[lg policy] Afghanistan: Still Searching for Inter-Ethnic Equilibrium

[Harold Schiffman]

Afghanistan: Still Searching for Inter-Ethnic Equilibrium
October 12, 2012 - 12:51pm, by Melissa Kerr Chiovenda


EurasiaNet Commentary

A killing in Bamyan Province highlights the difficulty that
Afghanistan is having in trying to find a new societal balancing
point.

Despite Afghanistan’s overall troubles, things had been going
relatively well in Bamyan Province – until this year. Taliban-related
violence had been minimal for much of the past decade, and the
inter-ethnic tension seemed in check. Unfortunately, armed incidents
started to increase in 2012, as US and NATO forces handed over
responsibility for security to Afghan troops. And at the outset of the
year, a nascent sense of inter-ethnic tolerance came under renewed
threat.

The catalyst for a rise in inter-ethnic tension was the January 22
death of a 16-year-old Hazara girl names Shakila. She died under
mysterious circumstances in the house of Sayed Wahidi Beheshti, a
member of the local Provincial Council, in Bamyan Center. Some
witnesses say they heard a gunshot coming from the house on the day
Shakila died, and many in Bamyan believe she was raped and murdered,
possibly by Beheshti. Others maintain that she committed suicide.

Local prosecutors closed the case due to lack of evidence. But civil
society activists staged several protests, demanding that the case be
reopened. Some local observers cast the case as an indicator of
shifting power relations between ethnic Hazaras, who make up the
majority of the population in Bamyan, and Sayeds.

Sayeds are believed to be the descendants of Prophet Mohammed, and
hence are ethnically Arab. While some intermarriage does occur, the
belief that Sayeds are ethnically distinct remains. Hazara girls
sometimes marry into Sayed families, although it is generally
considered taboo for Sayed girls to marry Hazaras.

Hazaras have a long history of oppression in Afghanistan. In the late
1800s, Shah Abdur Rahman set out to extend strong administrative state
power over the Hazarajat, the central mountainous area that is the
Hazara homeland. The wars against the Hazaras were brutal. With
distinctive Asian facial features, Hazaras are easily distinguishable
from most other Afghan ethnic groups. Furthermore, as Shi’as in a
majority Sunni country, Abdur Rahman was able to brand Hazaras as
heretics. As a result of several failed uprisings, as much as 60
percent of the Hazara population perished. They lost their most
fertile farmland, were subjected to harsh taxation, and many were sold
into slavery.

Persecution persisted into the 21st century, as Hazaras were
effectively denied access to higher education before 2001. Hazaras
were also singled out and killed in large numbers in the 1990s by the
Taliban because of their Shi’a faith.

Sayeds traditionally are respected as descendants of the Prophet. In
the past, this translated into economic benefits, as many Hazaras gave
traditional Shi’a taxes known as khums to Sayeds. Sayeds used their
respected position to gain political power, particularly during the
years of the Soviet invasion. They controlled the Islamic
Revolutionary Alliance Shura, a governing body set up to administer
and protect the Hazarajat as the central government was too weak to at
the time. In fact, Wahidi Beheshti’s father, Ayatollah Sayed Ali
Beheshti, led the Shura. Another one of his sons, Fakuri Beheshti, is
currently a member of Parliament.

Human rights and women’s rights groups became involved in the case
after Qurban, Shakila’s brother-in-law, was arrested for her murder,
despite numerous witnesses’ claims that he was not at the house when
the tragedy occurred. The first protest, according to civil society
activist Abdullah Barat, was held in support of Qurban. Barat and
other activists involved in the protests generally agree that Beheshti
should be the main suspect. “He claims that when the shooting
happened, he was in another room praying and didn’t hear anything”
Barat said. “This doesn’t make sense.”

Qurban was eventually released, and prosecutors then suggested that
this was not a murder, but rather a suicide. Forensic evidence,
however, indicates that Shakila did not shoot herself. Prosecutors
then declared that there was not enough evidence to arrest anyone, and
closed the case. Activists arranged two more protests, one in Kabul on
July 31 and one in Bamyan a week later. President Karzai, hoping to
appease the protestors, chose a five-person delegation from Kabul to
investigate. This investigation was, according to activists, flawed,
as only two of the five selected even went to Bamyan.

These types of inconsistencies lead activists to believe that powerful
Sayeds are protecting Beheshti. According to Barat, “All of the Sayeds
in important positions, such as members of the Parliament, are
protecting Beheshti and influencing the prosecutors to ensure that the
case remains closed.” Additionally, several of the main activists
protesting the case say that they have received threatening phone
calls. Barat himself was kidnapped and beaten, although he managed to
escape.

Not all of the activists, however, believe that this case should be
understood as a conflict between Hazaras and Sayeds. Taeba Khawari of
the Civil Society and Human Rights Network said, “First, we have to
remember that this was an innocent girl who was killed. It indicates
the ongoing problem of violence against women.” Khawari does, however,
believe that Beheshti is using his position and his family connections
to protect himself.

Several commentators insist that the case indicates Hazaras are no
longer willing to offer the same degree of deference to Sayeds that
they did in the past. There is disagreement as to whether this is a
positive development. A local Hazara pointed out that Shi’as have
suffered from so much discrimination in Afghanistan that they should
stand together. He believes that activists should back off from the
Shakila case, so as not to upset the relationship between the two
groups.

Sayeds working in Bamyan report that they have not noticed any
difference in their treatment by Hazara colleagues since the case
began. All agree, however, that there is a change in the degree to
which Hazaras are willing to hold Sayeds to an exalted position. All
also agree that the truth about Shakila’s death, whether murder or
suicide, should be investigated.

reposted from http://www.eurasianet.org/node/66044?utm_source=Weekly+Digest&utm_campaign=7417b40da7-my_google_analytics_key&utm_medium=email

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