A group of 30 Afghan Sikhs arrived in New Delhi on Wednesday, part of an exodus by members of the minority community caused by repeated terrorist attacks.
“The situation is worsening day by day … terrorism is the main problem," Mahendra Singh, one of the Afghan Sikhs, told local media after arriving in the Indian capital. "The situation has been like this forever … they are targeting Sikhs, non-Muslims.”
The group came from Jalalabad city, in the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar where the local branch of ISIS established a foothold in 2015.
They are staying at a Sikh temple in Delhi and will be settled in various Indian cities, said Vikramjit Singh Sahney, an Indian parliamentarian and president of World Punjabi Organisation, an NGO that supports the relocation of Sikhs from Afghanistan.
“We offered to bring them at our cost … it is devastating to leave one’s home, it reminds me of Partition," Mr Sahney told The National, referring to the mass migration of Hindus and Muslims between India and the newly created state of Pakistan at the end of British colonial rule.
"They had their life, their jobs … the legacy of Sikhs is coming to an end in Afghanistan."
His group and other Sikh organisations had teamed up to bring about two dozen Afghan Sikhs from Kabul to New Delhi last month.
He said there were only about 85 Sikhs still in Afghanistan, of whom 61 were waiting for the Indian government to approve their online visa applications.
Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, visited Kabul in the 15th century and tens of thousands of Sikhs have lived in the area in the centuries since. In the 1800s, the Sikh ruler Ranjit Singh extended his empire from Punjab in present-day India to parts of Afghanistan.
Many Afghan Sikhs came to India during British rule and after the Partition in 1947.
Their numbers in Afghanistan dwindled further during decades of civil war in the country and religious persecution under different regimes, with most of them emigrating to the US, Canada or Australia.
There were only an estimated 100 Sikh families living in Afghanistan when the Taliban seized power in August last year, and their numbers continued to drop after repeated attacks on their community, despite assurances of safety from the country's new rulers.
The Afghan branch of ISIS — ISKP — claimed an attack on the Karte Parwan Gurdwara in Kabul in June, in which at least two people were killed.
In October last year, about 20 armed men entered the same temple and tied up the guards before vandalising the interior and destroying security cameras.
In 2020, at least 25 Sikh worshippers were killed when suicide bombers attacked the Har Rai Sahib Gurudwara in the Afghan capital.
New Delhi is not a signatory to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention but it grants shelter to foreigners facing persecution in their countries on a case-by-case basis. It has hosted refugees and asylum-seekers for decades.
It has granted long-term visas to more than 11,000 Afghans of all religions who fled their country during the Taliban's rule from 1996 to 2001 and the subsequent two decades of war after the US invasion.
Mr Sahney’s NGO has assisted with the rehabilitation of Afghan Sikhs for years and helps them with rent, children's education, medical insurance and learning job skills.
“There are over 600 Afghan Sikh refugees" in India, he said.
"I have demanded the government to provide citizenship to the refugees. They have no place to go to.”
Napoleon
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Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Match info
Athletic Bilbao 0
Real Madrid 1 (Ramos 73' pen)
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
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Find the right policy for you
Don’t wait until the week you fly to sign up for insurance – get it when you book your trip. Insurance covers you for cancellation and anything else that can go wrong before you leave.
Some insurers, such as World Nomads, allow you to book once you are travelling – but, as Mr Mohammed found out, pre-existing medical conditions are not covered.
Check your credit card before booking insurance to see if you have any travel insurance as a benefit – most UAE banks, such as Emirates NBD, First Abu Dhabi Bank and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, have cards that throw in insurance as part of their package. But read the fine print – they may only cover emergencies while you’re travelling, not cancellation before a trip.
Pre-existing medical conditions such as a heart condition, diabetes, epilepsy and even asthma may not be included as standard. Again, check the terms, exclusions and limitations of any insurance carefully.
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Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha
Starring: Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Shantanu Maheshwari, Jimmy Shergill, Saiee Manjrekar
Director: Neeraj Pandey
Rating: 2.5/5
US tops drug cost charts
The study of 13 essential drugs showed costs in the United States were about 300 per cent higher than the global average, followed by Germany at 126 per cent and 122 per cent in the UAE.
Thailand, Kenya and Malaysia were rated as nations with the lowest costs, about 90 per cent cheaper.
In the case of insulin, diabetic patients in the US paid five and a half times the global average, while in the UAE the costs are about 50 per cent higher than the median price of branded and generic drugs.
Some of the costliest drugs worldwide include Lipitor for high cholesterol.
The study’s price index placed the US at an exorbitant 2,170 per cent higher for Lipitor than the average global price and the UAE at the eighth spot globally with costs 252 per cent higher.
High blood pressure medication Zestril was also more than 2,680 per cent higher in the US and the UAE price was 187 per cent higher than the global price.
THREE
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Best Foreign Language Film nominees
Capernaum (Lebanon)
Cold War (Poland)
Never Look Away (Germany)
Roma (Mexico)
Shoplifters (Japan)
OPINIONS ON PALESTINE & ISRAEL
Women & Power: A Manifesto
Mary Beard
Profile Books and London Review of Books
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo hybrid
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
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Sector: Water technology
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Pakistan Super League
Previous winners
2016 Islamabad United
2017 Peshawar Zalmi
2018 Islamabad United
2019 Quetta Gladiators
Most runs Kamran Akmal – 1,286
Most wickets Wahab Riaz –65
RACE CARD
5pm: Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 1,400m
5.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh70,000 1,000m
6pm: Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 2,000m
6.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 2,000m
7pm: Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 1,600m
7.30pm: Al Ain Mile Group 3 (PA) Dh350,000 1,600m
8pm: Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 1,600m
Amith's selections:
5pm: AF Sail
5.30pm: Dahawi
6pm: Taajer
6.30pm: Pharitz Oubai
7pm: Winked
7.30pm: Shahm
8pm: Raniah
Why are asylum seekers being housed in hotels?
The number of asylum applications in the UK has reached a new record high, driven by those illegally entering the country in small boats crossing the English Channel.
A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation while their claim is assessed.
The Home Office provides the accommodation, meaning asylum seekers cannot choose where they live.
When there is not enough housing, the Home Office can move people to hotels or large sites like former military bases.
Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
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- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
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- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
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- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
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Mercedes V250 Avantgarde specs
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What are the influencer academy modules?
- Mastery of audio-visual content creation.
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- Emerging technologies and VFX with AI and CGI.
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Company%C2%A0profile
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Squads
Sri Lanka Tharanga (c), Mathews, Dickwella (wk), Gunathilaka, Mendis, Kapugedera, Siriwardana, Pushpakumara, Dananjaya, Sandakan, Perera, Hasaranga, Malinga, Chameera, Fernando.
India Kohli (c), Dhawan, Rohit, Rahul, Pandey, Rahane, Jadhav, Dhoni (wk), Pandya, Axar, Kuldeep, Chahal, Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar, Thakur.
