The plight of the Hazaras

1. Research for better understanding the article:
“Helping the Hazara of
Afghanistan and Pakistan”
by Saleem Ali of University of Queensland (Australia)
January 16, 2012
http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2012/01/16/hazara_afghanistan_pakistan/
Elena A. Brown
Program College Ready
Tucson Arizona
December 2012

2. Who is Dr. Saleem Ali?
Dr. Ali's research focuses on the causes and consequences of
environmental conflicts and how ecological factors can promote peace.
He is author of the book:
Islam and Education
Conflict and Conformity in Pakistan's Madrassahs (2009)
 Associate Professor of Environmental Planning and Asian Studies at
the University of Vermont.
 The founding Director of the Institute for Environmental Diplomacy
and Security at UVM's James Jeffords Center for Policy Research
 Senior Fellow at the United Nations mandated University for Peace in
Costa Rica.
Dr. Ali is also a regular columnist for Pakistan's Daily Times and has
editorials published in The International Herald Tribune and The Boston
Globe.

3. What does he say?
 “At the end of the day, what we need is a
major pan-Islamic reconciliation process
between sects, particularly Shias and
Sunnis…... Whether it is the acerbic strife
between the Hazara and the Pashtuns or
the insanity of Shia-Sunni violence
……..Peace education is also desperately
needed in Islamic schools.”

4. Hazara’s etymology
 The word Hazara most likely derives from
the Persian word for Thousand (Persian:
- hazār).
 It may be the translation of the Mongol
word ming (or minggan), a military unit of
1000 soldiers at the time of Gengis Khan.

5. Hazara’s characteristics
 They are the most vulnerable minority group.
 Phenotypically, the Hazaras have distinct similarities
to Mongols.
 Most of them speak Dari (Persian language)
 Most of them are Shi’a (a branch of Islam; it was
imposed by ayatollahs in Iran)

6. Ethnicities of Afghanistan.
Map by US Army Combined Arms Center, Leavenworth, Kansas, USA

7. Ethnic groups approximate percentages
Wikipedia
Ethnic group 2004 – present Pre - 2004
Pashtun 42% 38 – 50 %
Tajik 27% 25 – 26.3 %
Hazara 9% 10 – 19 %
Uzbek 9% 6 – 8%

8. Afghan census ?
 “Hazara population is 5 million ..”??
 “Most of them live in Afghanistan constituting at
least 20% of the country’s population” ??
 “There are around 1 million Hazaras in Pakistan” or
500,000??
 “Pashtun population is 70%”??
The last census was taking in 1979, and it was never completed
because of the Soviet invasion. There is not official demographic
information.

9. The World Factbook
 Also known as the CIA World Factbook, it
is a reference resource about the
countries of the world. We can find a
summary of the
demographics, geography, communication
s, economy and military of 267
entities, including Afghanistan.
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/

11. A Hazara boy
http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Middle_East/Iran/East/Semnan/Semnan/photo285797.htm

13. An Afghan man walks with his son at a market in Kabul on September 4, 2012.
(Jose Cabezas/AFP/GettyImages)

14. http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2002/04/afghan-girl/index-text
1985 2002
SHARBAT GULA - PASHTUN “AFGHAN CHILDREN'S FUND”

15. The Kite Runner: Author Khaled Hosseini
Discrimination towards the Hazara
 The Kite Runner is a historical novel.
 It is a denunciation of the terrible situation of the
Hazara people in Afghanistan.
 Afghan problems:
economic, social, religious, and political.
All of these make Afghanistan a difficult and
dangerous place to live.

16. Hazara uprisings: Emir Abdur Rahman Khan
 First uprising (1888-1890)
 Control over large parts of Hazarajat.
 people were disarmed, villages were looted. Local tribal
chiefs imprisoned or executed.
 Second uprising (Spring 1892)
 The cause of the uprising was the alleged gang rape of the
wife of a Hazara chief.
 The Emir declared a “jihad” (holy war) against the Shia’s.
 Numerous Hazaras were kill and thousands were sold as
slaves.
 Third uprising (1893)
 35, 000 families fled to northern Afghanistan, Pakistan, and
Iran.
 60% of the Hazara population was massacred.

17. Soviet war in Afghanistan
 1979 Hazara fought against the
communist Afghan government .They
claimed Hazarajat their homeland.
 1980 Hazara factions were engaged in a
civil war between them.
 1989 Hezb-e Wahdat, an alliance of all the
Hazara resistance groups.
 1996 Hazara groups united with the
northern Alliance against the Taliban.

18. Repression against Hazaras
Massacred
1998 – 2002
 Mazar -e- Shariff (1998)
 Rotak Pass (2000)
 Yakao lang (January 2001)
It is widely believed that it was an official policy of
the Taliban to marginalize the Hazara, confiscate
their lands and Hazaras into exile, particularly in
Iran.

19. Hazaras 2002 -2012
On one side:
 Karim Khalili (Hazara) became the Vice
President of Afghanistan.
 A number of ministers and governors are
Hazaras.
 The National Assembly of Afghanistan
(Parliament) is 25% made up of ethnic Hazaras.

20. Hazaras 2002 -2012
On the other hand
 Kuchis are allowed to use Hazarajat pastures
during summer season.
 2004 16 Hazaras were executed by Taliban forces
 Since 2007 – in Behsud- hundreds of Hazaras
have been massacred by Kuchi.
 December 2011 - 70 shias were killed in Kabul
and Mazar e- Shariff.

21. HAZARA GENOCIDE IN PAKISTAN : FACTS & FIGURES
(Courtesy: HOPE ; As of Nov 28, 2012)
Total Population of Hazaras in Quetta, 600,000 (approx)
Pakistan
Total Number of Attacks (partial list) 121 (since 1999) [ Google Map of
Attacks ]
Total Number of Attacks in 2012 57 (in 2012 only)
Total Hazaras Killed 800 (approx) [ Victims / Injured List ]
*1100 (approx) when including 300
Hazaras dying as a result of boat
capsizing during migration
Total Hazaras Injured 3,000 (approx)
Num of Hazaras migrated offshore 50,000 (minimum)

22. Afghan Hazara people hold a demonstration to protest against the
killing of their ethnic people in Quetta of Pakistan, in Kabul,
Afghanistan, Oct. 7, 2011.(Xinhua/Omid)

23. Mohammad Fazl
 Mohammad Fazl is the Taliban's former Deputy
Defense Minister.
 He is being held in the Guantanamo Bay detention
camps in Cuba –January 2002.
 He was born in 1967 in Afghanistan.
 It is alleged that he is responsible for killing
thousands of Shi’a Afghans between 1996 and late
2001.

24. Mohammad Fazl
 Throughout the fall of 2011 and the winter of 2012
the United States conducted peace negotiations
with the Taliban.
 The key sticking point was the ongoing detention
of Fazl and four other senior Taliban.
 Negotiations hinged around sending the five men
directly to Doha, Qatar, where they would be
allowed to set up an official office for the Taliban.

25. Now, It is easy to understand why Saleem Ali
advocates for peace to prevail in Afghanistan and
Pakistan
 “Assuring security of the Hazara minority is essential.”
 “The United States and all interested states must not
compromise on the security of this persecuted minority
population in their peace talks.”
 “The Hazara constitute a vital indigenous culture that has
survived for centuries and is threatened.”
 “While all groups must try to promote sectarian harmony
internally, the responsibility of protecting the fundamental
human rights of the Hazara remains with the Afghan and
Pakistani states and their allies who purport to support
peaceful pluralism.”

26. REFERENCE SOURCES
http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2012/01/16/hazara_afghanistan_pakistan/
http://www.hazara.net/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayatollah
http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Middle_East/Iran/East/Semnan/Semnan/photo285797.htm
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2012/10/afghanistan_september_2012.html
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/world/2002/03/12/afghan-girl.htm
http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2012/01/16/hazara_afghanistan_pakistan/fig_4-1_color/
http://www.natgeotakeaction.org/explorers/takeaction/society-and-culture/afghan-childrens-
fund/pa3874249F654D0F47C1
http://english.sina.com/world/p/2011/1008/403241.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammad_Fazl
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/30/mohammed-fazl-hand-over-considered_n_1175333.html
http://afghanmirror.tripod.com/id16.html