S.A.M.
04-05-08, 02:00 PM
Since whitewolf has shown an interest in why the Hazaras are persecuted in Afgahnistan since the last century.
The Hazaras are the descendents of Turks and Persian rulers who ruled over the native Pashtuns of Afghanistan.
Disregarding the stories of their origin and reign and their long history in the region:
During the Moghul period the local Turk chiefs acknowledged the authority of the Moghuls. During the last days of Akbar, the Turk chief Sultan Hussein revolted against the Moghuls. The Moghuls exiled him after crushing this revolt but later on they pardoned him and handed over his state back to him.
The first quarter of the 18th century became miserable for Turks because their rule came to an end due to the decay of their vitality, and the increasing aggression of the Pakhtoons and their allied forces.
one can move to 1818, when the Hazaras were relatively independent.
Hazaras have enjoyed independent status since their formation as an ethnic community. They were surrounded by hostile nations trying to subjugate them and incorporate their land into their kingdoms. A number of rulers of the neighboring countries had succeeded in occupying several villages in the periphery of the Hazarajat and compelled the Hazaras to pay taxes. For the most part Hazarajat remained independent until the early 19th century.
And then came the British
On 19th March, 1846 an agreement was signed between the British and Raja Gulab Singh according to which the latter took Kashmir and Hazara from the former for rupees 75 Lacs. But due to widespread civil disorder and resistance movement, Raja asked the British govt to takeover Hazara in exchange of the Jammu Jhelum belt. The British accepted this offer and took over Hazara from him. They deputed James Abbot to Hazara to restore peace. At first the British faced no resistance here except that of Chuttar Singh, a Sikh general, but after three years Zaman Shah of Kaghan turned against British who deprived him of his estate and exiled to Pakhli plain. After four years of British forgave him and he was permitted to get back his lost estate.
Unlike the people of the settled areas, the Pakhtoon tribes that lived on the western outskirts of Hazara, remained a constant source of trouble for the British for four decades (1852-92) The British sent more than four expeditions against them and ravaged Black Mountains many times. To maintain peace in the area, the British also took preventive measures having conferred titles on the leading persons.
The British played a two fold game. First they supported the neighboring Abdul Rehman and backed by British funds and arms, the Hazaras were defeated and later oppressed.
Hazaras lost their autonomy when the British-backed King Abd al-Rahman (1880-1901) defeated the Hazara tribes one by one, occupied the whole Hazarajat and incorporated it into the Afghan state in 1893. To protect its interests in the Indian sub-continent the British worked to establish a strong central government in Kabul. For this reason they supported Abd al-Rahman in the subjugation of national communities throughout the country. To mobilize public opinion in support of his war on Hazaras Abd al-Rahman encouraged religious leaders to travel to villages and entice people into a jihad (religious war) against Hazaras. Abd al-Rahman justified his brutal war on Hazaras on the grounds that:
The Hazara people had been for centuries past the terror of the rulers of Kabul, even the great Nadir who conquered Afghanistan, India, and Persia being unable to subdue the turbulent Hazaras. The Hazaras were always molesting travelers in the south, north and western provinces of Afghanistan. They were always ready to join the first foreign aggressor who attacked Afghanistan.
After the British had taken over Hazara, they divided it into several tehsils for administrative purposes.
After their advent, the British declared Hazara as a district, divided into three tehsils i.e. Mansehra, Abbotabad & Haripur, and annexed it with the Punjab. In 1901 NWF Province was formed. Hazara was separated from the Punjab and made a part of NWFP.
Then the British supported the pro-British Habibullah to topple the government of Amanullah. The Hazaras supported Amanullah and when the British coup failed, found themselves once again marginalised as non-Pashtuns
In the then spirit of nationalism, they became the non-nationalists, and their culture was declared taboo.
When pro-British King Habibullah overthrew Amanullah in 1929. Hazaras supported him and fought to restore him to the throne. After nine months of rule Habibullah was captured by General Muhammad Nadir Shah and executed. Although Nadir promised that he would restore Amanullah to the throne later he declared himself the new king.
Nadir's government appointed Pashtun administrators to Hazarajat and tried to build Pashtun nationalism by promoting the Pashtu language and popularizing its culture in Hazarajat while simultaneously condemning Hazara culture and history. It was forbidden to extol the history of the Hazaras. Policies were designed to expunge historical names from state archives, which had been associated with Hazaras. Nadir murdered, imprisoned and harassed Hazara intellectuals who were articulating Hazara culture and history. Although Hazaras were conscripted into the army and employed in civil service departments, they were not promoted beyond the rank of colonels in the army and directors in public offices. In so doing, Nadir effectively debilitated Hazaras a authority. He also worked to deprive them of their fundamental rights, allowing Pashtun nomads to gradually occupy Hazaras land.
The Hazaras also opposed the Soviet occupation:
After the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in December 1979 Hazaras intensified their struggle against the Soviet army and its puppet regime. A large number of Hazara clerics, who studied theology in Iran's religious centers in the 1960s and 1970s and had become acquainted with Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomieni's radical Islamic ideology, joined the resistance
When after the Soviets, Rabbani came to power (1990s), he continued with the colonial politics:
This policy is evident in a letter, which Defense Minister Ahmad Shah Masood issued to Ahmed Fahim, chief of the state intelligence department, authorizing him to fuel the flames of racial hatred among the Hazaras and Pushtuns. A facsimile of the letter reads:
Considering the progress of your work, you are instructed to authorize every department of the National Security to intensify the war between Hizb-e-Wahdat and Hizb-e-Harakat on the basis of ethnic cleansing between Hazaras and Pushtuns to the extent that its effects must incite hostilities among inhabitants of central and northern parts of Afghanistan either in the form of Shiite and Sunni differences or as hostilities between the Hazaras and Pushtuns which would be a sufficient ground for preoccupation for further military fronts.
Which led to then trying for an alliance with the Taliban.
During a military confrontation with the Kabul government the Taliban retreated and evacuated their bases leaving Hizb-e-Wahdat fighters and the Hazaras vulnerable to any attack by the Kabul government. Continuous bombardment of Hazara bases in the western suburbs of Kabul by the government compelled Mazari to sent his envoy, Abdul Hussain Maqsudi to deliver a message to Taliban's leader, Mullah Borjan. In the letter Mazari requested that Taliban must return Wahdat's heavy arms and munitions to enable its members to defend themselves against the Kabul government. Mullah Borjan requested a direct talk with Mazari on the topic and arranged time and place for him and his cohorts to attend the meeting. When Mazari and several members of Wahdat's Central Council entered the Taliban's turf in the vicinity of Gulbagh they were taken hostage and then transferred to bases in Charasyab district, Kabul, where they were murdered on 12 March 1995.
Why the Taliban murdered Mazari is a mystery.
Their own version of the story is that Mazari grabbed a gun and in the resulting skirmish was killed along with six Taliban guards and nine other leaders of the Wahadat.
http://boozers.fortunecity.com/jerusalem/47/Political_Role/political_role.html
The Hazaras are the descendents of Turks and Persian rulers who ruled over the native Pashtuns of Afghanistan.
Disregarding the stories of their origin and reign and their long history in the region:
During the Moghul period the local Turk chiefs acknowledged the authority of the Moghuls. During the last days of Akbar, the Turk chief Sultan Hussein revolted against the Moghuls. The Moghuls exiled him after crushing this revolt but later on they pardoned him and handed over his state back to him.
The first quarter of the 18th century became miserable for Turks because their rule came to an end due to the decay of their vitality, and the increasing aggression of the Pakhtoons and their allied forces.
one can move to 1818, when the Hazaras were relatively independent.
Hazaras have enjoyed independent status since their formation as an ethnic community. They were surrounded by hostile nations trying to subjugate them and incorporate their land into their kingdoms. A number of rulers of the neighboring countries had succeeded in occupying several villages in the periphery of the Hazarajat and compelled the Hazaras to pay taxes. For the most part Hazarajat remained independent until the early 19th century.
And then came the British
On 19th March, 1846 an agreement was signed between the British and Raja Gulab Singh according to which the latter took Kashmir and Hazara from the former for rupees 75 Lacs. But due to widespread civil disorder and resistance movement, Raja asked the British govt to takeover Hazara in exchange of the Jammu Jhelum belt. The British accepted this offer and took over Hazara from him. They deputed James Abbot to Hazara to restore peace. At first the British faced no resistance here except that of Chuttar Singh, a Sikh general, but after three years Zaman Shah of Kaghan turned against British who deprived him of his estate and exiled to Pakhli plain. After four years of British forgave him and he was permitted to get back his lost estate.
Unlike the people of the settled areas, the Pakhtoon tribes that lived on the western outskirts of Hazara, remained a constant source of trouble for the British for four decades (1852-92) The British sent more than four expeditions against them and ravaged Black Mountains many times. To maintain peace in the area, the British also took preventive measures having conferred titles on the leading persons.
The British played a two fold game. First they supported the neighboring Abdul Rehman and backed by British funds and arms, the Hazaras were defeated and later oppressed.
Hazaras lost their autonomy when the British-backed King Abd al-Rahman (1880-1901) defeated the Hazara tribes one by one, occupied the whole Hazarajat and incorporated it into the Afghan state in 1893. To protect its interests in the Indian sub-continent the British worked to establish a strong central government in Kabul. For this reason they supported Abd al-Rahman in the subjugation of national communities throughout the country. To mobilize public opinion in support of his war on Hazaras Abd al-Rahman encouraged religious leaders to travel to villages and entice people into a jihad (religious war) against Hazaras. Abd al-Rahman justified his brutal war on Hazaras on the grounds that:
The Hazara people had been for centuries past the terror of the rulers of Kabul, even the great Nadir who conquered Afghanistan, India, and Persia being unable to subdue the turbulent Hazaras. The Hazaras were always molesting travelers in the south, north and western provinces of Afghanistan. They were always ready to join the first foreign aggressor who attacked Afghanistan.
After the British had taken over Hazara, they divided it into several tehsils for administrative purposes.
After their advent, the British declared Hazara as a district, divided into three tehsils i.e. Mansehra, Abbotabad & Haripur, and annexed it with the Punjab. In 1901 NWF Province was formed. Hazara was separated from the Punjab and made a part of NWFP.
Then the British supported the pro-British Habibullah to topple the government of Amanullah. The Hazaras supported Amanullah and when the British coup failed, found themselves once again marginalised as non-Pashtuns
In the then spirit of nationalism, they became the non-nationalists, and their culture was declared taboo.
When pro-British King Habibullah overthrew Amanullah in 1929. Hazaras supported him and fought to restore him to the throne. After nine months of rule Habibullah was captured by General Muhammad Nadir Shah and executed. Although Nadir promised that he would restore Amanullah to the throne later he declared himself the new king.
Nadir's government appointed Pashtun administrators to Hazarajat and tried to build Pashtun nationalism by promoting the Pashtu language and popularizing its culture in Hazarajat while simultaneously condemning Hazara culture and history. It was forbidden to extol the history of the Hazaras. Policies were designed to expunge historical names from state archives, which had been associated with Hazaras. Nadir murdered, imprisoned and harassed Hazara intellectuals who were articulating Hazara culture and history. Although Hazaras were conscripted into the army and employed in civil service departments, they were not promoted beyond the rank of colonels in the army and directors in public offices. In so doing, Nadir effectively debilitated Hazaras a authority. He also worked to deprive them of their fundamental rights, allowing Pashtun nomads to gradually occupy Hazaras land.
The Hazaras also opposed the Soviet occupation:
After the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in December 1979 Hazaras intensified their struggle against the Soviet army and its puppet regime. A large number of Hazara clerics, who studied theology in Iran's religious centers in the 1960s and 1970s and had become acquainted with Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomieni's radical Islamic ideology, joined the resistance
When after the Soviets, Rabbani came to power (1990s), he continued with the colonial politics:
This policy is evident in a letter, which Defense Minister Ahmad Shah Masood issued to Ahmed Fahim, chief of the state intelligence department, authorizing him to fuel the flames of racial hatred among the Hazaras and Pushtuns. A facsimile of the letter reads:
Considering the progress of your work, you are instructed to authorize every department of the National Security to intensify the war between Hizb-e-Wahdat and Hizb-e-Harakat on the basis of ethnic cleansing between Hazaras and Pushtuns to the extent that its effects must incite hostilities among inhabitants of central and northern parts of Afghanistan either in the form of Shiite and Sunni differences or as hostilities between the Hazaras and Pushtuns which would be a sufficient ground for preoccupation for further military fronts.
Which led to then trying for an alliance with the Taliban.
During a military confrontation with the Kabul government the Taliban retreated and evacuated their bases leaving Hizb-e-Wahdat fighters and the Hazaras vulnerable to any attack by the Kabul government. Continuous bombardment of Hazara bases in the western suburbs of Kabul by the government compelled Mazari to sent his envoy, Abdul Hussain Maqsudi to deliver a message to Taliban's leader, Mullah Borjan. In the letter Mazari requested that Taliban must return Wahdat's heavy arms and munitions to enable its members to defend themselves against the Kabul government. Mullah Borjan requested a direct talk with Mazari on the topic and arranged time and place for him and his cohorts to attend the meeting. When Mazari and several members of Wahdat's Central Council entered the Taliban's turf in the vicinity of Gulbagh they were taken hostage and then transferred to bases in Charasyab district, Kabul, where they were murdered on 12 March 1995.
Why the Taliban murdered Mazari is a mystery.
Their own version of the story is that Mazari grabbed a gun and in the resulting skirmish was killed along with six Taliban guards and nine other leaders of the Wahadat.
http://boozers.fortunecity.com/jerusalem/47/Political_Role/political_role.html