Ayatollah Vaezzadeh Behsoodi's Criticism On Girls' Arresting in Dasht-E-Barchi Was Welcomed by the Society
Mohajir Times
By Aman Shadkam
Ayatollah Vaezzadeh Behsoodi is one of the religious authorities of the Shia people in Afghanistan, who gave a critical speech regarding the arrest of girls by the Taliban in a public meeting attended by Taliban officials on February 2, 2024, at the Imam Zaman Mosque located in Pol-e-Khushk in Kabul western. Mr. Vaezzadeh Behsoodi, in addition to talking about five important points, addressed Mullah Haibatullah and said that it is a custom in the world that everyone talks with their own level and rank. I am talking to Mullah Haibatullah himself and not to other officials of the Islamic Emirate.
However, with the re-establishment of the Taliban group in Afghanistan, it was less common for a religious scholar to criticize the discriminatory and violent actions of the Taliban in Afghanistan or outside of Afghanistan in a serious, official, decisive, logical and sharp way. Vaezzadeh Behsoodi criticized the methods and behaviors of the Taliban without any fear in the presence of the Taliban group officials and said that the Taliban should not have used “Pressure” tools against the people and should have used the “Calm and Gentle” method. It was appropriate that instead of “Sticks and Guns” they used “Advice”.
Mr. Vaezzadeh also presented an example from Islamic history and said that God did not “Forbid” wine all at once and said, “First there was a verse that the harm of wine is more than its benefit.” After a few months, God said that you should not drink wine “at least while praying” and that you can drink wine at other times. But, after a few years, God declared wine to be “Absolutely Forbidden” because the people of Arabia had become accustomed to drinking wine. Vaezzadeh brought up this Quranic example because of the oppression of the Taliban against the Hazara people in Afghanistan, and he believes that nothing changes overnight, and it takes a long time to change a society and the thoughts of the people of that society. Therefore, the Taliban should not have the misconception that they will change the Afghanistan people's thoughts overnight.
Also, Mr. Behsoodi Summarized the Reason for the Non-Cooperation and Mistrust of the Hazaras Towards the Taliban as the Following Three Major Reasons:
The First Reason: Vaezzadeh Behsoodi believed that the beginning of Hazara people's mistrust towards the Taliban was the killing of Abdul Ali Mazari, the leader of the Islamic Unity Party of Afghanistan (Hezb-e Wahdat-e Islami Afghanistan), by this group. He clearly stated that Shahid Mazari was the leader of the Hazaras, but the Taliban killed him. He says with clear literature that Mazari threw himself into “Your lap” (Taliban). If this aphorism speech of Mr. Vaezzadeh Behsoodi is examined from a historical and intelligence perspective, the words of political leaders and the perception of the Hazara people about the killing of Abdul Ali Mazari will be completely reversed. Because the historical mind of the Hazaras believes that the Taliban asked Mazari to pledge allegiance to the Qur'an and not Mazari from them.
But, Vaezzadeh Behsoodi says that Mazari surrendered himself to the Taliban in order to stay alive. Vaezzadeh mentions the word “Lap” (Shame) and its meaning is that if someone's life is in danger and he/she runs away from a dangerous area and takes refuge in someone and somewhere, at that time, it is said that a certain person threw himself into the lap (Near) of a certain person. Meanwhile, Mr. Vaezzadeh's words can have another meaning, that is, Abdul Ali Mazari wanted to communicate with the Taliban group. So, the starting point of this connection has been left by Shahid Mazari. Now the Hazaras want to make that objective of Mazari a reality with the support of the Taliban.
The Second Reason: The Taliban made a huge mistake due to the arresting of women in Dasht_e_Barchi of Kabul. Because the privacy of a region, the people and the society have encroached in a discriminatory way. This issue makes the Hazara people distance themselves from the Taliban more and more.
The Third Reason: The Taliban ignored the religion of the Hazara people and removed Jafari jurisprudence (Fiqh) from the curriculum of schools and universities in Afghanistan. Such behaviors increase the distance between the Hazaras and the Taliban and widen the enmities. He added: "Hazaras are Shia and will remain Shia." So, Mr. Vaezzadeh does not understand the situation here, because religion is a matter of choice and may change considering the conditions of oppression.
Just like the current Sunni Hazaras, during the era of Amir Abdur Rahman Khan, they changed their religion due to considering Shiism as a crime. I think the fact of the matter is that the Taliban want to eliminate the Shia religion even from their daily life in Afghanistan. If the situation continues like this, after one generation, the roots of Shia religion will be removed in Afghanistan.
