140 Afghan Sikhs stopped from attending Guru Tegh Bahadur's birth anniversary in India
Darpan News Desk IANS, 26 Aug, 2021 11:48 AM
Kabul/New Delhi, Aug 26 (IANS) At least 140 Afghan Sikh pilgrims who were scheduled to arrive in Delhi on Thursday to attend the celebrations marking the 400th birth anniversary of Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur, were stopped by the Taliban to board a flight from Kabul.
"A kirtan darbar is scheduled to be held on Sunday. Community members from various parts of the world are arriving here. Unfortunately the Taliban denied the 140 pilgrims access to the Kabul airport," said Afghan national Partap Singh, who is President of the Sri Guru Arjan Dev Ji gurdwara in New Mahavir Nagar.
The 400th birth anniversary of Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur, the ninth Sikh Guru, will be marked in a grand manner.
"We had requested the Indian government to facilitate their attendance at the mega celebrations. Regret to note that last night these law abiding pilgrims were turned back by Taliban security forces from the airport after waiting for more than 15 hours in their convoys," said Afghan-origin Guljeet Singh, president of the Guru Nanak Sahib ji gurudwara in Vikaspuri.
Indian World Forum President Puneet Singh has appealed to the Taliban to facilitate an early departure of the Afghan Hindu and Sikh pilgrims in the interest of humanity.
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A delegation of Sikh leaders on Tuesday met Union Minister of State for Home Affairs G. Kishan Reddy over the recent incident of forcible religious conversion of two Sikh girls in the Kashmir valley and submitted a memorandum in this regard.
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Monday favoured the need to start breeding crocodiles in the state's rivers, especially the Beas and the Sutlej, as they were found in abundance six decades ago.
Facing massive statewide agitation by farmers over power outages, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Friday issued directions to ensure eight-hour uninterrupted power supply and to purchase deficient power from outside the state at any cost to prevent any supply disruption in the ongoing sowing season.
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