Taliban silent on rights of minorities, we had high hopes from peace process, says Afghan MP Anarkali Kaur Honaryar
Aug 23, 2021
By Lalit Narayan Kandpal
New Delhi [India], August 24 : Afghan Member of Parliament (MP), Anarkali Kaur thanked the Indian government for evacuating Afghan nationals at this juncture when the country is in turmoil as the Taliban took over control of the war-ravaged country and dislodged the Ashraf Ghani government, adding that Taliban has been silent on rights of minorities.
"I thank the Indian government, PM Narendra Modi, Ministry of External Affairs and Indian Air Force. The situation in Afghanistan is unimaginable. No government is existing in Afghanistan. President has not been there for 10 days. We had high hopes of the peace process, but nothing happened, " Afghan Parliament told ANI about her experience of the Taliban's brutality on Monday after touching down in Delhi.
Elaborating about the rapidly deteriorating situation in Afghanistan Anarkali Kaur said, "We can't imagine what will happen in Afghanistan in the next one hour. The situation is dire. Three to four people has been dying daily. There is immense fear among people and can not leave the country as they do not have travel documents. We had to wait from 12 midnight to 10 am in the scorching sun."
Anarkali Kaur said, "The world is controlling the Kabul airport but the rest of Afghanistan is under the control of Taliban terrorists. The situation is deteriorating every day. There is a threat of reprisal killings. The situation in Afghanistan is unimaginable."
"You can imagine the situation if there is no president. After two failed attempts, we managed to flee the country with the help of the Indian Air Force and American soldiers. Firing and gunshots were heard everywhere in Kabul", said Anarkali Kaur, the only female Sikh MP in Afghanistan.
Speaking about the rights given to the minorities in the Taliban regime, she said, "20 years ago, Taliban used to think that Sikhs and Hindus were not entitled to any rights as they are not Muslims. When a Taliban spokesperson addressed the media for the first time, he did not mention Sikhs and Hindus and their rights. It is uncertain whether minorities will have any rights in future."
Expressing her gratitude to the Indian government, Anarkali Kaur added, " I thank the Indian government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Ministry of External Affairs, and Indian Air Force for evacuating us."
On Sunday, India evacuated about 300 people from Kabul after the Taliban seized control of most parts of Afghanistan. The Afghanistan government collapsed and President Ashraf Ghani fled the country. A humanitarian crisis has been unfolding in the war-torn country.