| Sweet Watan Afghanistan |
| Watan jaigahi daleran tu-e Ke naam-e-palangan o sheran tu-e Watan qalb-e-gham parwar-e-Asia Tu-e-roh bar paikar-e-Asia Makhor gham ke maa passdar-e-tu-em Bahar shadi o ghussa yari tu-em Siah rozgaret basar amada Konun rozgari degar amada Azin pas ajaneb ghullam-e-darat Sar-e-jahilanet fedai sarat Hama yak dilo yak zaban meshawim Ba danesh shahiri jahan meshawim Ketab o qalam sangar-e-ishq-e-maa Buwad hubbi tu daftar-e-mashq-e-maa Gazand az muhibban-e-tu dur baad Wa chashman-e-bad khahi tu koor baad. Sorry that I have no access to dari letters in this computer, I hope you find the above poems about our beloved soil understandable. My best wishes for all the watandaran-e-Aziz in embaracing each other in the name of Watan-e-Mahboob. Zinda wa Sarbaland baad Afghanistan. Your friend Mamnoon. |
| Mamnoon |
| Talib commanders shot dead |
|
LAHORE, Pakistan (CNN) -- Mullah Abdul Mannan Hanafi and Mullah Mohammad Akbar, former Taliban provincial governors and military commanders in Afghanistan, have been shot dead in an attack early Tuesday morning in Peshawar, police sources have told CNN. The sources told CNN that they had no information about the identity or motive of the gunmen. The Peshawar police said no arrests had been made in connection with the two killings. Hanafi, also known as Abdul Mannan Khawajazai Hanafi, had served as governor of Samangan, Sar-i-pul and Badghis provinces during the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. He was the military commander in Bamiyan province when the Taliban demolished the two giant Buddha statues there, intelligence sources told CNN. Akbar was the governor of Ghor province. After the Taliban regime collapsed, Hanafi was arrested in Balochistan province by Pakistani authorities and was detained for a few months, but was freed when no evidence of his involvement in military and terrorist activities was found. Hundreds of people attended funeral prayers for both men Wednesday in Chaman, Pakistan, a town on the border of Afghanistan. Later, Hanafi was buried in Chaman and Akbar's body was handed over to his relatives in Spin Boldakh, near the border in southern Afghanistan. |
| How Long? |
|
Well, we have been suffering up to now in our country, because we are hazaras and Shias. As we all know that alot has changed, today we are sending our candidate with the most number of votes in the Capital, and we have got our women candidate getting elected with a high number of votes. These are due to our own hardwork and credit to how tough we are, that we never vow to cruelity and harsh treatment. On the other hand our candidates are getting killed, our Editor Muhaqia Ali Nasaba gets jailed, just because he has written some facts about Islam, and yet our own Shia leaders are saying that he has committed a crime, and needed to be arrested, very unfortunate. I believe most of us have learnt alot during all these times, that if we don't stick together, and follow one agenda, we would never get any where, I believe that we are still suffering pretty much as we were before. But we see that some of our people are still following Arabs who has led us to believe that they are right, and were the true leaders, Arabs who destroyed our 1500 years old Status in Bamyan, one of the wonders of the world, and we have seen through all these times that we have mostly suffered because we follow Arabs, who cares which Arabs were right or wrong, they were for their own people, not for us. And one would hope that we put our mind in to work abit more and make concious decisions, as our individual decisions affect all of us in the country, and it's time that we say more of our own, then Arabs. I hope that this get posted, as I have tried before, but they haven't posted my comments. Thanks |
|
\r\nMalik |
|
\r\nsarishikh@yahoo.com.au |
| Hazara election candidate killed in Mazar |
|
Mohammed Ashraf Ramazan was killed while driving around Mazar i Sharif. Thousands have held a rally to protest the murder, asking Atta Mohammed to resign. Will the new round of candidate killings spark another meltdown of security and the new democracy? AFP also mentions "Initial results posted on the JEMB website show mujahedin commander Haji Mohammad Mohaqiq, accused of atrocities during Afghanistan's civil war that ended in 1996, leading the race for a Kabul parliament seat after 20 percent of votes were counted." |
| hazara's are unique between all the people in afghanistan. |
| every one should know that hazara people are generous to all the tribes in afghanistan all the muslim people in afghanistan hate hazara'z just because of there religion why is that? is it that the hazara's are true belivers of islam. suni is a made up religion like wahabi the new religion made in pakisatn from the pashtuns with no musthas. in reality they are disgracful and they don't know that are making fun of there religion. i have seen alot of iranians and tajiks form afghanistan come to western countries and change there religion but hazara's don't. why is that? the answer to that is that hazara people are confident about there religion they are true believers of islam and they are afraid of god. they know that god does exists my message to all hazaras never change your reigion always belive who you are and help your brothers. |
| samiya |
| unique_rose_4_u@hotmail.com |
| Hope and Unity |
| Warm Salams to all Afghans, I hope that you are all in the best of health, happy, and hopeful. Hopeful for better future, hopeful for prosperity of Afghanistan, hopeful for unity, hopeful for love and brotherhood amongst all tribes, hopeful for working together for a better and wealthy Afghanistan, hopeful that people wake up and do not let themselves be fooled with hatred against each other again, hopeful that people have learned from their last mistakes and will live like one Afghan no matter what ethnicity. Loving one another and promoting Atehad amongst yourselves is the best investment for your future, and for your children's future, so that they can live and study at a calm and secured atmosphere and appreciate it. Hazaras,Pashtuns,Tajiks,Uzbeks,Turkmans,Imaqs,Nooristanis,Bahais,Baluchs are brothers, and when we Afghans of different ethnic groups declare this pious statement, we must sincerely mean it and be committed, and we must sincerely share it with others. And by doing that we not only have accomplished our patriotic duty to our Mahboob watan but we have also defeated Afghanistan's enemies who worked and still work tirelessly how to create fitna in the name of religion and ethnicities, in the name of unfair ethics and propagandas, simply for the failure of Afghan people; therefore, you have to answer to them with your iron feast unity, with alertness and wisdom, with Godgiven intellect and awareness. Who are we? We are Afghans period under the flag of "LA-ALAHA ILLALLAH MUHAMMAD RASULALLAH". We should train our kids that prejudice and hatred is a sin and the religion of Islam prohibits that, human beings are created equal, Afghans are one, we are one tree with various sizes and shapes of branches, our God is one, our Prophet is one, our Qur'an is one, our Qebla is one, united we win, divided we lose. I wish these critical and most needed to be tought words could be written in the first grade book for our children as a formula of unity, love and passion for all. We must all ry to do our part of responsibility as responsible Afghans to put our desire of unity and togetherness in action. Zinda Baad Afghanistan, Painda Baad Atehad-e-Sarasari. Peace be with you. Mamnoon |
| Mamnoon |
| par-e-rab yakjah shaweed milat parai shaan ast |
|
salam bar millat e hazara wa salam bar pairokarane maula ALI yak shair dar khidmat shuma azizan niwishta maikunam wa umeed munam ki shumo biradaraan e azizan ye shair ra khosh khuwad kadin wa dar aakhir salam bar HIZB-e-WAHDAT MILLI HAZARA ki dar da tawasud e azi hizb hanoos mo qaum hazara zinda wa dunya az zinda budan mo fakhar khuwad kad.............tashakur GURAIZAT AZ SAF-E-MA HAR KI MARD-E-GHAUGHA NEEST, KASI KI KUSHTA NA SHOOD AZ QABILA-E-MA NEEST. |
| ramzan tarmas |
| hazarajat235@yahoo.com |
| thanks mamnoon |
| salam for all of my hazara peoples.this is a great website.i am so thakful of mamnoon for this weldon.keep it up.best wishies for all of u.always love and respect echother. khuda hafiz |
|
batool |
|
red_flower_4@hotmail.co.uk |
| child labour |
|
dear readers if v glance around us there u find many educational instituate in every street but i alas that the numbers of instituates are more than students.but if v glance on the population of hazaras in Quetta it is approximatly 100000 and more than 30000 are there children.as we know the childrens are oue new generation and our backbone.in west they are completely depending on their child that's y they r progressing but the great problem in our soceity by which all the nation is suffering from is this that our backbone in whom v depend are labour. instead they are going to school they going to work in the morning.they should wear clean and neat cloths but they wear dirty cloths. their hands are just for taking books but when v see they are taking the spare parts of autos.y v r not getting progress,y r v still back ward just due to sending our childs in work.if our fathers don't see the 500 ruppees of salary and think about thier better future and sent them in school then the day is not far when our backbone will take responsibality in their hands. thank u |
| khaliq Dad K.D |
| khaliqonline@yahoo.com |
| Ilkhani or Chughtai |
|
There is reason to believe we are not descended from the Chughtai mongols, rather from the Ilkhani mongols. There were four empires after Genghis Khan led by his sons. The one in the middle east and Iran was started by Halagu Khan as the Ilkhani empire, so the mongols there were influenced by Persian. The Chughtai mongols were influenced more by Turkish, and their leadership switched between Turks and mongols a few times, starting with Timur i lang, whose father was Barlas and mother was Genghis Khans descendent. Its not clear if the Barlas were mongol or Turks, but Timur claimed Turk heritage, while his Mughal descendents claimed Mughol (Mongol) heritage, the difference became less clear.
The Chughtai mongols fought sometimes with the Ilkhani mongols, and were centered around Samarkand and Bokhara, and were Sunni. The Ilkhani mongols, as rulers gradually became muslims, but some remained Buddhist while others were Christian. They also supported Shias and were among the first rulers to do so around 1300, when there were more Sunnis than Shias in Persia after centuries of Ummayid and Abbasid rulers. A Persian King, Shah Abbas took power and worked to remove the mongol 'infidels' to Khorasan, and worked to make Shia Islam the official religion of Persia (around 1500). There is at least one painting of Shah Abbas defeating an Uzbek general leading mongols. It is interesting to see the Usbek general not referred to as mongol, while his soldiers not referred to as Uzbeks. All that is strong evidence that we are descended from the Ilkhani mongols, with the bulk of us converting to Shia Islam around Shah Abbas' time, since the word Hazar is a thousand in the Persian language. The evidence of Uzbeks being Chughtai mongols is stronger still due to their location, facial features, religion, and Turkic language and culture. It is also quite possible the soldiers switched sides. Central Asia has a very interesting history. There is a black hole in the history for Hazaras between the last mongol rules of Persia and the Chughtai empire, of about 300 years. Interesting is also the fact that Khorasan (Afghanistan) was a part of the Persian empire, than the Uzbek language is most closely related to the Uighur language of western China, that a significant Persian population exists as Tajiks, but with the Sunni religion, that Uzbeks claim Turk descent more than a mongolian descent, and that while some Hazara communities do look part Persian or Turkish, many look very asiatic with very little ethnic mix of Persian, while the culture, language and religion is predominantly Persian. Other theories are not without their weight, in that we were the original buddhist inhabitants of Hazarajat, possibly mixing with the mongols as well as others over time, another claiming we are simply a Persian extension of the Uzbeks. The evidence of Mongolian culture, language is however overwhelming, in the outlook, dress, construction of yurts, vocabulary, and now DNA tests of a sample of Hazara men in Quetta. Mongol invaders would travel with their families too, especially as the ruling families of conquered lands, yet a mix with Persian subjects during the Ilkhani rule would be inevitable. The recent awareness of identity among Hazaras is not without its causes, a sense of isolation and inability to relate to any other major ethnic group, even the Uzbeks, plays a major part. The simple identity of Hazara doesnt suffice since any Hazara in Mashhad, Karachi or elsewhere sticks out like a sore thumb, and since Hazaras are not well known outside Afghanistan, a history story must follow. The simple claim of being 'Mountain Tajiks' is no longer believable. As far as nationalism is concerned, Hazaras have been as central to Afghanistan as any other people since its seperation from the Persian empire as Khorasan. Being the most poor and isolated, Hazaras are also the most devout Shia muslims anywhere. Many questions have yet to be answered, about the many different people of Central Asia and its very turbulent but interesting history. However I do not agree with the recommendation that we rewrite our own history for political benefits, or economic. History should be presented in the most objective sense, without ethnic, political or religious bias, since it is potentially becoming a foundation of our identity. Bias exists in both directions, on one hand being overly nationalistic, mongol chauvanism, and religious and political pressures (mongols have been infidels and downtrodden since the rise of Shia Islam, and Hazaras are the only mainly Shia ethnic group in Afghanistan). It has been a sin to be a mongol for over 4 centuries, and a sin to be a Hazara since Abdur Rehman. |
| please be unit |
|
SALAM BER TAMAM BIRARA WA KHUWARA KI DER KUNJE DUNYA HASTA(PAKISTAN IRAN AFGHANISTAN YA DA EUROPA)! after Salam I have a request from all brothers and sister that FOR GOD SACK be unit dont let be any one be superior on you, you are the best all over the world only wenn you are together.Dont let any one kill any innocent hazara. Our enemy( ZAHIRI DOSTI MO HASTA WA BATINI DUSHMAN like IRAN PASHTUN BALUCH) we have not any friend because we are not ourself our friends we are going on hazar way like our NAME. I have a question why we are going on HAZAR ways. Are we not from one father, is the color of our blood ist diffrent)are killing us from past like abdul rahmene MALHOON. At last I beg you all that please come togather and work togather for our progress we can do all if we want. WE CAN GET IT IF WE REALLY WANT your ghamkhuwar brother ALI |
| ali changazi |
| hazara hai jahan mutahid shavid |
|
salam bar ruh wa kafan e shahed salam bar pairokara e panjtane pak salam bar himmat e jawana e qaum salam bar jalal e jawana e qaum salam bar ruhi shuhada salam bar khoon e shuhada salam o millat e hazara salam o jawana e gairatmand e hazara salam salam o jawanan e hazara ki shaheed shud ba aashura |
| a hazara boy |
| naanthar@yahoo.com |
| The truth to be told that Hazaras will not rush for the aid of Iran even if asked, reason being not only that Hazaras are still bleeding and or recovering of the recent tragedies and punishments from Taliban, even though they have been victimized ever since the Amanullahi time, criticised, insulted, purposely kept in the dark, purposely oppressed and disadvantaged, they are Hazaras of Afghanistan, and Afghanistan is where they wouldn't mind to die for, this homeland deserves to be sacrificed for, why for Iran? besidely, during the announcement of Taliban that Hazaras have three choices; Convert to Pashtun, migrate to other countries, or die, in that time when it seemed like the end of the world for the helpless Hazaras, they were obliged to take refuge to Iran, but instead of giving shelter to them as a humanitarian gesture, the Iranian government dragged them out of their homes and from wherever they worked and loaded them in the trucks dumping them at the border; that was the time of mercy, the time of support and sorrow, but as religious people as they call themselves, they had no sympathy for the wandering homeless Hazaras. Hazaras do not deserve to be treated so poorly not in Iran neither in Afghanistan because Hazaras are simply honest hardworking people, serious in their commitments and promises, they want to live on their own earnings for protecting their dignity and integrity, and never steal, rob, beg or betray, as people well know this for a fact. Hazaras will only serve for sweet homeland Afghanistan, the birthplace of our forefathers, and the grave-yard of our Shohada. Peace be upon you all, and durood barrohi Shahidan. Wassalam, Mamnoon |
|
Mamnoon |
| War on terror |
|
Hazaras should send the Khumeni Photographs back to Iran if war brokeout. And for sure all Hazaras can send 10 or 20 trucks of biscuits and few trucks of Hazarajat-almond for the sake of humanity. Am I wrong????? It was the time when Taliban was trying to erase Hazaras from Afghanistan. Have you forgotten?? Let nature balance it. Don't see where the resources come from. Allah can see who is real beleiver and can sustain the hardships till the last drop of blood in the body. It will be shame for Iran to ask help from handful of Hazaras. |
|
Sher Ali Batoor |
| What if the US invades Iran? |
|
The NAZI-like rise of the US Republicans is increasing the likelihood of an invasion of Iran. With the recent inauguration speech, Bush is clearly setting up the atmosphere for war, and providing the kind of justification for war that can only be palatable for the American public. Most Hazaras were all for the US forces in Afghanistan, after years of opposition with the Taliban, but America has become more of an enemy than a friend recently, having conquered Iraq, and generally inducing imbalanced politics in Afghanistan to create a longlasting tension. The public mentality is influenced more by the Qum-controlled mullah institutions than any other form of media, and Shia extremism is more than a clear danger should Iran be invaded. During the Iran-Iraq War, thousands of Hazaras from Afghanistan and Pakistan were persuaded to head for Iran, and offer their lives for the oil-rich regions which were the source of the conflict. Islamist schools in both Qum and Saudia have for decades branded America as the great evil empire bent on destroying the muslim world, an invasion on the center of Shia Islam will be seen as a call for an all-out Jehad in favor of Iran. This does not bode well for the largely uneducated and very religious Hazaras in Afghanistan, who are experiencing a relative economic boom and a rare period of peace at present. Nationalism, and a better awareness of politics in the past few decades have made everyone in Afghanistan less susceptible to calls for Jehad from clerics in a different country, and so has the recent history, for example in 1997, when thousands of Hazara civilians were massacred in Mazar along with 9 Irani diplomats, causing widespread protests in Iran which seemed to protest only the death of the 9 diplomats.During the Taliban years, Hazarajat also went through a long drought, during which it received a few trucks of biscuits from Iran, and many pictures of Khomeini as gifts from clerics as if to mock the suffering. Hazarajat currently is taking part in the rejuvenation of Afghanistan, the circumstances of religion, race and political alliances are favorable. An American invasion will possibly Hazaras into another long and bloody stretch of war, the beneficiaries of which can only be Iran or the US |
| Our national champion. |
|
Hi salam , to whom it may concern it's glad to listen that u r working for promotion of hazaragi culture so here by we contribute to ur work. we are sending the following report and we ( members of HBBA.) will send u the fotos of our new young champions lateron. it's nice to have a contact with u and use such sites we already have published the fotos of champions of scenior Mr. Hazara and Junier Mr Hazara on two sites and we want it that u should also publish it on ur webpage. thanks. HBBA. please reply us if u get this message immedialtely. bye 4 now. Mr Hazara “our national body building champion ship” was held on 17th September 2004. This time it was 25th silver jubilee contest, held in Yazdan khan model school, Quetta, Pakistan. Ali Naqi and Zakir Hussain were declared champions as senior and junior Mr Hazara respectively. Secretary Balochistan Olympics Mr Afzal Awan was chief guest and Colonel Younas Changazi “minister of sports” was presiding over the occasion. Ali Naqi was selected in Balochistan team and on the 9th October he won another title of all Pakistan inter boards contest for 04-2005 where students participated from all over countries's schools and colleges. He commented that “ It’s wonderful to win two titles in a year. It’s all because of my perfect and regular workout. I’ll continue my training along with my studies in the future for greater championships. It’s good to be in touch with sports along with other activities in order to keep oneself fit. Thanks." |
|
Hazara bodybuilding association. |
|
wbc_hq@yahoo.com |
| Genetic origin of Hazara |
| I come accros this intresting article published in an American scientific Journal. this article is about a study carried out in Pakistan to know the genetic back ground of various ethenic population residing in Pakistan and their correlation with historical as well as oral data. This article proves this long standing oral tradition that Hazara belongs to Mongolia. Any one intrested can read this article from this link. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed&pubmedid=11898125. Copy and paste this to address bar this will give the article. |
|
Dr.Mohammad Ali |
|
alihazara@hotmail.com |
| A Pashtun government |
|
Karzai has chosen a new cabinet, and it does not contain any Hazaras. The new shift in political leanings aims to appease the Pashtuns, and defang Taliban's nationalistic (pro-Pashtun) propaganda, at the cost of the rest of Afghanistan. Dostum has also been completely excluded, but some Tajik ministers were present in the cabinet. Afghanistan politics recently has increasingly been about the northern groups versus the Pashtuns. This does not bode well for Afghanistan when the US security forces leave. Will we see ex-Talib soldiers come to Bamian to establish law-and-order in American uniforms? |
| Are Hazaras really of Mongolian origin? |
|
I've been reading about Hazaras and been trying to find out who really Hazaras are. In the end, I'm leaning toward the theory that says that Hazaras are of Mongolian origin. Of course, this question is still a QUESTION that needs further thorough, scientific studies. Here is why I think Hazaras are of Mongolian origin: 1. I symphathize for the theories of Chinggis Khaan and the meaning of Persian word Hazara-One Thousand. 2. Physically, Hazaras closely resemble Mongols, Kazakhs, and Kirgians rather than what some people mention like Chinese. 3. Language. I heard Hazaras have their own language that is not Farsi and heard that this language is rarely, though still spoken in some Hazara families, sepcially among women. This language needs to be studied further in order to determine the origins of it. From what I understood this language is very similar to ancient Mongolian language and can still be understood by Mongolian speaking people at some level. 4. Concerning Hazara language, I want to mention here about the article I read in Russian newspaper. This article was memoirs of a Khalimag-Mongolian (Khalimag-people of Mongolian origin living in southern Russia) soldier who fought in Afghanistan in 1980s as a member of the Soviet army special force unit. In one operation, he and his unit were completely surrounded by Mojahedeens, who apparently were Hazaras, and had no way out but fight to death. During the fierce fight, he started screaming in his own language, Mongolian, and suddenly the shootings from Mojahedeens stopped and the army unit was freely let go. Later on, this Khalimag-Mongolian man interrogated some war prisoners, Mojahedeen Hazaras and found the man who was in the Mojahedeen group that surrounded his special force unit. Interestengly enough, he then only found out the reasons for the mysterious ways he and his unit were saved in that battle. Yeah, it was his screaming in Mongolian that saved many lives. Hazaras don't fight with their own people! Apparently, the interrogator and the war prisoner were able to communicate at some level. There is another story I'm trying to recall. I think it is the same Khalimag Mongolian soldier who was able to communicate with Hazara women in Hazara villages during Afghan Soviet war. 5. Chahar Aiymaq- I got this word from this website while reading the posts about Hazara ethnicity discussians. It looks like these two words refer to some group of people who may or may not belong to Hazaras. Interestengly engough, these two words used in Mongolian exactly as it is. Here is the explanation: Chahar - name for the group of Mongolian people who consist of different tribes of ancient Mongolia. Chahar people mostly live in what people call Inner Mongolia, in China. Aiymaq- (spelling) I beleive this word is original Mongolian word and it is mentioned in the Secret History of Mongols. Actually, aiymag refers to the united groups of tribes and clans in ancient Mongolia. In Modern Mongolian language, aiymaq is used to refer to the provincial units of administrative and territorial divedings. For example: Dund-govi aimaq refers to the Mongolian province I'm from. What I metioned above is just what I think about Hazaras's origins and what I found from little research I've done on Hazaras. Who Hazaras are is an interesting subject to be studied further. I welcome any commments and suggestions addressed to me. Thanks Batsuuri |
|
Batsuuri |
|
suuri@hotmail.com |
| Karzai to win, Muhaqiq tied with Qanooni |
|
The election results are revealing a trend of votes towards a victory for Karzai. It seems like Pashtun areas have had their votes counted first, and about half the votes in Hazara and Uzbek regions have been counted. Interestingly Muhaqiq and Dostum are tied. Dostum should be expected to get all Uzbek, but no Tajik and little Hazara votes, while not all Hazaras would vote for Muhaqiq, as Wahdat itself is fragmented, and large numbers of Hazaras live outside Hazarajat. Muhaqiq, although providing a strong leadership for his faction of Wahdat, does not quite command the personality Mazari did, and many Hazara voters would vote for Karzai. For the lack of any real Pashtun candidate, almost all Pashtuns are voting for Karzai too. Qanooni, despite being a strong representative of the Tajik section, would still not command all Tajik votes, the rest of which would also head for Karzai, who is now backed by the two brothers of Masood. This first-ever democratic voting, albeit pro-American and Karzai, will crudely reveal the ethnic fractions of Afghanistans population. These ethnic lines would have been more accurate, if Masood and Baba Mazari were alive. Other interesting facts: 12% of Bamian votes went to Qanooni, while 12% of Kabul votes went to Muhaqiq. Muhaqiq gained 47% of Ghazni votes, but 0.5% votes from Uruzgan, although he has 87% of the Daikundi votes next door. Qanooni, Muhaqiq and Karzai are tied in Sar-i-Pul, while Dostum is winning by a landslide. 47% of the Kunduz votes went to Karzai. Karzai has 0.8% of the Panjsher votes and Qanooni has 95%. 22% of the votes from Pakistan went to Muhaqiq, and 67% to Karzai. Hazaras are not 2% of the population. |
| Why are Hazaras targetted of all Shias? |
|
The Ashura Massacre has been called sectarian violence, with three quarters of media outlets not even mentioning Hazaras were the majority of the victims. Among Pakistan's 40-million Shia population, all the major attacks targetted Hazaras. Sectarian violence has been a recurring theme around Parachinar, in Multan, regions around Lahore and in Karachi. However the three attacks against Hazaras in the past year were especially deadly. There are only 100,000 to 200,000 Hazaras in Pakistan, mostly concentrated in one corner of Quetta called Hazaratown. In 1997, the Taliban were defeated at Mazar-i-Sharif by a Hazara uprising, in which more than 7000 Taliban soldiers were killed supposedly by Hazara and Uzbek citizens. In the following offensive, Mazar-i-Sharif was taken again and almost 10,000 Hazara civilians were summarily executed. This can be one possible reason for the sense of vengeance of the Al Qaeda-related extremists against Hazaras. It is however certain that Hazara civilians in Pakistan are targetted directly and Pakistan has not been a safe haven for Hazara refugees from Afghanistan since the rise of the Taliban and Wahabi extremism in Pakistan. |
| Third major massacre of Hazaras in Quetta |
|
Yesterday, during the holy day of Ashura in Quetta, ISI and Al-Qaeda backed suicide attackers attacked a procession with grenades and guns. At least 45 dead according to the Dawn newspaper. Reuters is also carrying the story, mentioning that armed Hazaras fired back, and the attackers eventually blew themselves up. These attacks are likely carried out by Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, which took credit for similar attacks last year in Quetta, and for the murder of Washington Post journalist Robert Pierce. They are believed to be connected to Al Qaeda. Al Jazeera mentions the attack happened on Meezaan Chowk at 1:40 pm. Apparently Iraq, and Hazaras in Quetta have been the two biggest targets of Al Qaeda and other extremist groups. Interestingly Amanda Vanstone and Philip Ruddock, Australia's immigration ministers have consistently denied any threats against Hazaras in Pakistan or Afghanistan, and have put in considerable work to deport Hazara asylum seekers in Australia. |
| Hazara.ORG back online |
| After a long absence, Hazara.org is back and will be much improved in the future. |
| Enormous Gold mines discovered in Mongolia |
|
Canada-based drilling company Ivanhoe has discovered Large Copper and Gold mines in Mongolia. Lack of natural resources has kept Mongolia relatively safe from bigger political players unlike Afghanistan, which due to its strategic location, has always attracted invading armies. However, properly utilized, this can be good news for Mongols. |
| Immigration to Canada becomes easier |
|
The number of immigration points to qualify for the skilled immigrant class has been lowered from 75 points to 67. This makes it easy for many Hazaras (with college degrees and education in English) in Quetta, Mashhad, Kabul to qualify. With the expected flood of applicants, these rules might be tightened again soon, making it a unique chance. The application forms and more official information can be taken from the main Canadian Government immigration site. The Canadian Refugee applicant website is here |
| Human loving |
| In the name of Almighty, The most merciful. We adhere to the teaching of our belief to love our brothers and avoid all factional, racial and national prejudices in everything we do. We proclaim to our community that we will be honest, benevolent, honorable and respectful. We support justice, honesty, truthfulnes and mercyfulnes. We are bound by our oath to love and support the oppressed by prayers and peaceful humanitarian manners. WE reject any treachery or and violence. We cardially believe that there is no difference between our brothers of all ethnicity in Afghanistan, and that we must all live like neighbors and parts of family. No matter wherever we come from and which tribe we belong to, we are one Afghanistan citizen. We must all sacrifice efforts to promote peace and stability in our belove homeland, and we must all try to bring progress and development in the nation for the sake of the suffering innocent people who have been the victims of civil wars and turmoil for 24 years. For the sake of humanity and fairness we should all embrace peace, and allow people to recover from the decades of nightmares, Inshallah. Zinda baad Maihan-e-Aziz wa dost dashtani Mahboob Afghanistan. Wassalam. |
| Mamnoon |
| Miscellaneous News |
| The New Zealand military force will be arriving in Bamian to establish control of the law. Juma Khan Nazari writes of his time at Tampa, Australia. A documentary about the relationship of a Hazara and an Australian. |
| Immigration help mailing list |
|
One mailing list has been setup for helping Hazaras with immigration-related issues. This list brings together Azargo living in many countries. The website is http://groups.yahoo.com/group/azargoi_ghairmulki and it can also be joined by sending an email to azargoi_ghairmulki-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. Names and email addersses are kept hidden, and unsubscribing is easy. |
| A wake up Call for Hazaras |
|
Salam brothers and sisters of Hazara. We have been watching for centuries that hazaras are killed, raped and looted just because we are Hazara and the follower of Islam ( Shia ). Even in the last months they bombed our jawanan and our Masjids, that means they have the intention to sweep us out from the suface of this earth.Are we hazaras really so ugly, ununited and mistrusted folk on the earth? When I asked this question from my neighbour he told me " yes, hazaras are the people no one can trust him. there is no unity like there name sounds > hazara mean hazar- ra< they are opportunist and egoist nothing better than this". Now if we take a look on our past history HAZARAS who got a good fortune in their lives, became a powerful man in the government. They used their power agaist their own nation. So because of their mistakes today we are the best target of others either religiously or politically.There is no sence of political and social structure among us. If there are some, their masters are dictating from Iran or from enemei's sectors.we have not a single legitimate Hazara political representive who bring the international attention to the point....why is it happening only to our folk. I am sure we can get a major help package from international community to defend ourselves but first we have to dismentle our own differences and make a self-steem and independent HAZARA-PLATEFORM (A Legitimate Political Party) I am in good contact to the recent devastating situation in Quetta but there is not a single statesment from our self made leadership. which is a very emarrassing moment for our nation. In a matter of fact we are one of the best natured nation in the region if we would have a good leadership like BABA MAZARI. Today in Karzai's government the presence of a few hazaras are the reflection of Mazari's doctrine.I wish we would have once again find Mazari's ghost in Pakistan (Quetta) to save the sinked boat of hazaras. |
| dawood |
| relegion and national ID |
|
Birarha salam.i will pick up the end where i left.in my opinion no one else has a right to come and teach us islam.we r as good and bad muslims as any other muslim comity is.aughoo tried to convert us to their brand of tribal islam for the last 150-200 years,but remained unsuccessful.we have defended our relegion i.e islam and in particular shia islam with our blood and honour.the latest example is of imambara-i-kalan, quetta.so the amount of prosecution we suffered has not been expirienced by any other group.then amony us we have hanafi and ismaili hazara.they are hazara by blood and ancestory.these iranian mullahs have divided us on this account also.before iranian revolution inter marriages were common between shia,sunni and ismaili hazara.but after that all of a sudden the rules changed.every sect had to marry in their own comity.u see the plight of sunni and ismaili hazara also.they are not considered equal by their co relegionist.therefore the lesson is relegion at its place has importance,shia islam in general is part of our culture.no dening it.but the point is we are discreminated against as an ethnic group by all.so we needs to establish this bound of MO KI ASTI,YEK HAZARA. so sar so good.see u again and again.salam. nazra azargi zindabad |
| Lashkar e Jhangvi claims responsibility |
|
A BBC article says Lashkar e Jhangvi have claimed responsibility for the attacks on both the 14 Hazara police cadets and the Imambargah on sectarian pretexts in a video. Lashkar e Jhangvi, Sippah e Sahaba and Pakistan's ISI have been the prime suspects upto now. Lashkhar e Jhangvi is the same group that killed Robert Pierce, a Washington Post journalist last year. Iranian-backed agents are expected to incite violence in revenge among Hazaras against Sunni citizens shortly. |
| Suicide attacks on Imambargah kills 8 - 30 |
|
Two suicide bombers exploded themselves in an Imambargah on Mekangi Road Quetta, while others threw hand-granades inside. The numbers of the dead in the news range between 8 and 30. Reuters has the news and a photo, as well as The Toronto Star, The News and News24. The News24 article is the only one that mentions the attack was targetted against Hazaras. This is a second attack against Shias, specifically against Hazaras in Quetta that threatens regional peace, partly because their Hazara counterparts in Afghanistan sided with the Americans and were key in driving out the Talibs and establishing a multiethnic government. Update: CNN, which did not report the massacre of 8000 Hazaras in Mazar-i-Sharif is also prominently carrying the story mentioning the fact that the mosque is frequented by Hazaras and the attack was most likely aimed at Hazaras. BBC is also carrying the news. Rioting broke out after the attacks, while one of the attackers was apprehended. It will be interesting to see who he worked for, and who were the attacks targetted at. For the Namaaz e Jumma, the mosque was packed with 2000 people for the Zohar and Asar Namaaz when the bombs were thrown in at 1:30 pm. This is high time for the city's Sunni population, Baloch, Punjabi and Pashtun people to show support for Hazaras and distance themselves from the Al-Qaida-supported attackers and their motives. Update: The count for the dead has been raised to 32 now. "Khadim Hussain, a Hazara Shia from Quetta, said he counted 24 bodies in the hospital morgue, including those of three children." "Soon after the incident the people, belonged to the Hazara community set the casualty ward of the hospital on fire. When two fire engines rushed to the hospital to extinguish fire the unruly mob did not allow them and set them on fire." "The tragedy sparked protests by Shia Hazara community in the city as the people carried the injured and dead bodies to the Casualty Department of the city's Civil Hospital and set a fire there. The report said that tear-gas was used to disperse the angry crowd." Curfew has been imposed on the city, while gunfire can be heard in various areas of the city. |
| The Hizb e Wahdat voices outrage for the Quetta victims |
|
The only political party in Afghanistan that represents Hazaras has released a press statement condemning the violence on the Hazaras of Quetta which has now claimed 14 lives. That was no random act of sectarian violence 2 Sundays ago, the police cadets were shot specifically for being Hazara. Quetta is a tribal border city in Pakistan, close to Afghanistan. Quetta has diverse ethnic communities with significant populations of Pashtuns, Baloch, Punjabi and Hazaras. Quetta has seen much lesser violence than Afghanistan in the past century with its relatively tolerant atmosphere and a low level of social incitement by Saudi and Iranian elements. |
| Justice |
|
To all of you the Afghanistan citicens Salaamu Alaikum, you all know the meaning of Salaam better than I do, Peace, you all know that you are religiously obligated to keep and protect that attribute, you all know that harming an innocent human being is an unforgiveable act unless you obtain forgiveness from that person, let alone killing your own brothers, you all realize that ending a person's life forfiets you from going to Jannat, instead since it is an unforgiveable act, you will be thrown in hell which is eternal, you all know best that Rasulallah (SAW) said you are all the children of one father and one mother, Adam & Hawa (Eve), he said. He said you must treat each other with respect, no one is superior over the other, neither is a white person superior over the black one, he said, the best of you he said are those who are more obedient to Allah's orders. Now brothers my dear and sweet Afghans, Allah says, I created you equal and you must be kind to each other and help one another on earth. ( Please understand that I am an ordinary guy like yourself, I am not a Mullah and this is not a preaching, these are the facts that we ignore in life).....After all, we are all hamwatan,neighbors,coming from the country of which once the world was amazed because of their united bravery like a lion that defeated the supper power Soviet Union. The disease of division and hatred took away from us that bravery title, don't you agree? now if people continue to hate and shed blood amongst their brothers, they will not only make the world laugh, but they will not deserve any more the title of lion like bravery. As the old saying, sher-e- sahra robaie khana... Being enemy to your own people is not a bravery, it is haram and forbidden and sharm. It is a shame that although we share the same country, same Qur'an, we are the Ummah of same Nabi (SAW), we pray towards same Qeblah, we all accept and love the grandsons of Muhammad Mustafa (PBUH), but unfortunately there is hatred, hatred for what????. Reason, people are being used by the enemies of Afghanistan. But remember that you are not stupid, you have brain, you are responsible for your cruelty, you have no excuse before God if you kill your own brothers or any innocent human being, you will be judged and punished for the crime you knowingly commit. Do you want to appear before God in the day of judgment with your head hanging down of embarrassment due to your shameful and inhumane actions while here on earth? Answer it to yourself, if not, then Allah is Karim and Rahim, He accepts Tawbah any time you return to Him, why don't you repent and work for peace and change your life and the lives of your countrymen around for better instead of misery? Life is short, you should as Muslims live your lives in peace because that's what Islam is all about. Smearing your Musalmani hands with your own people is against your religion, and you know that better, and knowingly committing crime has double punishment, you know that too. Thanks for listening. May Allah fill your hearts with love and mercy for each other in order to promote unity, brotherhood and human loving in your beloved country and wherever you are. Wassalam. |
|
Mamnoon |
| A useful social alliance of Pashtuns and Hazaras |
|
Jan Mohammad Khan, a governor in Uruzgan blamed Hazaras for an attack on a bus killing 9 Pashtuns. However, he pointed at the Iranian intelligence to be behind the attacks. This makes for a very interesting set of developments since Hazaras have been trying to struggle with the religious grip of Iran over the Hazaragi psychology for a long time. This shows a clear symmetry between the Hazara and Pashtun people of Afghanistan. A certain large section of the Pashtun society has been hijacked by religious extremists with their center of gravity in Saudi Arabia. The same is true of Hazaras with the hiackers being mullahs trained in Iran, trained more on psyche control than religious matters. Such a deadly ping-pong game can only be changed by the nationalism sensibility of the two groups, both of whom now realize the extent of religious control in the other. One interesting solution would be for each group to surrender their (foreign) clerics to the other. Pashtuns are sure to want to have a good conversation with the real perpetrators behind the bus killings, and Hazaras would be interested in an appointment with the troublemakers who carried out the Sunday Massacre. However a much more realistic approach would be for the Hazaragi and Pashtun (nationalists, non-extremists) leaderships to form an alliance against exported clerics for the benefit of Afghanistan. This should also benefit smaller groups like the Tajiks and Uzbeks who are not so deeply affected with clerical incest. |
| Iran pokes sticks into Afghanistan again |
|
Reuters is reporting a violent attack on a bus has killed 9 civilians, in the Uruzgan province of Afghanistan. Although the governor has aimed at an entire ethnic group, Hazaras, for the massacre, he has mentioned Iran's hand in the incident. It looks like a cruel coincident for a massacre of the same size as that of Hazaras in Quetta last Sunday. However the Pashtun-Hazara relations have been relatively peaceful in the past few years in Uruzgan, and spontaneous sectarian attacks of this scale have been rare in Afghanistan. Considering also the rumors from Quetta that mullahs were inciting anger there after the Sunday Massacre, and the picture becomes clearer. Iran is at it again, with another round of sectarian incitement of violence by the use of exported clerics. It is therefore a good sign that the governor of Uruzgan recognized the government of Iran as the perpetrators, although he explicitly blamed Hazaras for carrying out the attacks. In Quetta, after the Sunday Massacre, Hazaras did not retaliate with violence. Hazaras are educated middle-class citizens of Quetta and understand the politics of religion better than Hazaras elsewhere. This is in contrast to the 6th July 1986 uprising of Hazaras against the government under the command of an Iranian cleric. Over 70 Hazaras lost their lives and were shunned from higher posts in the army and civil services in Balochistan. Meanwhile, the cleric took refuge in Iran. |
| Racist attacks on Hazaras in Pakistan |
|
12 Hazara police trainees were killed by two cowards on a motorcycle, who opened fire at evening in Quetta on Sunday. This has been reported on the Toronto Star. The deputy police chief of Balochistan, Humayun Jogezai claims to have taken in custody 18 people over the incident. There are some pictures available. Dawn has the names of the injured and the dead. The Pakistani government has offered a compensation of Rs. 5 lakh for the families of the slain. Although many journalists have blamed sectarian reasons, there are millions of Shia muslims in Pakistan, yet coincidentally it is always the Hazaras who bear the brunt of these attacks in Pakistan and Afghanistan. |
| Discussions to be moved from guestbooks to newsgroups |
| The webmasters of several Hazara websites are planning to move the discussions from our guestbooks to a single general newsgroup. We would like your feedback on this plan. For users who are not acquainted with newsgroups, you can try using it through http://groups.google.com. |
| Who is the Afghan? |
|
The external meaning of the word Afghan is anyone from Afghanistan. While officially that means an Afghanistan's national, generally an Afghan is someone who was born there. Subsequent generations would be Australian-Afghans or Afghan-Americans.
Most Hazaras however use Afghan (Augho) to mean a Pashtun person, the original meaning of the word Afghan dating back to its use by Ahmed Shah Abdali and earlier. The Hazara community in Quetta use the word Afghani to mean someone who recently came from Afghanistan. This has created two different words in the vocabulary, the Afghan and the Afghani. The word Afghan is an ethnic specification while the word Afghani is a national identity. Both these words exclude the Quetta Hazara community, although 3 generations ago they too were 'Afghani'. This being in contrast with the identity of a second generation of immigrants from Afghanistan to western countries, where they retain part of their original identity as Afghan-Canadians etc. Here, the western meaning of the word Afghan is used. This single word's meaning is quite a mess. Such a mess makes answers difficult to questions like Are Hazaras Afghans? Are there many Non-Afghans in Afghanistan? How many Afghans are in Pakistan? Is Afghnistan a country of Afghans? Why many Hazaras refer to their lands as Hazarajat rather than Bamian or Afghnistan? There is a good deal of linguistic diversity in Central Asia, but in this case, the ambiguity of the word Afghan is carried into the country's name and many people's identities. It also brings about confusions in the west such as the Australian authorities denying Hazara refugees refuge for the definition of their identity which was nullified by their stay in Pakistan. A country's name, history, heroes, cultural and moral foundations provide the basis for its people's identity. Loyalty and allegiances are made to this identity and are kept for generations. Afghanistan therefore needs to create a culture of equality and redefine the word Afghan to forge a unity that can stand against intrusions by Iran, Russia, Pakistan, USA, Britain and Arabia, which will undoubtably continue, as it has for millennia. |
| Merits of a puppet government |
|
Should we support Karzai's government? Should we make it the first time we support a Pashtun president? Should we back a leader placed in by a superpower from the other end of the world? We do not have definitive answers to these questions. We have stood our ground on our principles of opposing any foreign power in Afganistan, but the times have changed. A leaders strategic alliance can be interpreted as puppetry of the leader. Poverty and corruption are rampant in most of the muslim countries, accompanied by gripes of conspiracy theorists of how the leadership is subordinate to American and Zionist powers, but the complaints are never accompanied by action. Our leader, Baba Mazari made it clear that we're not a seperatist group, and our future is in the future of Afghanistan. We have to support a good leadership, without insisting the leadership be composed of Hazaras. We have to make a compromise somewhere with Pashtun and Tajiks if we have to come to terms with a united Afghanistan, a country whose very name means land of Pashtuns, and where the national leader's picture is of a warlord who was responsible for the massacres of Hazaras in Afshar and western Kabul. That makes the process of reconciliation long and tedious, or impossible, with the constant threat of further divisions and warfare. A balance between Hazara nationalism, where the freedom and development of Hazarajat is a priority, and Afghanistan (Khorasan?) nationalism, which would encompass all non-Hazaras as well, is needed. We cannot and should not achieve a sense of absolute unity and pride in Afghanistan, since important powers, right up to the defence and interior ministers, use their weight to pull power to their own kind. We are responsible for countering those efforts, in ensuring the representation of Hazaras in the government and fair distribution of resources. To achieve any level of unity and peace in Afghanistan, we have to back the current administration, no matter how difficult it is to support a foreign-placed leader, because we have seen the alternative in the past two decades. |
| Tehran will arm Hazaras for their own defence |
|
National Review has an article on Iran's political movements. Now that Iraq has been invaded, Iran is getting uneasy about American presence on the eastern and western flanks. Americans already have indirect presence in the north, and warships to the south. The article suggests Iran will arm shias in surrounding countries and use religious rallying to motivate anti-American sentiment, in an effort to use proxy armies against the US before they enter Iran. Sounds plausible.
Hazaras have been needing weapons for some years now. Tajiks have enjoyed support from Iran, Tajikistan and later, the US. Pashtuns received weapons and financial aid from Arab countries, and were even supported directly by the Pakistani armed forces. Hazaras were therefore sandwiched between them, during a lawless period and years of drought. One of the first things Wahdat requested from the Americans after Sept. 11th, was shoes for their soldiers. During the Taliban years, more Hazaras were removed from their lands in Uruzgan and other provinces, a trend started by Shah Abdur Rehman over a century ago. A sense of revenge, combined with religious rallying and support from Iran does not bode well for peace in the region. Things will get much worse if the Americans decide to use Afghanistan as a platform for attack on either Iran or Pakistan. A great weight of responsibility therefore rests on the shoulders of leaders of Hazaragi political parties in how to deal with the Americans, Iranian clerics and the Afghanistan government. Wise leaders during the war years of Afghanistan had a vision of peace and tolerance for Afghanistan, that is becoming hard to envision now, given the pouring of arms to various groups for the purpose of an entertaining chicken fight for bigger powers, a preamble before larger wars in the region. Both the enormous problems of religious control by clerics from Saudi Arabia and Iran, and loyalties to warlords are the enormous obstacles to breaking the cycle of wars in Afghanistan; almost impossible to overcome by the present Kabul administeration, who cannot even provide safety to west Kabul at present. |
| Bamian's radio station |
| After the American forces arrived in Bamian city, they donated a 400-watt radio transmitter creating the regions first radio station. The station broadcasts programmes evenings 6:00pm to 7:30pm. |
| What about the Hazara of Central Afghanistan? |
|
This question has been raised regarding the fate of the Hazaras under my plan to divide Afghanistan into at least two parts.
The Hazaras are a race of obvious Mongolian origin who live in Bamyan in Central Afghanistan. They are among the worst victims of the Taliban, primarily because they are not Sunni Muslims. They are Shia Muslims instead. Not only have many Hazaras been killed, but their two gigantic statutes of Buddha were destroyed by the Taliban. To give Americans an idea of what that means, the Buddhas in Bamyan were bigger than the faces of five presidents carved into Mount Rushmore, which are considered to be a natural treasure by Americans. The Buddhas at Bamyan were the carved into a mountainside. They were the largest Buddhas in the world and were an estimated 1500 years old. The Hazaras are clearly not of Afghan origin. They do not look like any other Afghans. Here is the story of how they got to be where they are: When the armies of Genghis Khan were rampaging across Central Asia, they were brought to a temporary halt by a woman in Bamyan. She was the ruler of a tribe in Central Afghanistan. Her army had built a fort on a cliff on the side of a mountain. The army of Genghis Khan attacked her fort, but without success. Finally, they climbed the mountains above her and found her water supply. They cut off her water. She was forced out. As a lesson to all others who might oppose Genghis Khan, she was killed along with all of her people. Not only were every man, woman and child killed, but even all the domesticated animals and the wild animals were killed too. The villages were plowed under and the trees and the grass were all killed. That is the version of the story as told by the Afghans. I heard this version when I was in Bamyan in 1977. However, the "Secret History of the Mongols" tells a different story: "A legend has it that the town of Bamiyan fell into the hands of the Mongols by virtue of Princess Lala Qatun's treachery. The Princess was of a very independent nature, cruel and immensely haughty, and was determined to take revenge on her father who wanted to marry her off against her will. She had been pondering how to avenge herself for some time when she heard that the Mongols were on their way. She sent out a message attached to an arrow, in which she told them how to cut off the water supplies to the citadel that stood guard over the valley. Genghis Khan had the young woman stoned to death soon after." From Genghis Khan, by Michel Hoang, published by Saqi Books, London, 2000, pages 244-5. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0863562884/slavesofthomasje Although the Chinese version is different from the Afghan Version and I find the Afghan version to be more believable, both versions agree on the key point, which was that after Genghis Khan was finished in Bamyan, everything in that valley was dead. Having accomplished this task, Genghis Khan moved on. However, he appointed one thousand of his men to stay behind to guard the valley. The word in the Farsi language for "one thousand" is "hazar". For that reason, the one thousand men that Genghis Khan left behind in Bamyan, and their descendants, are now known as the "Hazara". Genghis Khan did not care about religion or about language. His sons and their armies invariably adopted the religion of whatever people they were conquering. His sons who conquered Russia became Russian. His grandson who conquered China became Chinese. The Hazara, who were left behind to guard Bamyan, adopted the local religion, which was Islam, and the local language, which was Farsi. That is the reason why visitors to Bamyan have been surprised to find Chinese looking people speaking Farsi there and following Islam. When I was a prisoner in Demazang Prison in Kabul, Afghanistan in 1978, a man who was in prison with me was a Hazara from Bamyan named Janus Moghul. To my great surprise, he spoke the King's English. He said that he had been educated at Oxford University in London. He had been in prison as a political prisoner for 17 years. He had been sent to prison by King Zahir Shah. This got me very discouraged, because I was wondering that I too might be locked up there in that prison for 17 years. Like he, I was a political prisoner and had not been charged with any crime. Naturally, I asked him about the familiar legend of the one thousand Mongolian soldiers that Genghis Khan had left behind in Afghanistan. He said that there was an alternative theory, which was that the Hazara were a very old race and were the original people of Afghanistan. At one time, the Hazara owned all of Afghanistan. When the Afghans came, the Hazara were gradually driven back to their isolated mountain home. That is the reason why the Hazara are now surrounded on all sides by the Afghans, he said. He did admit that the name "Hazara" comes from the Farsi word meaning one thousand, but said that this story was just imaginary and had been created by people who could not think of any other reason why there were Chinese looking people living in Central Afghanistan. I never saw Janus Moghul again and have no idea what happened to him. About half of the political prisoners in with me were executed. Far from their glory days when they were the Army of Genghis Khan, the Hazaras are now the most despised and downtrodden minority in Afghanistan. Most recently, they have been killed in large numbers by the Taliban. My plan to divide Afghanistan into two parts with the crest of the Hindu Kush Mountains being the boarder will not help the Hazara, because they are high in the Hindu Kush but are on the south side of the crest. Also, they do not fit into any of the other known groups. They would not mix well with the Turkomins or with the Uzbeks. They are too far away from the Tajiks. They are too small and defenseless to have their own country. Finally, they are almost entirely illiterate. The only one I ever met who could read and write was Janus Moghul, and he was a prisoner in jail. In 1981. I visited the headquarters of the Hazara Mujahidin group in Peshawar, Pakistan. I came there because somebody had asked me to take him to the Mojadidi Mujahidin Group, and I had previously seen a sign on their door which said that they were the Mojadidi Group. I was surprised when I entered the building and found them to be Hazaras. I can speak some Farsi and Pashtu and I asked them about the sign. They were surprised when I told them what the sign said. As they were illiterate, they had not been able to read the sign on their door. They explained that they had rented the place and the Mojadidi Mujahidin Group had occupied the place before them. Then and there, one Hazara climbed on top of the shoulders of another Hazara and reached high up and took down the sign. They were accustomed to extreme physical hardship and were so poor that they could not afford a ladder. The Hazaras are clearly in need of protection. They are too small in numbers to defend themselves. Perhaps the US Marines can land there. Since they speak Farsi and are Shia and since Iran has shown some sympathy for their plight, perhaps our new-found friends the Iranians can put them under some sort of special administration. Also, if Iran is able to take over Herat, there is a corridor between Herat and Bamyan which can be used to supply the Hazara. [Note: Sam Sloan posted this interesting article in the soc.culture.afghanistan on 24/10/2001. There are other stories of his Afghanistan journeys on his website. His views do not represent the views of Hazara.org] |
| Sam Sloan |
| Luke Powell heads for Hazarajat again |
|
Luke Powell has been a unique photographer of Remote regions of the world, including the remotest parts of Afghanistan accessible, for over thirty years. He has had many exhibitions of photographs with the theme on Afghanistan. His Bamian collection particularly is worth a look. Other collections include Mazar i Sharif, Kabul and Chaman Refugees, and can be accessed from his website. |
| Identity Wrestling |
|
In the Toronto Star, a news article tells of DNA proof of Hazaras being descendents of Genghis Khan himself. The scientist Chris Tyler-Smith of the Oxford University's Biochemistry department thinks this is "in part because of the rapes that occurred during the Mongol conquest". Please note the samples collected were from "16 populations" and Dr. Tyler-Smith is neither a historian, nor sociologist. The article also has a definite tint of anti-Mongolian sentiments, even quoting the historian Ata-Malik Juvaini who wrote extensively on Genghis Khan in the 13th century despite being Persian and having no access at all to the Mongol ruling house. This was the same historian who claimed Genghis buried his daughters and built harems for himself, while Chinese, Mongolian and Korean historians remember Genghis for his exceptional love of his wife Burte, with no mention of any Harems.
There is however another aspect of this study, it lays the foundation for definitively linking Hazaras with the Mongolian identity, with possibly far-reaching consequences. Many ethnicities in Afghanistan are believed to have originated from abroad, as bloodlines don't run smoothly between Iran and Pakistan, but Hazaras' origin and presence become underlined. This clearly becomes fodder for Pashtun chauvanists who have tried to push the origin of other ethnicities to Par Darya, and distances Hazaras from Iranian supporters, since the Mongols destroyed much of Iran before rebuilding it under the Il-Khaned Empire. However these disadvantages should become eclipsed by the benefit of finally having a unifying identity flag for all Hazaras, including the Chahar Aimaqs, who have sometimes claimed to be Tajik, and the Bamian population, that claims we are indigenous to Hazarajat. Nationalistic identity is much stronger than religious identity, and being unified under the Mongolian history secures the Chahar Aymaqs as Hazaras, easily making Hazaras the second-largest ethnicity in Afghanistan and might even pull us close to the Uzbeks. Afghanistan's irony in having populations descended from radically different places doesn't help its unity as a country, but turning a blind eye to it and assuming everyone is simply a kind of Pashtun is worse. Classifying Hazaras as Tajiks while sidelining Hazaras in the government should hopefully become more difficult now. Equally difficult would be representing Hazaras by a Shia of a different group. |
| Dawood Sarkhosh coming to town |
| Dawood Sarkhosh, the best-known Hazara singer will be conducting a concert in Copenhagen, Denmark on the 28th of December, arranged by the Hazara Union of Denmark. Dawood has released two albums 'Sarzamin-e-man' (my homeland) and 'Pari Jo' so far. |
| Afghan Constitution |
| I think hatred, racial and religious discrimination and prejudice need to be marked unconstitutional and crimal act punishable in the court of law upto ten years of imprisonment. Because that's what destroyed Afghanistan. And it will also a must for prevention and precautionary measure to outlaw the preaching of unknowledgeable Mullahs who in the past announced fatwas that beheading certain ethnic groups and capturing their lands was allowed, which blackfaced and embarrassed Islam in the eyes of the rest of the world. I think that the verse of Qur'an should be part of our constitution which says, "INNAMAL MO'MENUNA IKHWAH" And that whoever is cought spreading or propagating fitna must be punished as a criminal and as a betrayer to Afghanistan. Muslims must consider one another brothers, as Prophet (PBUH) said none of you are superior over the other, and neither is a white person superior over the black one, you are the children of one father and one mother, he said, and he said whoever of you is more obedient to Allah's orders is the better one. Now brothers and sisters the best one of us is that who promotes unity and brotherhood in Afghanistan, and the best servants of the country are those who live in peace and claim no betterment over the rest of the people. As the old saying, Khud pisandi mayaie shitan bowad, Harke khudra kam zanad mardan bowad. Bani Adam a'zai yak digarand, Ke dar aafarinesh ze yak gawharand ** Chu a'ozwi ba dard aawarad rozgar, digar a'ozwhara namanad qarar ** Tukaz mehnati digaran beghami, Nashayad ke namat nehand adami...... I wish everyone tawfeeq in doing his part and fulfilling his duty that he owes to his nation in the way of unity, peace and harmony. Zinda baad Mihan Aziz. |
|
Mamnoon |
| Remembering 9-11: A Message of Solidarity from the Hazaras of Afghanistan and the World |
|
This message is dedicated to the memory of the victims of September 11, 2001, their loved ones left behind and to our American friends. Our hearts and prayers go out to all those who have been the victim of these tragic events, their families, and everyone in America.
Unfortunately, we are all too familiar with the savage and inhuman actions of Al-Qaida and the Taleban. Prior to the events of September 11, 2001, members of Al-Qaida and the Taleban were involved in the massacre of thousands of Hazaras in Afghanistan. In August 1997, over 15,000 Hazara innocent men, women and children were massacred in what the Human Rights Watch calls a "Killing Frenzy" [1] in the city of Mazar-e Sharif. After the fall of the city of Mazar-e Sharif the Taleban / Al-Qaida terrorists then massacred the Hazaras in the city of Bamyan [2]. Women were raped, children were beaten to death and, as part of their scorched-earth policy, all Hazara houses, the crops and all food-stores were burned, leaving the women and elderly prey to starvation and death. In January of 2000 the Al-Qaida / Taleban terrorists massacred the Hazaras in Robatak pass [3] and in May of 2001 another massacre in the city of Yakawlang [4] where Hazara victims throats were slashed [5] and Hazaras were hung in the trees [6] for the local population to look upon. September 11, 2001 was a wakeup call for the world and especially to America, which turned a blind eye to the terrorists acts in Afghanistan in the mistaken belief that it would not affect them. How sorry we are that it took such a tragic event for the world to realize that something must be done about the situation in Afghanistan and these terrorist groups. We, the Hazaras of the world and in Afghanistan, specially support Americas war against terrorism in Afghanistan. We extend our full support and cooperation to our American friends and to the International forces in Afghanistan. We hope and believe that United States of America and her allies will perform their active role in establishing a very just and fair society in Afghanistan for all nations inhabiting there. God Bless, Hizb Wahdat, Afghanistan [7] Union in Defense of Freedom and Justice in Afghanistan [8] The Hazara Union of Denmark [9] Hazara Unity of USA, USA [10] Hazara Student Federation (HSF), Pakistan [11] Hazara.net [12] Hazara.com [13] |
| Hazara.NET |
| webmaster@hazara.net |
| Islamic Republic of Khorasan |
|
The dominance of one ethnicity in Afghan politics in the past century has given this land the name of Afghanistan. It is however well known that "Afghan" or "Augho" within Afghanistan refers to the Pashtun populations in the south and east. This is as unjust to the identity of the population as calling Afghanistan Takikistan, Hazarajat, Pashtunistan or greater Iran. Another interesting fact is that most of the world's Pashtuns actually live, and enjoy political representation at this time, in Pakistan.
This brings us to the historical name of Khorasan for Afghanistan which would be acceptable to all ethnicities except possibly the Afghans. Such a big move will take time and education and will depend on the collective votes of the people. Is this idea too far-fetched now or in the distant future? |
| Investment in Afghanistan |
| As of today, 3 Dollars equal one hundred thousand Afghanis in our homeland. For those of you brothers that are in the western countries, it is a golden opportunity to invest in Afghanistan on homes, land, stores, gardens, etc, and if you are not in the process of returning yet, you could sow seeds as sadaqa jaria by letting your relatives, friends or eligible people (mostahaq)to take advantage of your property and you will get the rewarded. If you always wondered of how you could help your poor people, now is the time you can afford to fulfill your dream. You will be happy you took that step in helping them in this time of poverty. As the old saying, Hamkhurmaa Hamsawaab. "WA MENALLAHE TAWFEEQ". |
| Mamnoon |
| Wahdat and other Alliance parties deny mass graves in Dasht-i-Laili |
| A statement has been released on behalf of the parties of the ex-Northern Alliance denying the existance of mass graves. Newsweek reported that the Northern Alliance carried out HR abuses against Taliban and Al-Qaeda prisoners, and are hiding mass graves from journalists and other investigators. This statement aims to put to rest these speculations. |
| Gathering aid to rebuild |
| The World is gathering aid for rebuilding the most ignored country now. The billions, some 2.6, seem small compared to the national budgets of many similarly sized countries, but should be enough to kick-start an economy. The new Government seems too sincere and efficient for Afghanistan, but these are extraordiniary times anyway. It is too early for the government to show its committment to multi-ethnic governance, or support of the severely drought-hit Hazara and Pashtun populations; after all, they havent recieved all that aid yet. Although I am far from a specialist, I believe up to half of the budget of the next three years should be spent on support of the drought-hit and diseased populations, and soon. The severity of the climatic conditions in Afghanistan have crossed the 100-year record, a fact overshadowed by the political conditions. In this regard, the new Afghan Government should also take journalists to the countryside, in Central and parts of the south, to to hammer in the urgent need for more aid. Security should be part of the government's offering for any aid parties, journalists or the odd tourist, to the remote regions. The other half of the budget package should be divided into rebuilding an economic structure and kick-starting a primary education system, at least in the major towns and cities. This should already have created some pressure on the planning department on setting up educational, media and other policies that will walk the fine line between religion and modernism. The policy should ideally be built from scratch, due to the unique sociopolitical environment and diversity in religious and lingual requirements of the districts. With such pressing issues, we can only be sure the budget will run dry in three years if not earlier, and this adds the burden on the planning departments to remove tourism obstacles, invest in media pressure for more aid, and implement a simple and minimal taxation system, least to contribute negatively to the economy. Afghanistan will certainly take more than three years to repair, which is far more than the traditional attention span of the more powerful western countries. |
| The Constitution of Afghanistan |
| The constitution of a country is the primary document guaranteeing freedom and civil rights to its citizens. Soon citizens of Afghanistan will be formulating and adopting a constitution. What kind of a constitution do you think appropriate and proper for Afghanistan. You may post your comments and thoughts in the guest book by clicking here. |
| The next government takes shape. |
| It has a chairman, 5 deputies and 23 ministers, and has demonstrated sincerity for a successful Government of Afghanistan that can bring some real peace and stability. "One of the five vice-chairman will be Dr. Sima Samar, who will also be in charge of women's affairs", says The New York Times. The Bonn talks did not represent the Hazara tribe, among others, reasonably. However the shape of the next government in Afghanistan is showing real hope both for minority tribes and the women of the country. Although the International presence is not pressuring the rulers of Kabul for increased peacekeeper forces in Kabul and other places, they're pushing the disarming of local forces. "In a move that is already creating political difficulties in Kabul, the document calls for the disarming of various militia or military units where the multinational force is deployed. The police force would not be disbanded." As we wait for the complete list of deputies and ministers, and governors of each province, we can hope for an equality that would be acceptable to everyone. As we carefully take back our denouncement of the talks at Bonn, we hope and pray. |
| Is the State of Hazaristan Possible? |
| The idea of a separate country in the heart of Afghanistan has been floating around among Hazaras since the liberation of Bangladesh from Pakistan. However would it work? Is it worth it? Will it increase the quality of life for the average Hazara? To begin with, such an attempt will push the Tajiks and Uzbeks to join their countries. This should help accelerate the creation of Hazaristan. But quarrels over land areas will be devastating for everyone. There may also be a chance the next Govt. might be fair to Hazaras, to consider. Post your comments to Hazara.org's guestbook |
| We denounce the Bonn Talks |
| More than a quarter of Afghanistan's population has not been represented at the Bonn Conference. The Hazaras (Check CIA Factsheet, Britannica etc) EXIST in Central Afghanistan and they're not just misc. tribes backed by Iran. In fact many other non-Hazara tribes are backed and influenced more by Iran than the Hazaras. Hazara political groups most strongly push for peacekeeper forces in the major cities because their populations might be harassed by the present Govt.'s very non-Hazara troops. Hazaras are the majority in Mazar-i-Sharif, are approximately 30% of Kabul and 24% of Herat. They were the most assaulted, massacred and fought with by the Taliban in recent years. Everyone around the Bonn table pretends Hazaras don't exist.. Although all the empty space on most maps between Herat, Kandahar, Kabul and Mazar-i-Sharif are populated by Shiite/Sunni Hazaras. Should this racial discrimination continue we WILL support future military setups for the security of Hazaragi populations all over Afghanistan. We EXIST! |
Contact: user1@hazara.org Page Count since 3rd sep: 2946