BONN, Germany—Over 50 Afghan Hindus and Sikhs living in Germany protested here on Sunday on the eve of an International Conference on Afghanistan in Germany, demanding the right to practice of religion and the right to education for their communities in Afghanistan.
Protestors gathered from various parts of Germany, including Frankfurt and Essen, and called for better Indian origin people living in Afghanistan.
“The general problem of Afghan Hindus in Afghanistan is the cremation problem, just now what they are facing, they do not have any proper cremation ground. The cremation ground they had from last 40 or 50 years has been already occupied by some local Muslims and they do not allow our Hindus and Sikhs to cremate and perform rites in the cremation ground,” said Rohit Kapoor, a protestor.
The protestors also said that children in Afghanistan often face discrimination at school and some of them are even forced to convert to Islam.
“Afghan Hindus and Sikhs also face problems in schools in Afghanistan, they often face humiliation at school and in some areas do not even have enough access to education. Some of our children are converted to Islam forcefully, as of now we are protesting this and hope that we find a solution soon,” said Lek Raj, another protestor.
They also demanded the Afghan government to rebuild religious places of the Hindus and Sikhs, which were destroyed during the war in Afghanistan.
