NEW DELHI: The ministry of external affairs goofed when it condemned the Taliban regime in Afghanistan for allegedly forcing Hindus living in that country to wear yellow clothes, stop wearing turbans and start following the Shariat.

On Monday, the MEA spokesman told newspersons, "We have learnt that the Taliban have issued an order imposing fresh restrictions on Hindus in Afghanistan...We deplore such orders which patently discriminate against minorities. It is evidence further of the backward and unacceptable ideological underpinnings of the Taliban and justifies the action taken in imposing sanctions on the Taliban by the UN."

But all the MEA was relying on were unsubstantiated media reports datelined New Delhi - and not Kabul, Peshawar or Islamabad, where the news of such orders should ordinarily have emanated from. Indeed, a Taliban embassy spokesman in Islamabad on Monday denied the reports and expressed surprise that such a claim "is in circulation in India."

Though news of this alleged anti-Hindu, anti-Sikh decree has been circulating for more than a year, an Indian news agency reported the yellow clothes for Hindus'' story on Sunday and this report was then picked up by the Star News TV channel. On Monday, another Indian news agency recycled the same claim, this time citing Star News as the source. No such anti-Hindu order was reported by Reuters, AP or AFP, the three news agencies which maintain full-time news bureaus in Kabul.

Though the first news agency did not say so, the source of the original report appears to be Masood Khalili, the anti-Taliban Afghan ambassador in New Delhi who made similar allegations in February as well. However, this correspondent - who was in Afghanistan for two weeks in March during the destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas - found no substance in the allegation. Sikh and Hindu places of worship were functioning and there were no religious or dress restrictions on the 2000-odd Sikhs and 300 or so Hindus still living in different parts of Afghanistan.

Usually, the MEA spokesman makes it a point not to comment on the basis of press reports, waiting instead for word from the nearest Indian embassy in case of statements from foreign governments. In the case of Afghanistan''s Taliban regime, India has no diplomatic mission in Kabul. However, it is surprising that the ministry did not bother to check the veracity of the anti-Hindu report with the Indian embassy in Islamabad - which does maintain informal contacts with the Taliban embassy there - before jumping the gun.