Canada urged to give asylum to Afghan Sikhs, Hindus

Toronto, July 9: The Canada India Foundation (CIF) has urged the country to accept Sikh and Hindu minority communities from Afghanistan as refugees following the killing of 19 Sikhs by an IS suicide bomber in Jalalabad. “This dastardly act is yet another sign of the continuing victimisation of the religious minorities in Afghanistan and Pakistan by fundamentalist Islamist forces,” said CIF chair Ajit Someshwar at the foundation’s weekend gala. He said Canada should help alleviate the plight of Sikh and Hindu minorities in Afghanistan and Pakistan the same way it helped Syrian refugees by giving them asylum in the country. “Just as Canada took the lead in accepting Syrian refugees, the Canadian government should also allow the members of the minority Sikh and Hindu communities from Afghanistan and Pakistan to immigrate to Canada,” Somes-hwar said. (IANS)