Despite being dealt a major blow this year, Afghanistan’s Hindu and Sikh communities came out in full strength on Saturday to vote in the country’s parliamentary elections.
For the first time since the fall of the Taliban in 2001 these two minorities are voting to elect a member of the lower house, a seat they will hold jointly.
“This is our chance to put our representative in parliament,” Ram Prakash, a Hindu businessman from Kabul told The National.
Their candidate, Narendra Singh Khalsa, is the son of original nominee Avtaar Singh Khalsa – killed in July in a suicide attack in Jalalabd.
The blast killed 17 other members of the already dwindling communities.
“The community is still recovering from the tragedy but we have to continue to move forward together. This is that opportunity for us to seek our rights as Afghans,” Mr Khalsa told The National. “Of course we are sad and upset, just like any Afghan is these days. We are faced with difficult times, whether we are Hindus, Sikhs or Muslims.”
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