December 31, 2017

The endless suffering of Hazara Afghans

located:	Afghanistan, Iran
editor:	Shadi Khan Saif

Over decades, the ethnic Hazara Afghans have found themselves at the deadly crossroads of political, ethnic and religious conflicts, causing endless suffering.

In a brazen terrorist attack claimed by the so-called Islamic State in the Afghan capital Kabul on Thursday, up to 50 Hazara Afghans – all civilians and all young boys and girls – perished, leaving behind agonising tales of persecution on one end and exploitation on the other.

The community has been on the hit list of the IS militants for their alleged role in fighting along the Iranian Revolutionary Guards in Syria and Iraq against the group. The group has claimed a number of similar attacks on Shia mosques in the Afghan capital. The first such a major attack in this regard was a twin-suicide attack at a political rally by the Hazara community in July last year, killing more than 80 people. This was followed by at least four back-to-back suicide attacks at Shia community mosques in Kabul and Herat in August, September and October, killing close to 200 people.

As far as the IS militant group is concerned, it has no shame in claiming responsibilities for attacks aimed at innocent civilians. The other complicit force equally responsible for the miseries of the Hazara Afghans is the one dragging them in deadly geostrategic conflicts that in return invite the wrath of terrorists. According to a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has recruited thousands of undocumented Afghans living in the country to fight in Syria since at least November 2013.

Iran is equally, if not more responsible for the persecution of this marginalised community. Regardless of the significant role the IRGC’s has in countering the influence of IS in Iraq and Syria, exploiting an already marginalised community of a third country for geostrategic goals of Tehran in disguise of religious duty, is condemnable to the least.

Among all the mothers of Kabul’s Dasht-e-Barchi neighborhood who lost their loved ones in Thursday’s brazen attack, hardly any could understand the reasons behind the destruction of yet another center of the community by IS militants. But, the so-called leaders of the community – who continue preaching the importance of blind loyalty towards Iran to poor Hazara Afghans at such Tehran-funded cultural centers – know the risks attached very well, hence they never send their own children to such ‘soft targets’.