8am: Several Shiite citizens in the country have condemned the use of derogatory terms against Shiites by Taliban officials and institutions. They urge the group to be more cautious in their use of language and terminology. They believe that Taliban officials and institutions should use terms that bridge the gap between sects and religions when
Khaama: It emphasizes that the Taliban failed to protect places of worship in Afghanistan over the past year. The State Department’s annual report also mentions the declining Sikh and Hindu populations, attacks on Shia mosques, and assaults on Hazaras. It cites historical events, including the killing of a Salafi cleric in Kapisa in 2023, prompting
Afghanistan International: The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) stated that religious minorities in Afghanistan face threats from terrorist groups such as ISIS, as well as harassment and persecution from the Taliban. The commission’s report specifically mentions that Shias, Hindus, Sikhs, and Christians are individuals whose religious freedom has been violated. In its
News Line Magazine: Tova Moradi, who was forced to flee Kabul, recalls her religious roots, a girlhood interrupted and the love she still carries – Around sundown on Aug. 31, 2021, a minivan stopped in front of Tova Moradi’s house in Kabul, Afghanistan. She had to get in as quickly and quietly as possible. Any
Ariana: One of the few remaining Sikhs in Afghanistan, Manjit Singh Lamba, has called on the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) to help return their houses and other properties that were taken from them over the years. Lamba, who is head of the Afghan Council of Hindus and Sikhs, said the majority of his community
Khaama: In a concerning move, the Taliban’s Ministry of Higher Education has issued a directive to private universities in Afghanistan to purge their libraries of non-Hanafi Islamic texts, including Shia and other minority religious books. This mandate represents an intensification of the Taliban’s effort to enforce a singular Sunni Hanafi Islamic perspective across educational institutions.
Freshta Negah Abubakar Siddique Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty August 22, 2023 When the Taliban seized power in 2021, there were concerns that some of Afghanistan’s tiny non-Muslim minorities could vanish. Two years on, those fears are becoming realized. Afghanistan’s last-known Jew fled the country shortly after the Taliban takeover. Meanwhile, the Sikh and Hindu communities
Khaama: The last two holy religious scriptures of Sikhism (Saroops) of the Guru Granth Sahib arrived from Afghanistan’s Kabul in Delhi Wednesday. The two Sikh’s Holy Scriptures were carried out by three Afghan Sikhs from Kabul to New Delhi by a non-Scheduled Kam Air flight. Six Holy Scriptures were successfully flown into New Delhi on
By RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi June 18, 2022 An attack on a Sikh temple in Kabul killed at least two people and wounded seven on June 18, following the detonation of a car loaded with explosives, officials said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. A video circulating on social media showed a
VOA News May 16, 2022 Husain Andaryas was a religious fighter in the war against the invading Soviet army in Afghanistan in the early 1980s, but almost a year after the Soviets left, he converted to Christianity. For the next nine years, Andaryas wandered in several regional countries, suffered torture, and was finally offered a