<p style="font-weight: 400;">The massacre of 27 Sikhs in Afghanistan by jihadists has again underlined the danger religious minorities face in the nation where the fundamentalists are gaining ground.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">Not too long ago, hundreds of Hindu and Sikh families lived peacefully in the heart of Kabul. Most loved Afghanistan as much as their Muslim brethren did. But, gradually, as the country became a permanent war zone and radicals ruled, many fled—to Pakistan and not-so-far India.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">Some of them, especially Sikhs, stayed back. ‘We’ve lived here for generations, nothing will happen to us’—this was their argument.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">Last year, the ISIS carried a suicide bombing attack in Jalalabad killing 19 people, mostly Sikhs and Hindus who were going to meet President Ashraf Ghani.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">Targeted, abused, threatened, murdered, many families packed their bags and left Afghan borders. Some of them, especially Sikhs, stayed back. ‘We've lived here for generations…’</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">Today, members of some of those 300 Sikh families still staying in Afghanistan started the day by visiting Gurdwara Har Rai Sahib in Kabul's Shor Bazaar. It was their daily ritual, which turned out to be the last of their lives for many.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">Terrorists armed with sophisticated weapons and grenades, stormed the holy complex, killing 27 people and seriously wounding a dozen—all Sikhs.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">A terror attack in the times of a global pandemic is barbaric. And barbarism is exactly what the Islamic State militant group, who claimed responsibility for today's attack, is known for.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">Hours after the early morning attack, videos on social media appeared of Sikh men, women, and kids crying for help while being trapped inside the Gurdwara with sound of gunfire battle between terrorists and security forces audible in the background.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">"The attack on the religious sites shows the extreme weakness of the enemy, they should not be vulnerable to attacks and violence," said President Ghani.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">Iran's embassy in Kabul "sympathized with the families." Diplomats like Germany's Ambassador in Kabul Peter Prugel, while strongly condemning the attack, asked "responsible Afghan political and religious leaders to stand united against religious or ethnic hatred and violence."</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">Whether the people who rule Afghanistan possess the capability to defend the majority—forget about the minorities—of their country has always been the big question.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">"Four hundred-year-old Kabul was everything for the 40 Sikh families living there. During civil war in 2001, the gurdwara had been destroyed and yet again it has been attacked and several Sikhs have been massacred! Why don’t Sikhs leave Afghanistan?" tweeted Harjinder Singh Kukreja, Ludhiana-based industrialist.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">Yes, it isn't easy to leave your birthplace. Yes, it isn't easy for the Afghan Sikhs to relocate to Pakistan either where the treatment wouldn't be much different. India, however, has always come to their rescue. There are several localities in Delhi where Sikhs who've come from Afghanistan are living happily, just like any other Indian.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">"I strongly condemn the terror attack on Gurudwara in Kabul and extend my heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families &amp; wish speedy recovery to injured. All public aid will be provided by the Indian govt. to the affected members of Hindu and Sikh community of Afghanistan," tweeted BJP president J.P. Nadda.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">This is where India's new Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) can come to the rescue of Sikhs by making their citizenship easier. The act provides non-Muslim immigrants from India's three Muslim-majority neighbors to become citizens of India.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">Padma Bhushan recipient David Frawley took on those people who criticized the CAA. "Let those who call CAA undemocratic for trying to help religious minorities in Islamic countries like Pakistan and Afghanistan respond to this massacre of Sikhs by ISIS. Will they show any sympathy or compassion or just remain silent or vindictive?” tweeted Frawley.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">The families in Kabul and in other parts of Afghanistan need to decide fast.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">Who rules Afghanistan in the future—the Islamic State or the Taliban—wouldn't change their fortune much, sadly.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">The jihadists will continue to massacre the minorities.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">Bureaucrat-turned author Sanjay Dixit's tweet after the brutal killings today pretty much sums up the current scenario: "Barely a thousand Sikhs left in Afghanistan, but Islamists cannot tolerate even that minuscule number. They want to throw out every single non-believer from the 3 neighboring countries, and agitate in India to deny refuge to them."</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">It's always been a matter of life and death for the Sikhs and Hindus in Afghanistan.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">After Wednesday, they need to decide fast—now or never?</p>.