Afghan MP Narender Singh. along with other Hindu and Sikh representatives meet with the Taliban deputy PM on Thursday

AMBALA: Representatives of minority Sikh and Hindu communities in Afghanistan, including MP Narender Singh Khalsa who had flown to India after the Taliban took over Kabul in August, held a meeting with Maulvi Abdul Kabir, deputy prime minister of the Islamic Emirates of Afghanistan (IEA) government on Thursday reports TOI.

Well placed sources in Delhi said Kabul MP Khalsa and Manjeet Singh of Jalalabad flew back to Afghanistan four days ago against the wishes of Afghan Minorities Group (AMG), a joint coordination committee comprising of Afghan-origin Hindus and Sikhs living in India and Afghanistan the report further added.

As per reports of an Afghanistan-based channel, during the meeting, the Hindu and Sikh community representatives told him that they wanted to stay in Afghanistan and play a constructive role in the development of the country.

"Maulvi Abdul Kabir told them that the Taliban government has provided security to all and that their policy for everyone, including minorities, is to live in prosperity and peace. All ethnic groups and citizens of the country have the right to live and to contribute to the development of the country," reported Aamaj News.

The Afghan minorities also demanded return of their usurped land and property, added the report.

Apart from Khalsa, Gurnam Singh, president of Gurdwara Sahib Dashmesh Pita at Karte Parwan near Kabul and Ram Sharan Bhasin, a Kabul-based leader of Hindus were present in the meeting among others.

Efforts were made to contact MP Khalsa and Singh but they could not be contacted.

MP Khalsa had flown to India after the Taliban had taken over the control of the government in Afghanistan and on his arrival here, he had broken down while speaking to the Indian press.

"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," he had said after being evacuated from Kabul in an Indian Air Force aircraft on August 22, 2021.

India had then evacuated 168 people, of whom 107 were Indian nationals and the remaining were Afghan Hindus and Sikhs. Another batch of nearly 100 persons was flown to India in the second week of December. The Afghan minorities had brought along some Saroops (Scriptures) of Guru Granth Sahib and some holy books of the Hindu faith.