RSS condemns killing of Hindus in Afghanistan

NewsBharati    04-Jul-2018
Total Views |


New Delhi, July 4: Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Sarkaryawah Suresh alias Bhayyaji Joshi Tuesday condemned strongly the gruesome attack and murder of Hindus and Sikhs in Jalalabad state of Afghanistan.

In a statement issued here Joshi called upon the Government of India to recognize the seriousness of the Afghan attack and take appropriate measures. He also hoped that the government of Afghanistan would take steps to identify and punish the guilty of this gruesome attack.

“We hope that the government of Afghanistan will identify and punish the guilty in the most stringent manner. We also urge the government of Bharat (India) to recognize the gravity of this crime and take appropriate steps,” he said.

19 Hindus and Sikhs in Afghanistan’s Jalalabad province were killed in a ghastly attack carried out by the ISIS group on Sunday (July 1). The bomber targeted a Hindu-Sikh delegation as it was travelling to the governor's residence in the eastern city of Jalalabad on Sunday for a meeting with President Ashraf Ghani.

Avtar Singh Khalsa, a longtime leader of the Sikh community, was among those killed. Another 20 people were wounded. In a statement released Monday, ISIS said it had targeted a group of “polytheists.”

Sikhs and Hindus face discrimination in the conservative Muslim country and have been targeted by Islamic extremists in the past, leading many to emigrate. The community numbered more than 80,000 in the 1970s, but today only around 1,000 remain.

Reacting to this cowardly killing of Hindus and Sikhs, the RSS Sarkaryawah hoped that the Government of Afghanistan would identify and punish the guilty. The RSS also urged the Government of India to take appropriate steps keeping in view the seriousness of the matter.

Joshi condoled the death of innocent Hindus and Sikhs and prayed to the Almighty to give strength to their family members to tide over this unimaginable grief and the deceased attain Sadgati.

The RSS appealed to the democratic powers to come together and wipe out the fundamentalist terror groups by taking appropriate steps.