Four years after Kabul fell: remembering Hazara struggle and survival

Afghanistan's modern history is shaped by significant violent events, wars, coups, and foreign invasions. One such event took place on August 15, 2021. On this day, Ashraf Ghani fled the country without notifying his cabinet and security apparatus, and so, he let the Taliban take over without any fight.

Today marks the 4th year of the fall of Kabul to the hands of the Taliban. Though outwardly bloodless in its first hours, what followed in the coming days was nothing but a bloody, violent takeover. 

 It is a dark day by any measure. The fall of Afghanistan brought an abrupt end to the Hazara's liberation, a period that brought a brief respite to their relentless persecution and genocide.

Today, Hazaras are being completely excluded from politics, barred from participating in government programs, contracts, and barred even from occupying menial jobs in their own districts and principalities. Thousands of Hazara families are being evicted from their villages and homes; instead, their properties and lands are given to Pashtun nomads (Kochis) loyal to the Taliban. Three weeks ago, the Taliban forcefully evicted 25 Hazara families from their ancestral lands and gave their lands to Pashtun nomads. 

The Hazara persecution has been going on for a while, but under the Taliban, it took a different shape. A large group of people were forcibly displaced and their lands and properties confiscated. In another instance, the Taliban and their Pashtun allies resorted to extortion. Claiming damages to their sheep and goats four or five decades ago in order to claim ransom. Many villages are emptied simply because they could not afford the ransom and could not survive the persecution.

On a more optimistic note: yes, it is a dark day for Hazara men and women and children who are stripped of opportunities, but there is hope for the next Hazara generation. Children of Hazaras are inheritors of their ancestral resilience and survival. They will learn that even in the face of a genocidal campaign and endless discrimination, Hazaras' memory, culture, and the demands for justice will never be erased.

Targeted killings of Hazaras by Sunni Islamist Militants

Today, Islamic militants have targeted school children belonging to ethnic Hazara in Dasht-e Barchi, a predominantly Hazara community in west of Kabul. A car bomb blasted right outside of the main gate of Sayed al-Shuhada, a secondary school as students, mostly girls, were exiting. Eyewitnesses have told that the explosion was followed by mortars and some residents have even heard gunshots as well. According to CNN, 85 people are killed and 150 others are wounded. It is still early, the number of casualty may grow.

My heart is bleeding with sorrow for children who died today. Sunni Islamist militants are committed to their beliefs and principles inspired by their holy book and god to kill us and our children. The enormity of such a crime is so horrendous that cannot be fathomed and cannot be put into words or described other than being indignant at your inability to do anything but to begin wringing your hands in silent rage amidst incessant weeping.

For the past few years, Hazaras have been systematically targeted across Afghanistan. This attack is part of a series of targeted killings of the Hazaras. The Afghan government is unable to protect them, in fact, the Hazara population look on government and its local authorities with growing suspicion. There is no option left for the Hazaras but to pick up arms and protect their own communities. As the US and other foreign forces are withdrawing from Afghanistan, the risk of relapsing into a renewed civil war is very likely. Hazaras must be prepared for the worst.