AhlulBayt (AS) International News Agency – ABNA: September 25 marks the anniversary of a series of military campaigns against Hazara-populated areas during Abdur Rahman Khan's reign from 1888 to 1893. The campaigns are remembered as one of the most devastating episodes in Hazara history, with historical accounts documenting large-scale killings, displacement, land confiscations and enslavement.
Mohammad Karim Khalili, a prominent Afghan Shiite leader, said the scale of the historical violence had failed to eliminate the Hazara community and urged Afghanistan's current rulers to draw lessons from the past.
“Although 62 percent of the Hazara population was massacred by Abdur Rahman Khan, he could not eliminate the Hazaras,” Khalili said. He called on the Taliban authorities to abandon what he described as efforts to marginalise or exclude Afghanistan's Shiite population.
The anniversary has particular significance for Afghanistan's Hazaras and Shiites, who have experienced repeated episodes of violence and discrimination during the country's modern history.
Dr Seyed Abdul Qayum Sajjadi, a university professor and former member of Afghanistan's parliament, said remembering victims of historical persecution was necessary but should not end with commemorations.
He argued that remembrance should become a starting point for efforts to confront discrimination, injustice and violence and to create conditions in which Afghanistan's communities can live with greater security and equality.
Sajjadi urged Hazaras and other Shiite communities to preserve the memory of those who suffered while strengthening cooperation and solidarity. He also warned against internal divisions based on ethnicity or tribal identity, saying Afghanistan's communities share many of the same historical experiences and contemporary concerns.
The anniversary comes amid continuing concerns among Afghanistan's Shiite and Hazara communities about discrimination, religious freedom and their place in the country's political and social order under Taliban rule.
While the current situation differs from the mass violence of the late 19th century, Shiite activists and leaders say discrimination and exclusion remain serious concerns.
For those observing the anniversary, the remembrance is therefore not only about revisiting a painful chapter in Afghan history but also about pressing for equal rights, social cohesion and protection from ethnic and sectarian discrimination.
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