C-17 Globemaster aircraft.
(Photo: Twitter/ Arindam Bagchi)
A passenger coming from Kabul, Hari Thapa told news agency IANS that the sense of fear looms across Afghanistan after the Taliban toppled the government there. "We didn't face much trouble as I was staying in a hotel in Kabul and somehow managed to reach the Kabul airport," he said.
"The Taliban allowed us to go easily. We were staying in a hotel for a week to return to India safely," said Thapa.
When asked about the Indian embassy's role in their safe return, he said that he did not get any help from the embassy. "We managed ourselves to reach the Kabul airport somehow. There was a chaos at the roads in Afghanistan's capital city. Everyone is in a hurry to leave Afghanistan in any way possible," he added.
An Afghan woman who was among the evacuees said that situation was worrisome in her country.
"Situation was deteriorating in Afghanistan, so I came here with my daughter and two grandchildren. Our Indian brothers and sisters came to our rescue. They (Taliban) burnt down my house. I thank India for helping us," she noted.
(With inputs from PTI and IANS)
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