Conversion to Islam: The process of Shi’ization of the Hazaras (part 1)

Bamyan Farmers Steve Mccurry

The question that how Hazaras embraced Islam have been controversial among the scholars of Hazara history and there are different scholars with different viewpoints on this matter, which may not lead us to a specific conclusion, or we can say that these assessments lead us to understand the historicity of Hazaras’ Shi-ization as part of […]

The Civilian Massacre in Behsud

Behsud Maidan Wardak

On Friday, January 29, 2021, the Afghan security forces fired on a peaceful gathering in Behsud killing more than 10 people, injuring another 20 and holding captive more than 60 others. The region is a district in central Afghanistan. Why did the Afghan security forces open fire and under whose order committed this act, is […]

British Intervention and Nation-State in Afghanistan

Hazara slaves during 1890s Afghanistan

The process of formation of Afghanistan as a nation-state, with its current boundaries was initiated with the Treaty of Gandomak (1879) signed between the British Empire and the Afghan Amir, Yaqub Khan. It was when the responsibility of designing the foreign policy of Afghanistan was bestowed to the British. Later, during the reign of Abdur […]

Deportations Despite Escalation in Civil War in Afghanistan

dw-afghan-refugee-deportations

Terrorist attacks, bomb explosions and rocket attacks are not on the agenda in Afghanistan. These are common incidents that take place there almost every day. Afghan security forces are now overwhelmed, and residents are living a life of terror. The world is just watching. Read this article in German language [ Deportations-German ] For more than […]

Why Afghanistan’s Form of Government Needs to Change

Drew Schumann

Afghanistan is not governable under the current constitution. The nature of Afghanistan is ethnically diverse and geographically distant. Despite these challenges, GIRoA is asked to rule by fiat from Kabul under its constitution. The problem with the current government is the lack of democratic institutions, poorly drawn internal boundaries, and the lack of local agencies […]

US Withdrawal from Afghanistan and its Aftermath

Hazara Commander Ali Poor

Recently, the US daily, the Wall Street Journal published an article titled, “Afghanistan Braces for Worst as US Troops Withdrawal Accelerates.” The paper talks about the situation in the country and then highlights a local commander, Abdul Ghani Alipoor, a Hazara from central Afghanistan who commands a group of fighters numbering about 500. He is […]

Sunni Hazaras of Afghanistan

Sunni-Hazara-Opens-Office-in-Kabul-Dec2015-7

Sunni Hazaras like their Ismaili brethren have been an integral part of the larger Hazara community in Afghanistan. Painful historical events perpetrated by the former rulers of Afghanistan from the time of the creation of the country as a geographical entity onward especially during the reign of Amir Abdur Rahman who waged a sectarian as well a racial war of genocide against Shi’ite Hazaras created a distance between the two main portions of the Hazaras.

Loya Jirga: an Attempt at Futility or Legitimizing Criminality

Consultative Loya Jirga Aug 2020

Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai convened a Loya Jirga on August 7th for three days. The purpose of the Jirga was to discuss the fate of the remaining 400 Taliban prisoners. During the US -Taliban negotiations, the US envoy, Zalmai Khalilzad with the approval of Mike Pompeo had promised that 5000 Taliban prisoners will be released after […]

Faustian Pact with the Devil

US.Envoy-Zalmay.Khalilzad-and-Taliban-Terrorists-Faustian-Pact-Doha-Qatar-Feb29-2020

The peace deal that the US signed with the Taliban on February 29, 2020, in Doha, Qatar had two main tenets: the first one stated that in 135 days, the “United States, its allies, and the Coalition…will reduce the number of U.S. forces in Afghanistan to eight thousand six hundred (8,600) and proportionally bring reduction […]

The Pashtun Tahafuz Movement Dilemma

Left to Right: Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) leader, Mohsin Dawar, and Afghan nationalist leader Ismail Youn on occasion of inauguration ceremony of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai in Kabul, Afghanistan (2020)

The emergence of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM), as an organized voice of educated and progressive Pakistani Pashtuns, was like a fresh breeze in the suffocating environment of Pakistani Politics back in 2018. PTM has been successful to disseminate awareness on the plight of the Pashtun community suffering from the scourge of war in Tribal […]