September 25th marks a somber anniversary in Hazara history — a day stained by the horrors of the past. On this fateful day in 1893, Amir Abdul-Rahman’s forces launched a brutal assault on the last bastion of Hazara resistance in Uruzgan, Afghanistan. Men were mercilessly slaughtered, and women were captured, with one notable exception – a courageous young girl named Shirin. Alongside 39 other brave girls, she went to Golkhar mountain, where they made a heart-wrenching choice. One by one, they chose to plummet from the cliffs rather than fall into the clutches of the Amir’s army. Thus started the tragic and grim beginning of the Hazara people’s tumultuous and bloody history.
Sept 25, 1893 — a day stained by horrors of Afghan forces' merciless slaughter of Hazaras in Uruzgan; story of young Shirin & 39 other girls, choosing to plummet off Gulkhar cliffs, thus starting a tragic beginning of Hazara history.https://t.co/bX0jLc9HKs#StopHazaraGenocide pic.twitter.com/1COyvzRSXu
— Bolaq Analysts Network (@bolaqofficial) September 25, 2023
September 25th signifies more than the defeat of Hazara resistance; it symbolizes the inception of their enduring hardships in Afghanistan. On this very day, Amir and his religious authorities issued a decree labeling the Hazaras as apostates. Beneath the veneer of religious legitimacy, this decree served as a sinister blueprint for the systematic persecution and annihilation of the Hazara people. Over the span of more than 130 years, this merciless strategy has persisted, evolving only in its methods and the faces behind its execution, not in its core objectives.
Throughout this period, Hazaras have endured various forms of violence, and the perpetrators have taken on different guises. This has led both national and international public opinion to stray from the harrowing truth. Regrettably, only the means of Hazara persecution and the identities of its orchestrators have changed; the ruthless strategy itself remains intact.
Blaq Analysts Network as a human rights advocate seeking justice and equality, denounces Amir and his supporters’ heinous act as a barbaric atrocity. We pay our respects to the memory of the victims of September 25th and fervently hope that future generations will grasp a fundamental truth: maintaining power through the indiscriminate killing of innocent people is not a path to strength and glory, but a slow descent into tyranny and inhumanity.