Taliban and the Fate of Hazaras in the Zones of Afghanistan
Although Afghanistan has been a state for more than 200 years, it is still the land of a diverse people that have not yet become a firm, even semi-prosperous and semi-modern land
Taliban and Lessons from Pakistan Extremism Schools Against Hazaras in Afghanistan
The rise of the Taliban group in Afghanistan has changed many national, international, regional, and even domestic equations. Some inside and outside of Afghanistan equate the height of the Taliban with the surge of Pashtun tribes in the language of other ethnic groups in Afghanistan. Since ethnic and religious relations are the most essential criterion of Taliban policies in Afghanistan, this reading and analysis are not so unreasonable and illogical on the Taliban group. The Taliban were a group of homeless youths sent to Pakistan in the 90s due to fighting between Mujahideen forces in Kabul and other Afghanistan cities. They had gone for training and education in extremist schools in northern Pakistan, and then they found extremist views against different religious and ethnic groups in Afghanistan.
Nearly three decades later, during the civil war in Afghanistan and the ominous five-year shadow of the Taliban regime, this extremist group’s teachings have not changed. They have become harsher and more brutal than before with the humans, especially with Afghanistan’s people. The lessons taught in Taliban schools are the same lessons learned in Pakistani religious schools. Therefore, the only way the Taliban have taken power and maintained power against other ethnic groups in Afghanistan has changed.
But the group’s monopoly, anti-Hazara, and anti-Shiite or (Shia) tendencies have not changed much. This article addresses the Hazaras’ issue in Afghanistan and their relationship with Pashtun tribes since the formation of the modern Afghan government or the Republic government until now—the Taliban’s positions in this regard, especially towards the Hazaras.
Rainbow of Ethnicity and Government in Afghanistan
From the 19th century onwards, the issue of ethnicity became less critical in the world. However, once after World War II and again after the Cold War, race became a tense issue within governments and nations worldwide. In both periods, the weakening of governments, the involvement of foreign actors, and the rise of local ethnic currents made ethnocentrism more pronounced than usual. Unfortunately, let us not forget that in Afghanistan, the issue of ethnicity has never been resolved and is still standing. I hope this issue will be resolved shortly to live together as a national and united people, have peace, and work more and more for the welfare of dear Afghanistan.
In this land, the issue of Pashtun exclusivism is also a problem in the contemporary history of Afghanistan. The National Government of Afghanistan was established in 1747 under the rule of a man named Ahmad Shah. From fifteen centuries before that until the time of Ahmad Shah, this country was known as Khorasan. The first document to show the name of Afghanistan in this region dates back to 1801, When Iran and Britain agreed on the region’s sovereignty. But the name was controversial from the start; Because the name of one of the tribes of Afghanistan, namely Afghan or (Pashtun), was given to the whole country, which cannot be seen as fair and just.
The Multiplicity of Ethnicities and Linguistic Inequalities in Afghanistan
Although Afghanistan has been a state for more than 200 years, it is still the land of a diverse people that have not yet become a firm, even semi-prosperous and semi-modern land. The four ethnic groups of Pashtuns, Tajiks, Uzbeks, and Hazaras comprise the other ethnic groups of the Afghanistan rainbow community. But these rainbows never shone together and did not rise, the causes of which are apparent to the world’s people. In addition, Turkmen, Aimaqs, Baluchis, Pashayais, Nuristanis, Ghezelbash, Sikhs, Hindus, Brahawis, and Pamirs are also residents of Afghanistan. Ethnicities speak various indigenous languages, and for the past twenty years, Afghanistan’s constitution, “All Forms of Discrimination, Violence, and Privileges Between Afghan Nationals Were Prohibited.”
Article 16 of the Afghanistan constitution declared Pashto and Dari as the country’s official languages. It specified that in ethnic areas since the majority of the population was from that region, the language of that population was considered the third official language. But in practice, especially in recent years, the government has violated these principles and, in favor of the Pashto language, has not given linguistic and equal importance to other languages in Afghanistan. Therefore, this antagonism (Anti-linguistics) increased during the time of Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai, the fugitive President of Afghanistan, who even replaced the Pashto language with the language of administrative correspondence in most Afghanistan government departments. But nowadays, this antagonism, especially the eradication of Dari-Persian, has become hotter and hotter by the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Ethnic and Religious Differences in Afghanistan
Ethnic differences are also associated with religious differences. The Hazaras are the largest Shia ethnic, and the majority of them are Shiite, followed by the Ghezelbash, the Sadats and the Heratis, some Baluchis and Tajiks, and even a minority of Pashtuns are Shia in Afghanistan. Afghan governments have for decades been dominated by Pashtun commanders and kings who were unwilling to share power with other ethnic groups in Afghanistan. They especially defined themselves in contrast to the Hazaras. The Pashtun monopoly has progressed to the point that even in the government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, in recent years, the Pashtuns have seized power in the most sensitive areas, significantly the military posts and bases.
Taliban took control of Afghanistan in 2021, and protests are happening against the Taliban in European countries and even inside Afghanistan. Therefore, Western Pashtuns and Taliban supporters also demonstrate their discrimination against the Hazaras in the same protests by trying to remove other ethnic groups from the political, social, economic, and educational arenas and lobbying for the Taliban day and night. These days, turbaned Taliban can be found in Afghanistan, and tie-wearing Taliban can be seen outside Afghanistan, such as in Asian, Arab, European, and Western countries.
Abd al-Rahman Khan’s Tyranny Against Hazaras in Afghanistan
From 1880 to 1901, the Hazaras were integrated into Afghanistan society after three years of resistance and war against the tyranny of Amir Abd al-Rahman Khan. Abd al-Rahman violated the law of protection against the Hazara Shiites, calling them infidels and ordering a fight against them in Afghanistan. But the Hazaras also lost the battle and were forced to raise taxes by the oppressive regime of Abd-l Rahman Khan. Hatred increased between the Pashtuns, whom military commanders dominated then, and the Hazaras, who had to be obedient. Finally, it reached its peak in 1892. This year, the Hazaras united against the Pashtun garrisons, bases, and military commanders in Afghanistan. Amir Abdul Rahman Khan mobilized 150,000 Pashtun soldiers to counter the Hazara insurgency, using these tribal soldiers to massacre 60 percent of the Hazara people in Afghanistan.
This Abdul Rahman Khan’s act was a blatant genocide against the Hazaras in Afghanistan that has continued to this day. But only the approaches to this genocide against Hazaras and Hazarajat have changed. The plan is the same as the previous plan. However, The Hazara population, which until then made up half of Afghanistan’s population, was reduced from the country’s second-largest ethnic to the third-largest ethnic group in Afghanistan by killing and forcing them to leave their homeland. The next move of Amir Abdul Rahman Khan was the migration of Hazaras to different parts of the country, which also led to an over-reduction of this ethnic group’s power in Afghanistan.
Excommunication and Insult of the Hazaras During the Reign of Abd-la Rahman Khan
From that time, the weakening of the Hazaras intensified through the appointment of non-Hazara commanders in Hazarajat areas and at military bases, collecting exorbitant taxes, and increasing their excommunication against Hazaras. Discrimination against the Hazaras continued for a century. The Hazaras, who resemble the people of Central Asia in appearance, persecuted them racistly. “Since the Hazaras were Shiites, it was easier for the rulers to ask the Sunni scholars to excommunicate them,” writes Ka Kar, a Pashtun writer, about the process of alienating the Hazaras in Afghanistan.
For the first time, a man named “Khan” was the mullah of Kabul city who declared a religious war against the Hazaras in Afghanistan and ignited it. There are many reasons why Hazara’s phobia peaked at that time. Among other things, the Hazaras refused to pay the taxes imposed on the authoritarian government of Abd-la Rahman. However, others believe that Hazara phobia was a tool for Pashtun leaders to unite different Pashtun tribes and factions in Afghanistan against other ethnic groups.
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