Nearly 50 Iranian Sikhs stranded in Tehran due to the ongoing West Asia war have been flown back to India, with the government facilitating their evacuation.Several Iranian Sikh families had been trapped in risky conditions after the conflict broke out. Only about 25 families managed to leave the country immediately after India issued an advisory in the wake of the crisis.The plight of the stranded Sikhs in Tehran first came to light in late April when BJP spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill highlighted the presence of 25 Sikh families in the Iranian capital.The families had been taking shelter at the historic Gurdwara Bhai Ganga Singh Sabha in Tehran.”A number of Sikhs who could not leave Iran in time had been sheltered at the gurdwara. They would spend the day at the shrine and return to their homes in Tehran at night to avoid the consequences of the war. I flagged the issue with the Ministry of External Affairs towards the end of April,” Shergill told The Tribune on Saturday, as the last batch of Iranian Sikhs returned safely to India.Speaking after his arrival in New Delhi, Sardar Lajpal Singh Anand, a third-generation Iranian Sikh who has lived in Iran since birth, said, “We are deeply grateful to the government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for ensuring our safe return. Thanks to the timely efforts, we are back safely with our families in India.”Shergill had earlier written to External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, urging him to facilitate the repatriation of the stranded Sikhs from Iran.Recalling the Sikh spirit of resilience, Shergill said he first learned about the families stranded in Tehran through visuals from the Baisakhi celebrations at Gurdwara Bhai Ganga Singh Sabha, one of Iran’s oldest gurdwaras.”Despite the war, the Sikhs in Tehran celebrated the festival with the local community and observed religious rituals, including the recital of the Shri Akhand Path Sahib, shabad kirtan, and the customary replacement of the Nishan Sahib,” Shergill said, referring to Operation Sindhu, the government initiative launched to bring back Indians caught in the West Asia crisis.Shergill said the repatriation of the Iranian Sikh families is part of Prime Minister Modi’s continued initiatives for the Sikh community.He referred to the government’s efforts to ensure the safe return of the saroops (holy scriptures) of Sri Guru Granth Sahib from Afghanistan, among other initiatives.Shergill said around 100 Sikh families have been living in Iran for more than a century, dating back to the early 1900s.”This makes their safe return to India a matter of deep emotional significance for the global Sikh community,” Shergill said.