Sikhs Targeted in Jalalabad Explosion

On July1, 2018, the city of Jalalabad in Afghanistan was rocked by an explosion during the visit of Afghani president Ashraf Ghani. President Ghani was visiting the region to open a new hospital and was not near the blast when it occurred. The blast killed at least 19 individuals and injured dozens more. Most of the dead and injured were of Afghanistan’s Sikh minority.

Reports from Indian media outlets assert that the Pakistani Taliban committed the attack with assistance from Pakistan’s ISI. The number of Sikh’s that live within Afghanistan today is around 1,000; in the 1970’s that number was more than 80,000.

For decades, Sikh and Hindu minorities have faced oppression in Afghanistan. Beginning in 2001, the Taliban forced Sikhs and Hindus to wear an identity label on their clothing as a means of making them stand out from non-Muslim Afghanis. The Taliban also forced Hindu women to cover themselves with veils in the same fashion as Muslims. Mohammed Wali, the minister of the Taliban’s religious police in 2001 stated, “The decision is in line with Islam. Religious minorities living in an Islamic state must be identified.”

The Indian Embassy in Kabul condemned the attack that targeted Hindus and Sikhs. They also confirmed that one of the deceased was Awtar Singh Khalsa, a long-time leader within the Sikh community who was planning on running in the parliamentary elections taking place in October.

Khalsa had hopes of representing the dwindling Sikh and Hindu minorities on a quest for peace and stability in the Afghan society. Khalsa was running unopposed for a seat in the parliament that was allocated to the Sikh minority beginning in 2016. He was hoping to bring peace to the region and serve Afghanis of all backgrounds, not just those of the Sikh and Hindu religion.

The attack comes just a day after the government resumed offensive operations against the Taliban. The Afghani Government had been adhering to a ceasefire for the last 18 days, three of which overlapped with the Taliban-implemented ceasefire during the Eid festival at the end of Ramadan.

This attack highlights the increasing threat that the Sikhs are facing within Afghanistan. Members of the Sikh community are now having to decide if they will convert to Islam or re-locate to India where Sikhism was founded and they are openly allowed to practice their religion.