A number of Hazara and Shia scholars, representatives, and influential figures gathered in western Kabul on Friday, August 28, and called on the Taliban to address the demands of the community and create meaningful opportunities for Hazaras and Shias to participate in the government structure.
The gathering was held at Masjid Jami al-Zahra in Kabul’s sixth district to mark the birth anniversary of the Prophet Muhammad. A number of senior Taliban officials, including Mullah Hassan Akhund, the group’s prime minister, Abdul Salam Hanafi, the administrative deputy prime minister, and the Minister of Borders, Tribes and Tribal Affairs, had been invited to the event. However, among the senior Taliban officials, Noor-ul-Haq Anwar, head of the General Directorate of Administrative Affairs, attended the gathering.
Sayed Hossein Alami Balkhi, a member of the Council of Shia Scholars of Afghanistan, said at the gathering that the Shia and Hazara community had still not received a response from the Taliban to its latest statement and demands. He called for attention to the personal-status matters of Shias, the participation of Hazaras in government, and the establishment of a special committee to address the community’s problems.
In response, Noor-ul-Haq Anwar said that the statements and positions put forward by the Shia and Hazara community “smell of the Republic.” He stressed that the Taliban government is an “Islamic Emirate and independent” and said that holding meetings and publicizing the demands of Hazaras would not lead anywhere.
These remarks come as a number of leaders and representatives of the Hazara and Shia communities have repeatedly called in recent years for greater political participation, the protection of religious and ethnic rights, and attention to the security and social concerns of the community.
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