Union Jal Shakti Minister C. R. Paatil on Sunday, 12 July 2026, shared a statement attributing to Prime Minister Narendra Modi the account of how India facilitated the repatriation of sacred Sikh scriptures from Afghanistan during the 2021 crisis, underscoring the government's commitment to protecting Sikh religious heritage abroad.

Context

Paatil quoted PM Modi as saying: 'जब अफगानिस्तान में संकट आया, तो हम गुरु ग्रंथ साहब के पवित्र स्वरूपों को पूरे मान के साथ भारत लेकर आए' — ('When the crisis came in Afghanistan, we brought the sacred forms of the Guru Granth Sahib to India with full honour'). The post further cites Modi attributing to the great Sikh Gurus a message of 'service, courage, equality, and compassion to all of humanity.'

The statement was shared by Paatil, a senior BJP leader and former Gujarat BJP state president, as part of a broader pattern of official communication that frames India's regional foreign policy in terms of civilisational and humanitarian values.

Policy Backdrop

In August 2021, as the Taliban rapidly advanced across Afghanistan, the Government of India mounted a significant humanitarian and cultural rescue operation. Special flights were arranged to evacuate Afghan Sikhs and Hindus, and copies of the Guru Granth Sahib — the eternal living scripture of the Sikh faith — were brought back from gurdwaras in Kabul with full state honours.

The operation was widely noted within the Sikh community both in India and globally as a demonstration of the Indian government's sensitivity toward minority religious heritage in conflict zones. It was consistent with earlier Indian operations supporting persecuted minorities in the region.

Stakeholders and Impact

The Sikh community has historically maintained deep ties to Afghanistan, with gurdwaras in Kabul, Jalalabad, and other cities serving as centres of faith and community life for generations. The Taliban takeover in 2021 effectively ended a centuries-old Sikh presence in the country, making the safe return of the Guru Granth Sahib saroops a matter of profound religious and emotional significance.

The government's role in the repatriation has since been invoked repeatedly in official messaging as evidence of India's values-driven approach to foreign policy and its responsibility toward diaspora and minority communities in distress.

What's Next

With India-Afghanistan engagement remaining a delicate diplomatic question under the current dispensation, official statements such as this one signal continued political attention to the welfare of remaining Sikh and Hindu minorities in Afghanistan and the fate of religious heritage left behind. Any further steps on preserving or recovering Sikh religious sites in Afghanistan will be closely watched by community leaders and foreign-policy observers alike.