Marked for Death: The Long Persecution of Hazaras

"There are a lot of children in Afghanistan, but little childhood."

I remember that about ten years ago, turning the pages of Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner, I felt my curiosity about Afghanistan come alive. This certain line has never left me; it later became one central message of my university presentations – and, ultimately, the backbone of my undergraduate thesis. In all honesty, I would be tempted to put this book on everyone's required reading list.

At its heart, The Kite Runner is a story of friendship, betrayal, guilt, and the long search for redemption, set against Afghanistan's turbulent recent history – from the Soviet invasion and civil war to the first rise of the Taliban. The Hazara dimension runs quietly but unmistakably through the novel: Hassan and later his son, Sohrab reflects the vulnerability of a Hazara family in a society marked by steep social hierarchies, where ethnicity and religious identity can shape everyday chances and safety. Without turning into a political tract, the book also shows how prejudice can become routine – and how personal choices, small and large, can echo a wider pattern of injustice. So who are the Hazaras—and why has their fate been so persistently shaped by fear and exclusion?

The Hazara Community as an Ethnicity

The Hazaras are an ethnolinguistic group living primarily in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran. However, due to displacement driven by systematic discrimination and frequent targeted violence, sizable Hazara diaspora communities can be found worldwide.

The origins of the Hazara people are disputed. The most widely accepted theory among researchers is that Genghis Khan's forces left behind a regiment in the 13th century; this theory is reinforced by the fact that the word hazār(a) means "thousand" in Persian. The Hazara community is distinguished from other groups by genetic, religious, cultural, and linguistic characteristics. They speak Hazaragi, a Persian dialect, and largely follow the Twelver branch of Shi'a Islam. They also have distinctive physical features often described as Central/East Asian, alongside darker hair and typically olive-to-brown skin tones. They are widely regarded as among the most marginalized groups in Afghanistan, and they are also frequently subjected to violence and discrimination in Pakistan. Their persecution spans centuries, driven largely by their visible and religious distinctiveness from surrounding communities.

Estimates of the Hazara share of Afghanistan's population vary, but major assessments commonly place it in the high single digits to the high teens (roughly 9–18%), with Afghanistan's Shi'a population estimated at about 10–15%, most of whom are Hazara. They predominantly live in Afghanistan's central highland region, commonly referred to as Hazarajat. In Pakistan, Hazara communities are concentrated above all in and around Quetta (Balochistan), where their population is often estimated in the hundreds of thousands. In Iran, significant Hazara communities exist as part of broader Afghan migrant and refugee populations, though precise ethnic breakdowns are difficult to verify.

Their General Situation

Because of their religious identity, visible characteristics, and cultural and linguistic distinctiveness, the Hazaras have long been pushed to the social periphery in Sunni-majority Afghanistan and in parts of Pakistan. They often live in relative isolation, frequently on the margins of society, and many lack formal qualifications because economic hardship commonly restricts access to education and other basic services. Their chances of upward mobility are further reduced by the low rate of intermarriage with other groups. For many, life has meant prolonged poverty, instability, and constant fear.

As early as the late 19th century, jihad was declared against them; as a result, they lost their autonomy and large numbers of Hazaras were massacred. Across the 20th century, with brief interruptions, they continued to face persecution, ethnic conflict, and in many cases enslavement and extreme exploitation.

Some religious preachers were still spreading claims in Afghanistan even in the 1970s that killing Hazaras was a "key to Paradise" – a stark reflection of how deeply dehumanization could be embedded in public discourse. After 1996, during the first Taliban rule, Hazara killings were in some places turned into public spectacles; on certain settlements' sports grounds, executions were reportedly staged for intimidation and control. Attendance at such events could be treated as compulsory, with absence framed as a rejection of Taliban authority.

Following the fall of the Taliban's first regime, the political reconstruction that began in the 2000s offered hope to the community. The post-2001 political elite, seeking democratization and state rebuilding, formally recognized Hazaras as one of Afghanistan's ethnic groups, and over time the community gained greater political representation. Yet inter-ethnic tensions did not disappear, and their security situation remained fragile.

Community Self-Defence

In the period leading up to the Taliban's return (especially 2020–2021), rising violence across Afghanistan pushed parts of the Hazara community toward armed self-defence, including the formation of local protection structures such as the "Resistance for Justice Movement," aimed at protecting Hazara areas. At the time, many feared that international troop withdrawal and the deterioration of negotiations would precipitate state collapse; local armed groups sought to patrol and secure their communities, while the government remained wary of independent ethnic militias due to the risk of wider ethnic confrontation.

Afghanistan's leaders have often feared that a sharper stance in defense of the Hazara community could trigger strong social and political backlash, particularly from dominant constituencies. Civil organizations and human rights activists have also faced heightened danger, as armed actors have repeatedly treated them as targets. In the longer term, meaningful improvement in Hazara security and social mobility would require broader political stabilization, economic recovery, and a governing capacity able to manage inter-ethnic tensions and provide equal protection. We are still very far from that.

This text is based in part on a Hungarian-language article the author published in 2021.