In the luggage are copies of the Sikh holy book Shri Guru Granth Sahib Ji. They are carried overhead as a sign of respect. Sikhs have been living in the region from the inception of their religion. It may be the last time Sikhism is in Afghanistan after over 500 years of history.
Some people are also asking why barefoot, its part of the tradition to keep your heads covered and be barefooted, while in presence of the holy book.
Also, these are not the last 3 in the world but the last 3 scriptures in Afghanistan.
At one point in recent afghan history there was a thriving community of up to 500k sikhs in Afghanistan. However since the 80s and even under the supervision of allied soliders sikhs were persecuted and targeted by not just the taliban but other Muslims within the country. As of early this month it was estimated that there are only 200 sikh families left in Afghanistan. Since 2015 There has been pleas and money raised by sikhs all over the world to have the few remaining to be removed but governments have stalled the process until these past few weeks where many have been flown to India while they await to be granted refugee entry to other countries.
Afrin_Drip on August 25th, 2021 at 14:45 UTC »
It’s brutal to see but glad they are doing what they can to preserve historical documents from the Taliban..
Stock_Audience on August 25th, 2021 at 14:48 UTC »
In the luggage are copies of the Sikh holy book Shri Guru Granth Sahib Ji. They are carried overhead as a sign of respect. Sikhs have been living in the region from the inception of their religion. It may be the last time Sikhism is in Afghanistan after over 500 years of history.
Some people are also asking why barefoot, its part of the tradition to keep your heads covered and be barefooted, while in presence of the holy book.
Also, these are not the last 3 in the world but the last 3 scriptures in Afghanistan.
here is a follow-up post.https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/pbs0qw/its_a_followup_post_to_my_last_post_the/
HockeyWala on August 25th, 2021 at 22:07 UTC »
At one point in recent afghan history there was a thriving community of up to 500k sikhs in Afghanistan. However since the 80s and even under the supervision of allied soliders sikhs were persecuted and targeted by not just the taliban but other Muslims within the country. As of early this month it was estimated that there are only 200 sikh families left in Afghanistan. Since 2015 There has been pleas and money raised by sikhs all over the world to have the few remaining to be removed but governments have stalled the process until these past few weeks where many have been flown to India while they await to be granted refugee entry to other countries.