Rising Fear for Other Religious Minorities Afghanistan is home to a diverse array of ethnic groups, including Pashtuns (42 percent), Tajiks (27 percent), Hazaras (9 percent), Uzbeks (9 percent), Turkmen (3 percent), and Baloch (2 percent). Historically, the nation also was religiously diverse, but the vast majority of non-Muslims fled after the Taliban consolidated control of the government in 1996. The Hindu and Sikh population, for example, dropped from 220,000 in the early 1990s to a little over 200 today. The country’s current population is approximately 99.7 percent Muslim (84.7–89.7 percent Sunni and 10–15 percent Shi’a, including Ismailis), with the few remaining non-Muslims (Hindus, Sikhs, Baha’is, Christians, Buddhists, Zoroastrians, and others, including one known Jew) comprising the remaining 0.3 percent. Afghanistan’s 2004 constitution—which recognizes Islam as the official religion—requires all parliamentary laws to respect Islamic principles and educational curricula to be based on the Islamic faith. Moreover, the constitution requires the courts to rely on Hanafi Shari’a jurisprudence in the absence of governing constitutional or legal provisions, which has the effect of criminalizing blasphemy (subject to the death penalty), apostasy, and proselytizing by non-Muslims. In 2009, the Shi’a Personal Status Law allowed Shi’a Muslims to be judged by their own laws, the Ja’fari school of jurisprudence. Since the fall of the Taliban government in 2001, religious minority communities slowly regained footing in society. Shi’a Muslims’ sociopolitical standing improved, with members of the community holding key positions in government, media, and private industry. Additionally, Hindus and Sikhs have been represented in parliament since 2016 with a reserved seat, and some have been employed in government service. Despite this representation, Hindus and Sikhs face systematic discrimination and increasing violence. Although the Afghan constitution stipulates followers of religions other than Islam may exercise their faith within the limits of the law, conversion from Islam to another religion is considered apostasy. This crime is punishable by death, imprisonment, confiscation of property, or deportation according to the Afghan government’s prevailing interpretation of Sunni Islam’s Hanafi school of jurisprudence, which according to the constitution applies if there is no relevant provision in the law. Small populations of the Christian, Baha’i, and Ahmadiyya religious communities exist in secret due to fear of reprisal. In 2020, fear among religious minorities markedly increased due to a variety of factors, including the downsizing of the U.S. troop presence, continued violence, and the government’s lack of control over the entirety of the country’s territory. In 2007, the General Directorate of Fatwas and Accounts of the Supreme Court declared the Baha’i faith to be blasphemous. The Baha’i community has lived in secret since this ruling. According to sources, there are about 450 adherents of the Ahmadiyya faith residing in Kabul. Although the Afghan constitution does not legally define the Ahmadiyya faith as non-Muslim, most Afghan Muslims view the faith as heretical. Cases of Muslims converting to Christianity remain few, but Christian faith-based organizations maintain they are closeted due to fear of reprisal by Islamist extremists, familial-societal ostracization, ethnic antagonism, and official repercussions for those charged with apostasy. Society and the state often label instances of conversion as an attempt to flee Afghanistan through political asylum via Western Christian sympathy. Exodus of Sikh and Hindu Community Driven by societal discrimination influenced by extremists, Sikhs and Hindus are subject to harassment, including physical assaults, abduction, land grabbing, looting, and pressure to convert. In addition to the incidents above, in June, insurgents reportedly kidnapped Sikh community leader Nidan Singh Sachdeva at Thala Sri Guru Nanak Sahib gurdwara in Paktia Province. Sachdeva was released due to government pressure and was among the first group of Afghan Sikh and Hindu community members who were granted legal entry to India in 2020. The Hindu and Sikh population dropped from about 250,000 in the early 1990s to less than 1,000 in 2019. After the 2020 Kabul gurdwara attack and kidnapping of Sachdeva, the number dropped to around 200, a near extinction of the once robust community. Members of the Sikh and Hindu community have felt pressured to leave Afghanistan due to the lack of safety and security in the face of ongoing targeted attacks on their leadership and houses of worship by militant groups. Key U.S. Policy In February, after 20 years of U.S. government involvement in Afghanistan, the administration of then President Donald J. Trump signed a peace agreement with the Taliban that stipulated complete withdrawal of the U.S. presence by May 2021. The agreement also called on the Taliban to cut ties with terrorist groups, reduce violence, and engage in negotiations with the Afghan government. As of January 2021, there are 2,500 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, along with 6,346 U.S. contractors. The Taliban have called on the administration of President Joseph R. Biden to honor the previous administration’s commitment, but delays in the peace talks, increased violence, reports of continued Taliban ties with militant organizations, and ISIS-K presence has left the new administration reconsidering complete withdrawal. In 2020, the U.S. government continued to provide an estimated $1.1 billion in aid to Afghanistan despite the reduction in pledged assistance to the Afghan government at the November 2020 Geneva Conference and U.S. statements that future assistance will be conditioned on progress in the peace talks and protection of human rights. On December 2, the State Department designated the Taliban as an EPC for engaging in particularly severe religious freedom violations. The designation of ISIS-K as an EPC was not renewed, as the State Department determined it lost control of the territory it previously controlled. U S C I R F – R E C O M M E N D E D F O R S P E C I A L W AT C H L I S T 55 AFGHANISTAN Background