The Taliban has claimed that it has started restoring property to members of the Hindu and Sikh communities.

Suhail Shaheen, Head of the Political Office of the Taliban told The Hindu that the outfit had set up a commission to ensure return of Hindu and Sikh families who have played a historic role in the economy of Afghanistan.

“A commission chaired by the Minister of Justice has been established to return to their owners all properties which had been usurped by warlords during the former regime,” Shaheen claimed in a written answer to The Hindu.

A large number of Sikhs and Hindus were forced to flee Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover which overthrew the government of President Ashraf Ghani.

A number of attacks on Hindus and Sikhs were carried out including the 2022 attack on a Gurudwara in Kabul in which several Sikhs were killed. Conditions became so difficult that the last two ‘swaroops’ of the Sikh holy book, the Guru Granth Sahib were taken from Kabul to Delhi in January 2023.