Bowing to international pressure, the Talibangovernment in Afghanistan has agreed not to force Hindusto wear yellow badges, an issue which created a world-widestir, a newspaper here reported today.
According to a fresh understanding reached between the Talibanand the Hindu community, the Hindus would be issued identificationcards and they would be required to keep them in theirpockets and produce them whenever needed, The News dailyquoting diplomatic sources reported.
It said two Pakistani diplomats - Additional Secretary ForeignOffice Aziz Ahmad Khan and Pakistan's Ambassador to KabulArif Ayub - met Afghan Foreign Minister Maulvi Mutawakil recentlyand convinced him to reconsider the militia's decision.
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The Taliban had issued a decree in May this year asking minorities in Afghanistan to wear a piece of thumb-sized yellow cloth on their pockets.
The order had sparked international furore, coming as it does a month after the destruction of the two giant Buddha statues in Bamiyan.
The edict, in reality, affected only the Afghan Hindus. For, the minuscule Sikh population is easily identifiable by turbans and flowing beards.
PTI
