False: India will prioritize Hindus and Sikhs in issuing 'emergency visas' to Afghan nationals.

By: Ishita Goel
August 27 2021

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There are no reports that India prioritized any religion for repatriation from Afghanistan. All Afghan nationals are eligible for the e-Visa. Since the Taliban took over Afghanistan on August 15, 2021, social media is flooded with posts and videos about the prevailing situation. Countries are involved in evacuating their citizens back to their country. Amid this, one assertion made by journalists and netizens came into the picture, which said, "India will prioritize Hindus and Sikhs in issuing emergency visas to Afghan nationals." However, the Indian government has made no statement in support of religion being prioritized while issuing e-Visa. The New York Times published an article on August 17, 2021, claiming India would prioritize the repatriation of Hindus and Sikhs from Afghanistan. Following this, Senior Adviser of the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Kanchan Gupta, rebuffed the report on the same day. In one of his tweets, Gupta cited The New York Times article and said, "India has promptly introduced an emergency e-visa for Afghanistan nationals. No religious criteria were mentioned. Apart from Hindus and Sikhs, India has said it stands by and will offer all assistance to Afghan friends." Gupta also attached the e-Visa online application form image, which did not mention the religion criteria. Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson of Ministry of External Affairs, India, on August 16 tweeted, saying, "MEA (Ministry of External Affairs) has set up a Special Afghanistan Cell to coordinate repatriation and other requests from Afghanistan." The tweet further had all the contact details. Bagchi said they were in constant touch with the representatives of Sikh and Hindu communities in Afghanistan and would facilitate repatriation to those who wanted to leave Afghanistan. Bagchi noted that there were Afghans who had been their associates to promote mutual developmental, educational, and people-to-people endeavors, following which India would stand by them. The Indian government was constantly monitoring the prevailing situation in Afghanistan; in response, the MEA had circulated emergency contact numbers and even extended their assistance to community members, All India Radio News noted. The MEA released a situation report on Afghanistan on August 17, which said the foremost challenge was the operational status of Kabul airport; however, the Government of India remained committed to the safe return of all Indian nationals. MEA had issued periodic travel and security advisories for all Indian citizens in Afghanistan. "Our immediate priority is to obtain accurate information about all Indian nationals currently in Afghanistan," the report clarified. After reviewing visa provisions given the current situation in Afghanistan, Bagchi tweeted about a new category of electronic visa called "e-Emergency X-Misc Visa" was introduced to fast-track visa applications for entry into India. This visa may be granted only once for a particular period, depending on the purpose of the travel. It is non-extendable and non-convertible to any other type of visa. In addition, it also announces that the previous emergency visas issued to Afghanistan nationals have been suspended on August 25 over the prevailing security situation in Afghanistan. Therefore, e-Visa issued by the Indian government applies to all Afghanistan nationals who prefer to travel to India, not only for people of specific religions.