Reporting on the Hazaras

I often lament the lack of coverage from areas that are shall we say off the radar of the International media.

Take a look at the Frontline blog of Alex Strick van Linschoten who is reporting from Behsud in Afghanistan

The story is so small and on such a local level that nobody is particularly interested. With an ever-growing insurgency, are international readers really interested in a conflict within the conflict, in which there are no international actors, nor anyone the ‘international community’ need particularly pay heed to… Even within Afghanistan, it doesn’t merit any attention from local journalists. This is undoubtedly on account of ethnic biases against the purported ‘victims’, the Hazaras.

For some more background on the Hazaras take a look at this article from National Geographic

And for an update on what is happening in the region take a look at this blog

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.