Breaking the Spell of Division: Rebuilding Hazara Identity and Empowerment

The history of the Hazara people in Afghanistan is marked by suffering, including political exclusion, structural discrimination, and periodic violence, though the article emphasizes that this stems from power structures and armed groups rather than any ethnic essence. It argues for moving beyond a 'victim identity' to one of rights-bearing agency, highlighting how historical traumas like forced displacements, land seizures, and religious humiliation under late 19th-century repressions, as well as later events such as the Afshar massacre, 1998 Mazar-i-Sharif killings, 2001 Bamiyan and Yakaulang massacres, and recent targeted attacks on civilian, educational, and religious gatherings, have instilled collective trauma and learned helplessness.

The piece contends that while narratives of suffering have garnered international sympathy, overemphasizing victimhood risks hindering organization, unity, and power-building. It warns that selective focus on symbolic events like Afshar could be exploited by extremists, including the Taliban, and division profiteers on social media to deepen ethnic rifts and block broader alliances against monopolistic power and violence. Instead, it calls for internal critique, shifting energy from external attention-seeking to domestic organization, active national political participation, and civil society strengthening.

Framing the Hazara issue as one of equal citizenship in Afghanistan, the commentary advocates transitioning from 'ethnic group against ethnic group' narratives to 'unjust structures against citizens,' fostering wider unity. It notes that wherever resistance—civil, cultural, political, or armed—has emerged, collective confidence has grown, though the text cuts off mid-sentence on this point.