Sikh refugee man rescued from Taliban militants' captive

Afghan Sikh Nidan Singh Sachdeva, who was abducted by Taliban militants from Paktika province in eastern Afghanistan while performing community service at a gurudwara almost a month ago, has been rescued.

New Delhi: A 55-year-old man, Nidhan Singh Sachdeva, who was abducted by the Taliban, rescued on Saturday and made his way to freedom after more than one month of captivity in the mountains of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

According to sources, Sachdeva was abducted from Patkia provinces of Afghanistan while performing a service at the Thala Sri Guru Nanak Sahib gurdwara in Chamkani.

While performing community service at a historical Gurudwara named after Guru Nanak Dev Ji in Afghanistan in almost a month ago, he was reportedly abducted by four armed Taliban men.

Following this, Nidhan Singh's wife, Mehrwanti who lives in Delhi, wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and requested him to intervene into the matter.

Acting on the request of Mehrwanti, the government of India contacted its Afghanisthan counterpart and Afghan security forces rescued Sachdeva from Taliban.

Sachdeva, an Afghan national, has been based out of Delhi along with his family of six - wife, 2 sons and 3 daughters. He had moved to India in 1992 due to civil unrest in Afghanistan and have been staying in the national capital as refugees.

He is a cook by profession at a local Gurdwara in Delhi and used to earn a livelihood by undertaking meal orders.

Notably, India had condemned the abduction and Indian Govt was in touch with the Afghan government on the issue. A statement was released that said, "The targeting and persecution of the minority community by a terrorist at the behest of the external support others as a matter of great concern."

After his rescue, Nidhan thanked Governor of Patkia, security agencies of both the coun, Hindu Sikh community and his friends in Afghanistan. Later he paid obeisance at Gurdwara.

Reportedly, Afghanistan has over 600 Sikh families. Over 1 lakh Hindu and Sikh families used to live in Afghanistan but after the rise of the Taliban in 1990 they migrated to India, Canada and other European countries.