Life as One of the Most-Persecuted Ethnic Groups on the Planet

[cali]

Imagine that you live in Afghanistan. Your ancestors have lived there for hundreds of years, but you are a minority. In fact, you are a minority two times over, because the religion you practice is different from the one most people practice, and the way you look is different from the way most people look.

In the 1890's, Emir Abdur Rahman comes along. He is a king who reserves special scorn for your people, and in order to control territory and to scare troublesome groups in
to obedience, he makes an example out of yours. Your people are easy to target -- the different-believers, the different-lookers.

<snip>

You are Hazara. Your name actually means "thousand," and you are reliving your own founding myth. You look Asian because your ancestors in Afghanistan were Buddhist pilgrims, or because you descended from Genghis Khan, or both -- this is a contested historical point.

You are Muslim, but you are Shia. What this means is that in Afghanistan, you believed in the right God, but the wrong way. In Iran you believed the right way, but looked wrong. In Iraq, and now in Syria, you were wrong in both ways.

<snip>

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/05/life-as-one-of-the-most-persecuted-ethnic-groups-on-the-planet/276060/?google_editors_picks=true

[clarice]

1. As I've always said....

Too much religion...not enuff common sense.

[loli phabay]

2. if it was not religion it would be something else, the way you pronounce a word or so

People are tribal at heart regardless of what they tell you or think they believe

[clarice]

3. you are right...but I still think it's spooky. nt

[Cal33]

4. I agree with you. Just take the Cockneys of England as an example. They're

still being put into their places, even though they are Englishmen and look
the same as the other Englishmen. It's just that they sound different
when they speak.

[loli phabay]

6. have a banana, sorry couldnt resist but theres a comedian called bill bailey

Who does a whole skit on cockney music. Though chas and dave are awesome for drinking songs.

[Bluenorthwest]

8. Except that you have no examples to offer, because it has usually been religion that is the key

From the Crusades and Inquisition, the Troubles, the holocaust, it's always religion. It is not something else. Where are the word pronunciation mass murders, invasions, occupations, slave trades based on pronunciation?
It's easy to say 'it would be something else' but hard to support the assertion.

[cali]

10. well, the Holocaust wasn't about religion as much as ethnicity.

You could be a practicing Christian, for example, but if one of your grandparents was Jewish, than you were considered Jewish.

And just where do you think religion comes from? It's born out of human nature.

[loli phabay]

11. really you cant think of any persecution that is not religion based, i guess you must learn

Different history in the your part of the usa. One example of people killing each other who shared their religion, the city states of greece i am sure you can find other examples.

[Cal33]

17. Here's one of countless examples: The English began subjugating the Irish from

the early 11th Century on. Both countries were Catholic then. Martin Luther
started Protestantism in the 16th Century.

Heritage History: Wars of Ireland
www.heritage-history.com/www/heritage.php?Dir=wars...ireland.php?
The colonization and subjugation of Ireland by England proceeded over a long
period ... The first two systematic wars of conquest of Ireland by England were the ...

What about the Roman Empire? It lasted 1000 years. They colonized
England for 400 years, from the 1st to the 5th Century A.D. Religion had
nothing to do with their lust for conquest. It was a question of "I am stronger
than you, and I am taking your land, and you'll be working for me."

The Romans colonized most of the nations surrounding the Mediterranean Sea,
and were collecting taxes from all of their colonies.

"Might is right + greed" have always been some of the most frequent reasons
for wars. Napoleon, Genghis Kahn and Alexander the Great are further examples.
The examples are countless.

I agree with you, though, that religion has also always been another frequent reason.

[Douglas Carpenter]

5. the novel and the movie "The Kite Runner" touched on the subject of the Hazara

In The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini there was a sub-message of how the Hazara's were mistreated and regarded as inferior. The main character's closest childhood friend was a Hazara servant boy. After the war and after years of living in the San Francisco Bay Area the main character returns to Afghanistan to try to find the son of his childhood friend who had been displaced and orphaned by the war.

BTW: It is a fabulous book and an absolutely fabulous movie - for those who have not read the novel or seen the film.

http://books.google.com/books/about/The_Kite_Runner.html?id=9M7Vo5Ac4UkC


http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0419887/

[opiate69]

7. interesting ... I figured this was going to be about the Roma...

[loli phabay]

12. thats the bigotry that most dont talk about as its not glamerous.

[cali]

13. it gets talked about more than this

though far more in the European press than the U.S. press

[loli phabay]

15. problem is its discussed as a onr size fits all, there is a huge disparity

Between what outsiders see as ROM and the reality of the different factions within the nation. Also we see the good intentions that will ultimately destroy the nation and the families. Its a complex issue that for too long has had solutions tried to be forced.

[opiate69]

16. True... and I would bet...

A huge number of Americans have no idea that the Romani not only still exist, but are also estimated to number over a million in population here in the States.

[dixiegrrrrl]

9. What a well wirtten piece this is! Wish I could rec more than once.

Really brings home the issues facing people as the fighting speads to country after country in the ME.

[Arugula Latte]

14. Imagine no religion.

It's easy if you try.
Nothing to kill or die for.
Above us only sky.