I’m quite happy your journal is accessible to the public. I’ve been a bit starved for academic resources since I lost my university library access upon graduation. And I feel I should repeat again that Mr. Kazimi’s ethnicity probably isn’t important, at least when pondering the reasons for his probable assassination. It seemed more a political move than an ethnic one.

TAAJ –

Really? You think a Shia Hazara faction joined with the Taliban to slaughter Tajiks? Given the history of the Taliban’s abhorrent treatment of Hazara and seething hatred of Shiism, I’d need some sort of evidence of your assertion — that’s one too many strikes for me to simply accept.

He belonged to Hezbe Wahdat yes – but seperated away from them when the Hazara faction within it opted for Hazara nationalism as opposed to Shiasm. The Hazara faction of Hezbe Wahdat joined Gulbudin Hekmatyar and later the Taliban in order to try to ethnic cleanse the Tajiks – be they Sunni or Shia.

Gulbudin Hekmatyar is very nationalistic pashtun and most of his trube – the Kharote are style very tribalised and continue to live in their original places within Afghanistan – as opposed to the exception of Hekmatyar himself whom came for a Kharot family that had been given land in the predominantly non Pushtun north of the country.

Hekmatyar – like all the Taliban symathysers in the north and especially Baghlan consist of the childern of the families of the colonies sent to the north by the discriminatory governments of Zahir Shah in order to Pushtunize the north.