Have the Sikhs in Kabul been targeted under some deeper conspiracy?

 

The above picture is of the ISIS –Khurasan terrorist who, the organisation claimed, carried out the attack on the Sikhs in the gurdwara in Kabul in Afghanistan. The name is Abu Khalid al-Hindi.

The picture along with the claim has been released by Khaama Press news agency in Afghanistan. The report dated March 27 states: “The offshoot of the Islamic State terror group, ISIS Khurasan, claimed that the attack on Sikh temple in Kabul was carried out by Abu Khalild al-Hindi. The Amaq News Agency, affiliated with the terror group released the photo of the suicide bomber who stormed the Sikh temple in Kabul city on Wednesday. The terror group also issued a brief statement claiming that the Sikh minority group was the target of the attack.”

The story is headlined “Abu Khalid al-Hindi carried out the attack on Sikh temple in Kabul: ISIS-K”.

The media coverage of the terrorist attack on a Gurdwara in Kabul in Afghanistan killing 25 Sikh men, women and children indicate some deeper design rather than just being an action against a minority.

The number of Sikh families in Afghanistan is about 300. Many of them had shifted during Taliban regime when they too were singled out.

The reports carried by the Al Jazeera, the Washington Post, the Hindustan Times and the Jalandhar based Punjabi Daily Ajit are important in this context and provide some insight into the dynamics.

The Al Jazeera reported on March 25: “The attack on Wednesday was claimed by the ISIL (ISIS) armed group. Earlier, the Taliban armed group denied it was behind the siege that left at least eight others wounded”. 

The Indian newspaper Hindustan Times stated on March 25: “Gunmen stormed a religious gathering of Afghanistan’s minority Sikhs in their place of worship (gurdwara) in the heart of Kabul’s old city on Wednesday, killing 25 people. Within hours, the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack”.

On the first day of the reporting, every newspaper carried the claim of the ISIS owning responsibility for the attack. The militant organisation did not give any explanation for targeting the Sikhs.

The perception of Taliban and ISIS differ on the issue of minorities.

The AP report in Washington Post  dated March 26 is important in this context. It states: “The Islamic State affiliate in Afghanistan claimed responsibility for the attack on the group’s Amaq media arm, according to SITE Intelligence Group, which tracks militant postings and groups. The gunmen was identified as Indian national Abu Khalid al-Hindi.”

It is in the context of the ISIS claim with follow up by AP that the subsequent reports appearing in a section of the Indian media are crucial from many aspects.

The Hindustan Times said on March 26: “According to information reaching Delhi from Afghan and western security agencies, the strike was ordered by Quetta Shura of Taliban at the behest of Pakistani deep state with the larger motive of driving out India from Afghanistan….The entire operation was code-named Blackstar by the Pakistan intelligence, which used the Haqqani network led by Taliban’s deputy commander Sirrajuddin Haqqani  and elements of LeT…. Since the US announced a deal with the Taliban on February 29, there has been a spurt in violence in Afghanistan with resurgence of the Haqqani network and relocation of terror camps of both LeT and Jaish-e-Mohammed from Pakistan…According to counter-terror analysts, the Haqqani network comprises mainly of Zardan tribe based in Nangarhar, Khost, Nuristan and Kunar provinces, which is in direct conflict with the miniscule Sikh community over land in Jalalabad and trade in Kabul.”

The Hindustan Times report was headlined “Haqqani, Lashkar terrorists behind attack, Intel reports”.

What is all the more important that the Daily Ajit also carries the same headline the same day indicating the involvement of these two militant organisations. One report is from Delhi and the other is datelined Jalandhar.

What an interesting coincidence. These are not spot reports but based upon  sources and carry the same headline.

Earlier, both the Hindustan Times and the Ajit had carried the same day the gunning down of Khalistan Liberation Force leader Harmeet Singh alias Happy PhD near Lahore in Pakistan on January 20, 2020.

Within hours of the Kabul attack, it is the reaction of the media team and some leaders from the BJP and the Sangh Parivar that is equally important.  The BJP brigade tried to chastise the Sikh community in India in the context of the Langar served by the Sikhs to the Muslim women protesters sitting on dharna at Shaheen Bagh in Delhi. The effort by this brigade was to create a wedge between the Sikhs from the Muslims.

The Sikhs by and large have support the minorities in this struggle against the CAA of which the Shaheen Bagh has become a symbol. The Sikhs and the Muslims have been coming together after Pakistan accepted the Sikh demand for Kartarpur Sahib Corridor. Going by Punjab police chief Dinkar Gupta, India has security concerns in the context of this corridor.

The ISIS is not part of the deal entered into by USA with Taliban in Afghanistan in which Pakistan has played a strategic role. India was side-lined in the process. The ISIS and Taliban are the two competing forces in Afghanistan.

It is in this context that the Sikhs could have become target in the strategic power play in the region.

Pertinent to mention here is the massacre of the Sikhs in Chattisinghpora in Jammu and Kashmir on  March 20, 2000 in which 35 persons were gunned down. That action was part of some deeper design.