Washington, DC – I speak here on behalf of Bolaq Analyst Network and as the former chairman of the World Hazara Council, both belonging to the Hazaras in the diaspora.
Who are the Hazaras and where do they live? The Hazaras are Turkic-Mongolian people who have lived in Afghanistan since time immemorial, and a lot of historians believe that they are the original inhabitants of the country. We have a population of over 12 million people living mainly in Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan. Our faith or our sect of religion is Shia, with a sizable number of us being Sunni and we also have some Ismailis.
During the 1890s, the Brits fearing that we might get into an alliance with Russians brought one of their stooges called Abdur Rahman and armed him. In the name of Islam, he brought hordes of people from across the border and started a genocidal war against my people. More than 60% of our people were massacred. Our women and girls were sold into slavery in the Indian subcontinent and inside Afghanistan. Our lands, our fertile lands from central Afghanistan, and even as far as Kandahar and Helmand were forcefully taken from us and we were forced to flee the country. Even now, more than 130 years later, yearly hordes of Pashtun nomads come and graze our pastures and, on the way, they plunder our livelihoods and our fields.
We took part in the resistance against the Soviets and fought alongside other ethnic groups in a relatively unified fashion for the liberation of Afghanistan. However, that unity was short-lived as the factions vying for power started a civil war among themselves. After years of a bloody civil war, a new group, the Taliban, emerged and was literally installed by our neighbor. Soon after their emergence, they started a genocidal war against us. They followed in the footsteps of their forefather who had brought them to Afghanistan and started ethnic cleansing on a grand scale. In the city of Mazar-e-Sharif in the north in 1998 they massacred more than 10,000 of our people. The genocidal campaign was repeated on a smaller scale in central Bamiyan province.
After the 9/11 tragic events, when the US and coalition forces came to Afghanistan, we welcomed them with open arms. We thought they were our liberators because we were under the occupation of a foreign-sponsored terror group, namely the Taliban. I can tell you with total certainty that of all the casualties that the coalition forces suffered in Afghanistan, not one of them, American or otherwise, has been killed by a Hazara. There has not been one suicide bomber from the Hazaras. It is not in our genes, nor in our culture to kill innocent people unless we are attacked.
For a whole century, we were deprived of all the basic help and services that a citizen could have. But once we got the opportunity during the last 20 years, we built universities, schools, and hospitals of our own. At the moment, we have, per capita, the highest number of educated women among us. This is disliked by the misogynist Taliban because they are against education, especially for women. The Hazaras believe that women are an inseparable part of modern life and they have the right like every citizen to be part of every aspect of life.
As a student of the regional events, I was surprised and dismayed to hear that the US got engaged in negotiations with a terrorist group that has caused the death and injury to thousands of American and coalition forces. More surprising was the agreement to withdraw and believe all the lies that the Taliban have told the US.
Alas, the US decided to get out of Afghanistan. It was not timely and was a very precipitous decision. If anything, it should have been made in stages and it should not have been at this time as the hordes of terrorists and mercenaries were on the prowl.
All the achievements of the 20 years are gone. They are gone now, so the women of Afghanistan mostly, and our women in particular cannot go to schools, cannot go to universities, cannot go to work, and cannot get out of the house. Just recently, the Taliban said if a woman is seen outside the house without a veil, she could be killed and no one can question it. Can you imagine a society where half of the population is deprived of every right?
With the untimely and precipitous withdrawal came the evacuation of some people. It was another disaster. Of the more than 130,000 people that were evacuated from Afghanistan the majority of them were Taliban sympathizers and associates. Most of them have not seen city life and have no education. They were sent or have come to the US to bring their version of Islam to America.
The majority of the educated people, mostly the women, especially the Hazaras were left behind. Daily, they are being kidnapped, raped, tortured, and killed, and nobody says anything or can do anything.
Having said all that, we still believe that the US can and should stop this archaic regime from wreaking havoc on the people of Afghanistan in the name of Islam. We request the US Congress to redress the mistakes that were made in dealing with the Taliban. Specifically, we would like to ask the US the following:
1- To stand firm on denying recognition of the de facto authority in Afghanistan, until and unless it is made sure that they respect the basic human rights of the people, especially the women and they agree to a broad-based government based on elections.
2- To recognize the genocide of the Hazaras and put pressure on the Taliban to stop it. We also want all the perpetrators to be brought to justice.
3- To provide special protection to the Hazaras and other vulnerable people who are being persecuted daily.
4- And to correct the misconception that because we share the same sect of religion with Iran, we are supporting the Iranian regime or they are our friends. Iran and the Taliban are two sides of the same coin. They are both fascist theocratic dictatorships that have no regard for human life and human rights, especially women’s rights. Their record of killing people for their beliefs speaks volumes.
Finally, we are ready and available to cooperate with whatever efforts are directed to our requests.
