Last Hindu priest of Kabul, Pandit Rajesh Kumar of Rattan Nath Temple refuses to flee

As the Taliban took over Afghanistan on Sunday (August 15), and President Ashraf Ghani left the country for Oman with his senior staff, one Hindu priest whose family has been in charge of the Rattan Nath temple has refused to be evacuated from Kabul.

He said, “Some Hindus have urged me to leave Kabul & offered to arrange for my travel and stay. But my ancestors served this Mandir for hundreds of years. I will not abandon it. If Taliban kills me, I consider it my Seva.”

Earlier it was reported that the last known Jew of Afghanistan, Zabulon Simantov, left the country.

Zabulon Simantov was born and brought up in the Afghan city of Herat, he has been looking after the synagogue, a Jewish place for worship, in Kabul for about four decades.

Afghanistan was once home to lakhs of Hindus and Sikhs who lived in peace and harmony, but now the Taliban which has declared Afghanistan an emirate will impose Sharia law.