EVENT: The Hazara and Shi’a of Afghanistan
Wednesday, October 20
7:30pm EST

Register here for Zoom link:
bit.ly/AfghanVoices

The Shia and Hazara communities in Afghanistan are regularly subjected to targeted killings, violence, and persecution based on their identity as a religious or ethnic minority. In the past 20 years, Hazaras have faced kidnappings, indiscriminate attacks on their schools and hospitals, and targeted bombings of Shia religous and cultural centers by both the Taliban and ISIS. Hazaras faced a genocide under the first Taliban regime from 1995 to 2001; and now with the Taliban back in power, these atrocities will continue to worsen.

This event intends to raise much needed awareness of the plight of the Hazara and Shia communities and to discuss solutions and efforts that allies in the international community should take to protect these vulnerable communities from further persecution under the Taliban.

Co-sponsored by:
Afghan Diaspora for Equality and Progress (ADEP)
Afghans For A Better Tomorrow
American Muslim Bar Association (AMBA)
Shia Racial Justice Coalition
Justice For Muslims Collective

‘Blast at Shi’ite mosque in Afghan city of Kandahar kills dozens’
Reuters, 15 October
See also alJazeera.
See also BBC.

‘Reducing Middle East tensions potentially lessens sectarianism and opens doors for women
Two separate developments involving improved relations between Sunni and Shiite Muslims and women’s sporting rights demonstrate major shifts in how rivalry for leadership of the Muslim world and competition to define Islam in the 21st century is playing out in a world in which Middle Eastern states can no longer depend on the United States coming to their defence.’
James M Dorsey
9 October 2021

KABUL, Oct 8 (Reuters) – A blast tore through a mosque in Afghanistan’s northeastern Kunduz province on Friday, killing and wounding many people, Taliban officials said.
Video footage showed bodies surrounded by debris inside the mosque that is used by people from the minority Shi’ite Muslim community.
See also alJazeera.

‘Initial Taliban moves fail to convince Afghanistan’s neighbours and near-neighbours’
By James M. Dorsey
China-India Brief #188
August 28, 2021 – September 14, 2021

The Project on Shi`ism & Global Affairs

How are the Afghan Shia responding to the return of the Taliban? The target of Taliban violence and sectarian enmity in the 1990s, Shi’i communities confront an uncertain future. This talk will survey the evolution of the Shi’i landscape in Afghanistan since 2001 and examine how various actors are trying to adapt to the new Taliban order today.

Speaker: Robert D. Crews, Professor of History, Stanford University Department of History

Moderator: Payam Mohseni, Director of the Project on Shi’ism and Global Affairs, Harvard University.

For more information and to register, click here.

‘Targeted for genocide in Afghanistan: The Hazaras
The plight of the Hazaras isn’t well known on the international stage. They are an ethno-religious minority, about 9% of the Afghani population of 36 million.’
Minnpost,
7.9.21

‘Afghanistan’s Hazaras Get Mixed Messages From the Taliban
The Islamic State-Khorasan has come to represent a greater threat to the persecuted minority.’
Foreign Policy
4.9.21
(Ed note: This article is behind a pay-wall.)

‘Fearing Persecution, Afghan Hazara Shia Muslim Families Find Refuge in Pakistan’s Quetta’
News18
3.9.21

‘In Pictures: Muslims worldwide mark Ashura
Worshippers mark the anniversary of the Battle of Karbala and mourn the death of Imam Hussein, the Prophet’s grandson.’
alJazeera
19.8.21