India's #OperationDeviShakti winning hearts of Sikh community

In scenes that would forever be etched in the hearts of not only the Sikh community but all Indians following the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, one of them would be three of the last six Swaroops of the holy scripture, Sri Guru Granth Sahib that was evacuated from the war-torn country on a flight to India.

 

 

Amid the Afghanistan crisis, the picture of Sikh men carrying three Swaroops of the ‘Living Guru’ on their heads and walking barefoot inside Kabul airport had gone viral. Among the most striking images emerging from the flight of Sikhs from Afghanistan, the picture might be one of the moments that would leave a mark in minds of people.

 

 

The Swaroops were later recevied by Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan and senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader RP Singh. Puri was "blessed to receive & pay obeisance to three holy Swaroop of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji from Kabul to Delhi." He had thanked PM Narendra Modi for making it possible to carry out these rescue operations.

 

 

 

Sri Guru Granth Sahib is more than just a holy scripture for the followers of Sikhism. They consider it as their ‘Living Guru’ as it contains the Gurbani — the teachings of ten Gurus of Sikhism, including the founder Guru Nanak Dev. It should be noted that this is not the first time that Swaroops were shifted from Kabul to India. When an Islamic State gunman stormed inside the Gurudwara Har Rai Sahib in Kabul on March 25 last year and killed at least 25 Sikhs — seven such Swaroops from different gurdwaras of Afghanistan were shifted to India.

 

 

It was not only about bringing these sacred Swaroops to India but the vulnerable Afghan Sikhs who were left stranded in the war-torn country. When PM Modi chaired a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), he had instructed all concerned officials to undertake all necessary measures on the current situation and on the evacuation of Indian nationals and vulnerable Afghans, especially the minorities.

 

 

 

He had clearly said, "India must not only protect our citizens, but we must also provide refuge to those Sikh and Hindu minorities who want to come to India, and we must also provide all possible help to our Afghan brothers and sisters who are looking towards India for assistance." Unlike some publications like New York Times who spoke blatant lies about the Indian government adopting 'religious' criteria for its Visa policy for Afghan nationals.

 

 

Since then, an operation called 'Operation Devi Shakti' has been introduced for the evacuation of people from Afghanistan. According to the latest updates, a total of 626 people including 228 Indian citizens have been evacuated from Afghanistan till now. Out of them, 77 were Afghan Sikhs (The number could have been increased).

 

 

The evacuated Sikhs have thanked the Indian government and PM Narendra Modi for the safe evacuation from a place where every human right is being violated. These people have also become emotional and teared up while expressing gratitude towards the Prime Ministers.

 

 

Afghan MP Narender Singh Khalsa also thanked PM Modi, the government & the Indian Air Force for rescuing him and the Afghan Sikh minority community from the Taliban in Kabul. He was in tears after reaching India on an IAF plane. The MP, while narrating his ordeal had said terrorism is at its peak in Afghanistan and that Hindus and Sikhs are facing persecution at the hands of Islamist extremists. It should be noted that his father Avtar Singh was killed in a 2018 terror attack in Jalalabad.

 

 

Several such emotional scenes were witnessed after Afghan residents were evacuated who thanked India for rescuing them safely from Taliban-held Afghanistan. These heart-wrenching scenes from the members of the community thanking the Govt, the armed forces, and the people who flew the scripture from Afghanistan to India safely and with respect, speak volumes about the importance of this entire evacuation program by India.