A perennial conflict between the nomadic Kuchis and the Hazaras over grazing rights is on the point of blowing up into a major political crisis, at a time when the Kabul government is trying to promote national reconciliation at its long-awaited Peace Jirga.

The seasonal clashes have taken on a more serious dimension this year with the intervention of major governmental figures, who are threatening to boycott the Peace Jirga, stage national demonstrations, and, in some cases, to provoke violence if their demands for a solution are not heeded.

Violence in the disputed zone, which encompasses Behsud and Daimerdad districts of Wardak province, has so far claimed the lives of at least five Hazaras; four Kuchis have disappeared; between 30 and 50 people have been injured; several houses have been burned, and hundreds of Hazara families have been displaced. But local residents say the casualties are much higher than the figures given out by the Ministry of the Interior would indicate.

Mohammad Karim Khalili, second Vice President of Afghanistan, who is himself an ethnic Hazara, has gone to Behsud, apparently in protest of what he has called “obstacles that are created by [governmental] figures against the solution of the conflict.” Khalili has publicly stated that he’ll remain in Behsud until he finds a fundamental and permanent solution for the century-old dispute.

The Vice President has also made strong emotional declarations that “if war is to take place, and blood is to be shed, it will first be the blood of the Vice President of Afghanistan.”

Since the outbreak of violence in Behsud in mid-May, protests have broken out in Kabul, Bamian, Daikondi, and even London. More than 60 parliamentarians from the Hazara ethnic group have staged a sit-in at the legislature, protesting “the government’s irresponsible acts and the behind-the-scenes games played by some figures around Karzai.”

The MPs are led by Mohammad Mohaqeq, a powerful Hazara leader who heads the Hezb-e-Wahdat political faction. It was in part due to Mohaqeq’s support that Hamid Karzai was able to triumph in last year’s presidential elections. Mohaqeq has issued a challenge to the president, saying that unless a solution is found for the decades-old conflict, his faction will boycott the Peace Jirga, organize major demonstrations in at least ten provinces, and may finally abandon the Karzai government.

The seasonal conflicts between the Kuchis and the Hazaras have a long history. The Kuchis, who are traditionally nomadic, claim the rights to pasture lands in central Afghanistan based on monarchical decrees from the late 19th century. The land where they now bring their animals to graze is located in an area inhabited mainly by ethnic Hazaras.

Hazaras dismiss these decrees as harsh and cruel; most of them were issued during the reign of Abdurrahman Khan, a ruler well-known for his suppression of Hazaras. The Hazaras want the decrees, or firmans, voided.

Sarwar Jawadi, a legal expert and parliamentarian, argues that the decrees have no legal force, since Afghanistan was a colony of Britain when they were issued.

“In addition to the fact that Afghanistan was a colony and we had no independence, the decrees are cruel and have no legal or justifiable base,” he said. “Most importantly, all decrees issued by Abdurrahman were annulled during Zahir Shah’s reign.”

But this argument is not convincing the Kochis, who demand what they see as their historical rights.

“We can use any part of Afghanistan, especially central Afghanistan, it is our right,” said Alam Gul Kochai, Parliament Member representing Kochis. “We have decrees issued by Afghanistan’s kings.”

This intractable conflict spills over into bloodshed nearly every spring; but this year Afghanistan’s political situation has proved even more unstable than usual. This has poured oil on the fire and what is normally a brief spurt of rage and violence has grown into a crisis of national proportions.

Khalili released a statement through Nega Television on May 23 in which he said that the growing conflict in Behsud could undermine the democratic achievements Afghanistan has made over the past eight years, as well as severely damaging national unity.

Nega TV is owned by Khalili, and has been assiduously covering the crisis.

Khalili and Mohaqeq, the two most prominent Hazara leaders in Afghanistan, are facing unprecedented pressure. During last year’s presidential election campaign, both fought hard for a Karzai victory; Mohaqeq visited most of the Hazara provinces to solicit votes for the president.

In return for Hazara support, Karzai allegedly made promises. Mohaqeq claims that he has written commitments from Karzai, pledging to give Hazaras greater political clout, as well as to put an end to the festering Kuchi issue.

But now Mohaqeq has turned against Karzai and is in the front lines of the protests against him. Khalili, who joined Karzai’s government, is not far behind.

In a gathering in Kabul on May 20, which attracted thousands of Hazara protesters, Mohaqeq promised action, including a boycott of the Jirga, more and bigger protests, and, most ominously, a movement to go to Behsud and join the Hazaras there in resisting the Kuchis.

 “In last year’s presidential election, we supported Karzai. Now if he does not meet our demands, we will show him that we have the courage to challenge him, too,” Mohaqiq told a cheering crowd, who waved and chanted slogans throughout the speech.

There is a very real possibility that the violence in Behsud could spread, igniting long-simmering ethnic and religious tensions within the society as a whole.

The vast majorities of Kuchis belong to the Pashtun ethnic group, and are overwhelmingly Sunni; most Hazaras are part of the Shia branch of Islam.

Hazaras and Pashtuns clashed violently during Afghanistan’s brutal civil war in the early 1990s; the resentment was compounded when the Taliban, who were mainly Pashtun, took over the reins of government in 1996.

All of that pain and anger is reflected in the reaction of the Hazara community to the Behsud conflict.

“Are we criminals that we do not join the Taliban?” fumed Esmael Tasmim, a 21-year-old university student in Kabul. “Are we criminals that we do not grow poppy? Are we criminals that we do not kill NATO forces? If we are not, then why are the so-called Kuchis, who are actually Taliban, attacking our provinces? Why have our provinces, which are the most secure parts of the country, not been rebuilt in the past eight years? Why does the international community not intervene?”

The conflict has received relatively little attention from the international media and the foreign community, which has deepened the Hazaras’ feeling of abandonment and disempowerment.

And this could be very dangerous indeed.

“Democratic protests will not work,” said Qodus, 31, a shopkeeper in western Kabul. “We cannot achieve our rights through peaceful means, because the international community is not paying attention to this crisis. We will have to take up arms and begin to fight.”

Some prominent Hazara figures seem to agree with this idea.

“We have to provide weapons, organize our people and start fighting, it is the only solution for the politically-motivated Kuchi crisis,” said a former high-ranking official and Hazara mujaheddin commander. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject. “It will also wake up the international community. Those who kill NATO forces and burn schools, those who are linked to Al Qaeda, receive money, are begged to come to the negotiating table and are promised privileges and high-ranking positions. But peaceful people who have not fired a single bullet at NATO are deprived of everything.”

The Kuchis are also ready to fight, according to MP Alam Gul Kochai.

“We are fighting for our rights,” he said. “We will go to Hazara provinces even if it means killing thousands of Hazaras.” 

The issue will need high-level intervention to resolve; however, given the growing disaffection of the Hazara community with the central government, it is difficult to see how this can be achieved.

“Before last year’s presidential election, Karzai pledged that he would meet the Hazaras’ demands if they voted for him,” said political analyst Sharif Sharafat. “The major demands were, first, at least a 20 percent share in Karzai’s government, second, promoting two Hazara districts to the status of provinces, third, building roads in central Afghanistan, and, fourth, putting an end to the conflict with the Kuchis.”

Karzai’s failure to deliver on any of his pledges so far has angered the Hazara community, said Sharafat.

Political analyst Habib Neero agrees.

“Hazaras now believe that Karzai has broken his commitments and deceived them,” he said. “They know that if they do not put serious pressure on Karzai he will never fulfill his promises, since he cannot run for president again.”

Karzai is in his second term, the legally mandated limit, according to the Afghan Constitution.

Researcher and political analyst Massoud Ansari believes that the present flare-up of the Kuchi-Hazara conflict could easily turn into civil war, given the historical record, and the sensitivity of ethnic and tribal issues.

“Civil war in 1992 between Hezb-e-Wahdat, a prominent Hazara armed faction, and Itihad-e-Islami, a prominent Pashtun armed faction, began after the alleged killing of 5 Hazara civilians by Itihad-e-Islami in Kabul.” Ansari said, “In a society deeply divided by tribes, such incidents could easily be repeated.”

Whether or not Behsud has the power to spark a general uprising, it has put severe pressure on the Karzai government, says parliamentarian Sarwar Jawadi.

“The National Assembly is in protest against the president’s irresponsible acts, half of the ministers have not been confirmed, and Karzai’s vice president, Karim Khalili, has left the government,” he said. “Karzai is now in a predicament.”

Jawadi puts the blame squarely on Karzai, and warns that the government could collapse if timely action is not taken.

“At a time when the insurgency is raging in more than half the country, the government and the international community is apparently seeking peace with Al Qaeda and the Taliban,” he said. “

Karzai has acknowledged that his government has been slow to react to the Behsud crisis.
He did issue a six-point decree on May 20, ordering the Kuchis to leave the conflict area. He directed the appropriate branches of government to specify damages caused and to compensate the victims; and he said that a special government commission would find a permanent solution for the Kuchi/Hazara conflict within three months.

However, the protesting parliamentarians were not satisfied by the president’s actions; a similar decree was issued in 2008, which brought no discernible results.

In a press conference on May 18, Karzai did make one clear statement about the Behsud problem.

“In solving this conflict, the rights of Kuchis must not be violated,” he told reporters.

His failure to mention the rights of Hazaras has fueled Hazara suspicions that Karzai, himself an ethnic Pashtun, is partial to the Kuchis in this conflict.

“If the protests of the Hazara parliamentarians and leaders continue, and their threats turn into action, it could mean the worst crisis for Afghanistan in the past nine years,” said Ansari.