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Hazara People Want Justice

Before the summer season begins Hazara people arranged a large demonstration in Kabul on March 29, to stop Kuchies Armed force that are coming with thousands of animals to the region from southern Afghanistan to graze their animals in the pasture land of Hazaras. The peaceful march was started from west side of Kabul city into UNOMA (United Nations Organization Mars Authority office.

Thousands of protesters whom were carrying mottos that saying (Justice, Security, and Equality) with the photos of 12 Hazara men who got killed last year by the Kuchies force while asking them to not destroy their farms, demanded on Afghanistan government to stop the illegal entrance of Kuchies in their villages in summer times.

Last year, Hazaras were infuriated by the incursion of Kuchies and acted on self-defense. They tried to drive them out of their pastureland. However, the Kuchies were armed with modern weapons such as automatic machine guns and rocket launchers. So the clash between Hazaras and Kuchis had a heavy toll on Hazaras- the death of a few villagers and injuries of dozens more. As an act of punishment, Kuchies burned down four of the villages in the area.

The name Kuchi means nomad in the Persian language. Kuchies are tribal Pashtuns who are divided into different tribes and sub tribes--each tribe with a different name and identity. The largest groups of kuchies are the Durrani and Ghilzai tribes and then each one of them have many subdivision of its own.


The tribes of kuchies were always used as private militias against non Pashtun groups by the Pashtun rulers, i.e., Kings, Amirs, Presidents etc. in Afghanistan, from 1740 till present time. Kuchies played a vital and important role in the ranks of Taliban, from ministers and advisors to Taliban leadership, to field commanders and foot soldiers, to subdue non-Pashtun groups in Afghanistan and invade their land.
In 1933, when Nadir Khan attacked Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, he used Kuchi tribes as his militia army to overthrow the government in Kabul. .


After occupying Kabul, Nadir Khan granted Kuchi tribes the privilege to graze their animals in the pasturelands of northern and central Afghanistan in the spring and summer seasons. From that time on, Kuchi tribes graze their animals in the pasturelands of central Afghanistan, and spend the spring and summer seasons in the area. They graze their animals in the rich pasturelands of central Afghanistan, but in autumn and winter they go to Pakistan to sell their animals.

Kuchies usually bring goods and merchandise from Pakistan to sell to the villagers. When nobody buys their stuff, kuchies would throw them on the roofs and backyards of the villagers, with the message that they would collect the money when they return to the area the next summer. People in central regions of the country are poor farmers, they work round the year to make their farms green and support their family.
After September 11th, people of central Afghanistan thought they liberated their homeland from Taliban and their kuchi militias, and henceforth they won’t allow anyone to destroy their homes or farms. Unfortunately Karzai’s government paid little attention to this problem, to stop the illegal incursion of Hazara land during the summers by Kuchies. Instead of stopping this aggressive act by Kuchies, Karzai turned a blind eye and let this criminal act to continue.


Today, Northern Alliance, the force that drove Taliban out of the major cities and liberated the country from them, is disarmed by United Nations. Also, most the regions and armed groups within those regions in the country are disarmed by the United Nations DDR program (Disarmament, Demobilization, Reintegration). However, Kuchies are heavily armed and the government for their disarmament is taking no steps. To make the situation worse, Karzai distributed Arms to tribal Pashtuns living in the south and southeast regions of the country. This action was taken under the pretext of protecting the border with Pakistan from intruding Taliban.


According to the national Media, the Kuchi tribes used modern weapons against villagers in their last year attack, such a RPG-700, Machine Guns, SV-99, and AK-47
The Kuchi tribes are the richest people in the country. They have dual identity and citizenship, both from Pakistan and Afghanistan. Hashmat Ghani Ahmadzai is the chief of the Grand Councils of Kuchis, receiving millions dollars from Karzai government for his people. Karzai appointed Ahmadzai’s older brother Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai as the chancellor of Kabul University.


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