Deutsche Welle (English edition)
Afghanistan's repressed minority faces a hostile Taliban
Following the Taliban's power grab, members of the Hazara minority fear that they will be targeted. Those who can, escape. Others are joining the armed opposition. But for many, there is no way out. DW reports.
As Taliban fighters patrolled Kabul's streets, a terrified 19year old — hidden away at home like countless other women and girls — turned to her beloved movies for solace.
Her current favorite, she said, was "V for Vendetta": set in a dystopian future, it features a lone freedom fighter, plotting to overthrow an all-powerful, Orwellian tyranny.
But instead of offering comfort, hope even, the movie just made her feel more depressed, she said, as she painfully recalled how different her life had been when she last watched it: Then she was a final-year high-school student, who planned to study photography at university.
She loved to dance to Afghan
music and would spend hours on end in coffee shops, drinking milkshakes and chatting with friends.
Often, she would take off her scarf, as they relaxed and laughed.
Historically targeted by Taliban
But suddenly, everything changed.
When DW spoke with her, she had not left her house in two weeks, ever since the Taliban swept into Kabul. She was wracked by anxiety — and des
pair.
Her life, she said, her voice breaking, was "ruined."
Born in 2001, the year the Taliban regime fell, she had heard relatives speak of their brutal rule, characterized by public executions, widespread hunger, a ban on music and education for girls.
And, above all, they had told her terrifying tales of massacres, forced conversions and persecution of Hazaras.
For her family belongs to an ethnic group made up of predominately Shia Muslims that accounts for up to 20% of the country's population. For decades, Hazaras have been discriminated against.
Their distinct features make them easy prey for Sunni hardliners, both Taliban and the "Islamic State," (IS) that consider them infidels.
Following the fall of the Taliban, their situation improved. Some Hazaras rose to prominent positions in politics and society, including the office of vice president.
The period also saw a flourishing of Hazara civil society and advances in education, despite entrenched discrimination — and several terror attacks, including one on a maternity hospital in Kabul last year. So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the attack, although many foreign governments point to IS perpetrators.
'In mortal danger'
To assuage fears of a return to their brutal rule, the Taliban have put on a show of modera
tion. Spokesmen have repeatedly vowed to refrain from retributions and to respect the rights of women and minorities.
They even made a point of sending representatives across the country to secure Afghanistan's Ashura processions this month. The annual mourning ritual is undertaken by Shiites every year to commemorate the martyrdom of the Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad. Hardline Sunni groups view it as heresy.
Many Hazaras believe the group's self-professed inclusiveness is little more than propaganda aimed at the international community, whose development aid is a lifeline to