For persecuted Afghan Sikh Community, CAB is blessings from ‘Waheguru’

When the historic Citizenship Amendment Bill was being discussed in the Lower House of the parliament yesterday, I remembered the face of an elderly Sikh Gentleman from Afghanistan whom I had met several years ago during my visit to Amritsar. Though after so many years I am now unable to recall his name I still remember the conversation I had with him and how he had managed to leave Kabul, the place where he was born.

I was still a college student and like every year during winter vacations our entire family was on the annual pilgrimage to Sri Harmandir Sahib popularly known as Golden temple. My grandmother who passed away in 2007, had a habit of packing all her home remedies with her, in case anyone in the family needed them.

'Kahwa' tea and Afghanistan 

One of the famous home remedies used to be “Kahwa” tea which has its origin in Afghanistan and Kahwa leaves used to be a must in the kitty of my grandmother. Kahwa is a conventional green tea consumed largely in northern Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kashmir Valley and some areas of Central Asia

Amritsar is known for its extreme cold conditions and as we all were staying at the Guru Ram Das inn with no heating arrangements, one of my cousins caught a cold and I was assigned the job to get a cup of Kahwa tea prepared for my cousin.

As I was getting Kahwa prepared at the tea stall, I saw an elderly gentleman, wearing a different style of the turban, it was a style that was unheard or unseen by me. 

Sikhs living in different parts of the world have developed their different styles of wearing the turban by seeing them one can find out from which particular region that Sikh belongs too.

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While he was speaking to the tea seller, I could make out that his Punjabi accent was also different. Suddenly the tea seller pointed towards me and I became more curious as to why this man was searching for me. Was there anything wrong.

This gentleman approached me and in a very feeble tone asked me if I could spare a few leaves of Kahwa tea for him as his grandson had cold and fever and he would only feel better if he gets to drink Kahwa. I happily gave him half the cup of Kahwa that was being prepared and promised him more Kahwa leaves. He was thankful and we parted ways, I gave him my room number so that he can come and collect more leaves if he needed them.

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That very evening this elderly man came to our room, but this time he was carrying some aa specialty of Afghanistan. After initial pleasantries, this Sikh man told us that he was from Kabul, “my family was one of the richest families in Afghanistan, we had our traditional dry fruit business in the heart of Kabul City” I remember him telling us.

He narrated how things took an ugly turn after the Taliban took over Afghanistan, he said that the Sikhs, Hindus, and other minorities were being treated as third-class citizens.

“They started kidnapping our female members, the killing of members of the minority community was like a sport for them and we were being forced to pay Jazia. We were being treated worse than animals” he had said.

With tears rolling down his cheeks, that elderly gentleman said that one evening, a few Taliban men forced their entry into his house and told him that if they want to live in Kabul, they should marry their daughter to a local warlord and get converted or they will be killed in next 48 hours.

“We had no option, but to leave our house and somehow we managed to reach India. We have requested Indian citizenship but the government here is yet to take any decision on our application. Even if we don’t get citizenship here, we will die here only but will not leave India”, he said.

The Sikh gentleman left our room and we returned to our home the next day. It’s been several years and I am yet to hear from that Sikh gentleman.

Now when the Lok Sabha passed the citizen Amendment bill that would pave way for granting of citizenship to thousands of the families of minorities who chose India to escape the persecution that they had to face back home, I remembered the teary eyes of that Sikh Gentleman from Afghanistan that today he would be thanking Indian government for fulfilling his desire.

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Sikhs in Afghanistan

According to Wikipedia, before the 1990s, the Afghan Sikh population was estimated at around 50,000. As of 2013, they are around 800 families of which 300 families live in Kabul.

Sikh leaders in Afghanistan claim that the total number of Sikhs is 3,000. Many Sikh families have chosen to emigrate to other countries and the majority of them have chosen Indians to be their second home.

I can say with authority that for thousands of persecuted Afghan Sikhs Citizenship Amendment Bill has been a blessing from “Waheguru”

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