Castro Anxiety Dec 6, 2008
Best Politics PieceThe sprawling New Yorker on minority Hazara police in southern Afghanistan highlights the benefits of NATO involvement there but also shows how much improvement is necessary before Afghanistan can handle its own security. Best Culture PieceThe intriguing Smithsonian on Sufism is equal parts armchair travel, cultural observation, and political analysis. (Slate)
Athens-based group on a mission in Afghanistan Oct 4, 2008
"Some (doctors) are still unwilling to serve Hazara women," Aldrich said, referring to one of Afghanistan's ethnic groups. "They'll let them lie there and basically bleed to death because of their ethnic prejudices.". (Athens Banner-Herald)
Meet Afghanistan's Most Fearless Blogger Jul 4, 2008
Fekrat's facial features are distinctly Mongoloid, in accordance with his Hazara heritage. His skin is rough and his look rugged, powerful in a primitive way; a rack of oversize teeth is arranged in what might best be described as a rebellious manner. (Slate)
Feeling insecureAfghans speak of the perils they face and life with foreign troops Apr 10, 2008
We have Hazara, Pashtun and many Sikhs as well. Life should be harmonious. (BBC News -- South Asia)
Woman vies to become first Afghan 'Idol' Mar 15, 2008
The three finalists represent each of Afghanistan's three main ethnic groups: Pashtuns, Hazaras and Tajiks. Mohammad, who is ethnic Hazara, said he doesn't believe ethnicity should play a role in the vote ... But, he acknowledged somewhat sheepishly, he will vote for the Hazara finalist. (MSNBC -- News)
He shakes and stirs Feb 10, 2008
The boys and their families feared that the harrowing scene could heighten ethnic tensions between the Pashtun and Hazara tribes in the film, the rape victim is a Hazara and the attacker, a Pashtun and make the child actors a target of attack in Afghanistan. (The film is banned in Afghanistan but, no doubt, copies of it have made their way into the country. (The Star Online, Malaysia)
'The Kite Runner' banned in Afghanistan Jan 17, 2008
In the story, the main character witnesses the rape of his ethnic Hazara friend by an ethnic Pashtun. The two groups fought bitterly during the country's 1990s civil war. (USA Today -- Life)
Afghanistan bans Kite Runner film Jan 16, 2008
Paramount Vantage released the film last month after delays due to the extraordinary precautions taken to address concerns about the films depiction of one boys rape and other scenes of conflict between members of Pashtun and Hazara tribes ... Protests erupted last year after pirate copies of another film, The Kabul Express which was seen as anti-Hazara, made their way into the multi-ethnic country that is struggling to emerge from decades of invasion and civil war ... Kite Runner... (MSNBC -- News)
Afghan Culture Ministry bans 'The Kite Runner' Jan 16, 2008
Members of the Afghan minority Hazara tribe said they considered some dialogue an insult to their people. Ahmadi said the "Afghan government this time tried to avoid any other tensions and problems in advance.". (International Herald Tribune)
Producer bears good news for young exile Jan 9, 2008
Yesterday it was Rebecca Yeldham, the Australian producer of The Kite Runner who was waiting in Sydney for 12-year-old Afghan actor Ahmad Khan Mahmidzada to wake up so she could call and tell him he had won the Critics Choice Award for best young actor for his performance as Hassan, an Hazara servant boy. The awards were announced in Los Angeles yesterday, while Ahmad was asleep at home in Dubai, where he - and three other young actors from the film and their families - were moved in December... (Sydney Morning Herald -- Entertainment)
Will 'Kite Runner' Put Young Stars in Peril? Dec 14, 2007
The early scenes of "The Kite Runner" tenderly probe the relationship between two Afghan boys: Amir, the only son of a wealthy member of the powerful Pashtun majority, and his servant, Hassan, a member of the Hazara minority. Despite the cultural divide, they are close friends. (ABC News)
Alberto Iglesias Dec 12, 2007
The theme immediately establishes the tone for a story in which a former Kabul native returns to his war-torn homeland to rescue his orphaned Hazara nephew. After nabbing an Oscar nom for 2005's "The Constant Gardener," a score that fused African tones with classical elements, Iglesias admits he's developed a rep as the "National Geographic" composer. (Variety)
'Kite Runner' boys have left Afghanistan, film executive says Dec 5, 2007
Many Afghans were angered by the 2006 Indian film "Kabul Express," which portrays Hazara militants as brutal and thuggish. The four boys, each accompanied by a relative, left Afghanistan and arrived in the United Arab Emirates on Friday, said Megan Colligan, executive vice president of marketing for Paramount Vantage, which is releasing the film. (International Herald Tribune -- Arts)
Kite Runner stars forced into hiding Dec 4, 2007
The four boys include Ahmad Khan Mahmidzada, now 13, who plays Hassan, a low-caste member of the Hazara tribe; and Zekeria Ebrahimi, 11, who is cast in the role of Hassan's best friend, a relatively rich Pashtun called Amir ... "A mistake was made. It was unintentional - the situation was not fully understood in terms of Afghan culture and history and the relationship between the Hazara and Pashtun people.". (Guardian Unlimited)
'Kite Runner' boys are sent to United Arab Emirates Dec 3, 2007
"The Kite Runner," like the best-selling novel on which it is based, spans three decades of Afghan strife and centers on the friendship between Amir, a wealthy Pashtun boy played by Zekiria Ebrahimi, who is now 11, and Hassan, the Hazara son of his father's servant ... Later, Sohrab, a Hazara boy played by Ali Danish Bakhty Ari, now also 13, is preyed upon by a corrupt Taliban official. (International Herald Tribune)
Bodyguards blamed for rising bloodshed Nov 22, 2007
Kazimi was a rising political star from the country's long-suffering ethnic Hazara minority. Some opposition figures have suggested that the Government orchestrated the assault to get rid of Kazimi, who was being groomed as a rival to Mr Karzai. (Sydney Morning Herald -- World)
Book review: Opium Season Nov 9, 2007
One man, an ethnic Hazara (member of the Shiite minority) was shot through the eyes. 1. (International Herald Tribune -- Arts)
Hosseini has high hopes for 'Kite Runner' adaptation Oct 25, 2007
The film's release in the USA was moved from early November to Dec. 14 after families of some of the young stars expressed fear for their safety because of a pivotal scene in which a young boy a member of Afghanistan's beleaguered Hazara tribe is raped by a psychopathic bully who belongs to the country's dominant Pashtun tribe. There is concern that the scene could inflame tensions between the tribes. (USA Today -- Life)
The Kite Runner Oct 5, 2007
The scene is a highly impressionistic rendering of a Pashtun man raping Hassan, a Hazara boy from a servant's family ... Another actor, Nabi Tanha, who plays Hassan's father, has also expressed concerns about the language used against members of Afghanistan's Hazara ethnic group, portrayed in the film ... A furore erupted around a scene in which a character accuses Hazaras of being bloodthirsty killers. (Guardian Unlimited)
'The Kite Runner' is delayed to protect child stars Oct 4, 2007
The boys and their relatives are now accusing the filmmakers of mistreatment, and warnings have been relayed to the studio from Afghan and American officials and aid workers that the movie could aggravate simmering enmities between the politically dominant Pashtun and the long-oppressed Hazara ... At its heart is a friendship between Amir, a wealthy Pashtun boy played by Zekiria Ebrahimi, and Hassan, the Hazara son of Amir's father's servant ... Later, Sohrab, a Hazara boy played by Ali Danish... (International Herald Tribune -- Arts)
Moslems Celebrate Damba Festival in Upper East Region May 3, 2007
The call was contained a in speech read on behalf of Mrs Hazara Chirga Bawa, Chairperson of the Tiyumba Women's Association, the organisers of the festival. She urged Ghanaians to work hard to maintain the current peace and unity in the country. (Ghana Web, Ghana)
Where Sunni and Shi'a Get AlongDespite a long history of sectarian enmity, Afghanistan today seems to have convinced the rival sects to live together Feb 27, 2007
Following Ayatollah Khomeini's call for pan-Shi'a unity in 1980, thousands of Afghan Shi'a (predominantly from the Hazara ethnicity, but some Tajik and Uzbek as well) poured across the border to aid Iran in its 10-year war against Iraq ... The Shi'a Hazaras, who reside in central Afghanistan, have traditionally been looked down upon as second-class citizens by their Sunni Pashtun countrymen ... Hazara neighborhoods of Kabul were among the most devastated during the civil war, and thousands were... (Time.com)
Past and present merge to tell our stories Jan 28, 2007
Khadim Ali lives in exile in Pakistan, but is one of the Hazara people of Afghanistan ... The Taliban, who tormented the Hazara people, liked to identify with this character. (Jakarta Post, Indonesia -- Features)
Weaving tradition and the market Jan 19, 2007
" Meet the chobiThe pressure to change is keenly felt by Persian and Turkish producers. But perhaps the greatest adaptation so far has been shown by Afghan refugee weavers in Pakistan. Predominantly Turkmen, and now also Hazara, weavers have created a design that was hugely in evidence at the trade fair. The design - called chobi - uses a soft palette of whites and reds to present simplified floral designs reminiscent of Mughal art. The chobi design - the name means "wood" and describes the... (Asia Times Online)
Kite boys feel backlash Jan 14, 2007
His careworn father, Ahmad Jan, fears his family will be shunned by fellow members of the Hazara population. The Hazaras have been persecuted for more than a century in Afghanistan, most brutally under the Taliban who massacred them for their Shi ite Muslim faith ... They will think we ve made the Hazara look bad, he said. (TimesOnline)
'Kabul Express' banned in Afghanistan Jan 7, 2007
Kabul Express' banned in Afghanistan: South Asia : Hindustan Times. Sunday, January 7, 2007. (Hindustan Times, India)
