Inside a gurdwara in Kabul, anxiety ran high on Monday as over 200 people waited to hear back from the Indian embassy, with gunshots ringin...
Inside a gurdwara in Kabul, anxiety ran high on Monday as over 200 people waited to hear back from the Indian embassy, with gunshots ringing on the streets outside. Most of them were Sikhs, some were Hindus. Although Afghan nationals, they were all keen to leave the country, fearful of what Taliban rule would mean for religious minorities.
“I was three when the Taliban ruled, I don’t have memories from back then,” said a young Sikh man, who requested anonymity in a conversation on the phone. “But my father narrated stories of how they lived in fear.”
The Taliban had ruled Afghanistan in the 1990s, imposing a hardline version of Sharia law on all citizens, before they were ousted by American forces in 2001. With the US withdrawing its troops after two decades this summer, Taliban forces recaptured territory at lightning speed, sweeping into Kabul on Sunday, stunning both Afghan citizens and the rest of the world.
By Monday, the Taliban had taken over full control of the capital. “Today morning representatives from the Taliban came and took away a pistol from one of the MPs [members of Parliament] staying with us,” said one of the men currently staying at the gurdwara. “They said we are...
