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Miguel Johnson

Professor Williams

English 1A

27 July 2010

Cycle Of Unnecessary Hate

Discrimination is an issue going on in countries aside from ours. The United

States had a couple of ethnicities fight for their rights. However, some countries still have

people fighting for their rights. Afghanistan was once a peaceful place. The entire

Muslim community was peaceful and did not mind other religions. However certain

disputes took place, which is why the blood of civil war taints Afghanistan. Riots took

place due to these different opinions (RE-XS). The Pathans were the more powerful tribe

so their religion ultimately became the more powerful one. The Hazaras continued to try

and be peaceful people although they were being beaten and killed. It can be hard to keep

the peace when you are living the life of someone who is thought of as less than a person.

To this day they protest in order to keep the rights that they worked for and to gain more

(Black).

In the novel The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini accurately represents the conflict

between Pashtuns and Hazaras, by explaining the form of religious hate they have

towards each other, and the way Pashtuns treat Hazaras, through a child’s point of view.

This ultimately makes the reader realize that children have discriminating tendencies too,

in which they develop from their parents. It also raises the theory that if children have

these tendencies, the discrimination will not be abolished. However, individuals can

choose not to be influenced by their surroundings.

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The Pathans are the dominating ethnic group of Afghanistan. Before 1978, they

took up about fifty-one percent of their country’s population (“Afghan Network”).

According to Magnus and Naby, the Pathans are the “primary ethnic group” (12). They

are “tribally organized” which means that even though they are all Pathans they had

separate groups (“Afghan Network”). They were also known as Pashtuns and this name

came from a Pashtun dictionary. The word Pusht means “back,” and, according to

Salman Hakim, Pathans lived in the back of mountains. They were known by the Persians

as Pashtuns (Hakim). Their main language is Pashto and some Pathans tend to have a

“nomadic lifestyle” (Hakim). Meaning that they continue to move from place to place

while carrying their belongings. The others live in regular home and grow fruits such as

apples and grapes. The most important fact would be that the Pashtun religion is mainly

Sunni Islam. Sunni Islam is the largest branch of the Islamic religion (“Religion Facts”).

They believe that they are followers of the prophet (“Religion Facts”). They base their

religion on the Quran and the Sunnah (“Religion Facts”). There may be many ethnicities

in Afghanistan but the Pashtuns are the most populated and the highest in social status.

The Hazaras are a minority tribe in Afghanistan (“Afghan Network”). The

Hazaras are actually mixed with ethnicities such as Dari, Arabic, Urdu, Farsi, Mongol,

and Turkish (Black). Because of this the language they spoken is influenced by all of

these different ethnicities and they call it “Hazargi” (Black). Amir from The Kite Runner

mentions that with their Mongol decent they look “a little like Chinese people” (Hosseini

8). They are unfortunately used as slaves or servants like Hassan and his father were in

The Kite Runner. Their religion is also a form of Islam called Shi’a or Shi’ite Islam.

However, Shi’a was not always the minority religion. This religion had all Muslims
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following until people began to have differences. That is when they split up and Sunni

was created.

Hazaras underwent such discrimination for a few reasons. One reason is the

religious difference between Shi’a and Sunni. The prophet Muhammad was dangerously

ill and he knew he did not have much time. When he died there was a discrepancy with

who would take leadership, Hazrat Ali, the Prophet's young son-in-law or Abu-Bakr, an

uncle of the Prophet (Sinha 2). Aku-Bakr won the election because there were more

Sunnis then Shi’as so Aku-Bakr had more votes. However, Aku-Bakr was old and died

soon, which gave Ali another chance to become the leader. He once again did not win the

election and after the new leader died he lost another election. When the newest leader

died early too they decided since Ali has lost so much they would make him leader. In the

words of Sinha, “The controversy between Shi’as and Sunnis is this: the Sunnis believe

in all four caliphs; but the Shi’as believe only in the fourth and last caliph, Hazrat Ali”

(Sinha 2). The Sunnis recite a prayer showing deep respect for the four caliphs (leaders)

including Ali (2). On the other hand, Shi’as recite a prayer cursing the first three caliphs

and praising Ali. The Shi’as say that the first three caliphs forcibly took the position that

Ali should have had from the beginning (2). Sunnis could not tolerate them cursing their

caliphs, which started the conflict (2). Although Shi’a and Sunni have some similarities

involving beliefs such as the five pillars of Islam it is not enough for them to discontinue

the violence. Hossenini knew of this and had Amir show with few words that he knew

what he was talking about.

Hossenini may have not described this part of the conflict thoroughly but he is

accurate. In The Kite Runner, Amir reads a book and notices that it states that Hazaras are
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Shi’a and Pashtuns are Sunni. He shows his teacher and he replies, “That’s one thing

Shi’a people do well, passing themselves as martys” (Hossenini 8). Amir explains that his

teacher “said the word Shi’a like it was some kind of disease” (8). Meaning that by his

facial expression, it can be implied that he was Sunni and he is not fond of the Shi’a

people. It helps back up the fact that there is a conflict between the two religions. Proving

that Hossenini was accurate but not detailed.

The Hazara people have difficult lives. Although they were also discriminated

because of their race there is little information as to why. Though they still go through

horrible treatment each day. Unfortunately, they may wake up and have a normal day for

a few hours, then be kidnapped, killed, tortured, raped, or beaten (Black). The Hazara can

be divided into two groups: Hazaras who live in Hazarajat (In Central Afghanistan) and

Hazaras who live outside of Hazarajat (Program). The Hazaras that live outside of

Hazarajat “live in and around Kabul, Heart, Mazare-Sharif and Samangan province”

(Program). As they are living in these places, just like The Kite Runner, the Hazara

people are used as servants and laborers (Program). Which proves Hossenini was

accurate when writing this in his book.

Hossenini portrays that because the adults of Afghanistan are discriminating then

the children will be too. In The Kite Runner, Amir grows up in an environment where

Hazaras are thought of as less than people. He hears names like “flat-nosed” and “load-

carrying donkeys” being spat at his Hazara friend Hassan and these insults are coming

from children (Hossenini 8). Also, Assef states that Hazaras pollute the Afghan land (35).

Pashtuns see Hazaras as intruders or unwelcomed visitors and they need to be taken care

of. However Khaled Hosseini also implies in his novel the conflict between Pashtuns and
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Hazaras morphed to racism

Some may say that the Hazara Conflict was based on the Hazaras Mongol

features, meaning it was based on race. However, due to the children’s ignorance and

their parents’ teaching, the struggle between Pashtuns and Hazaras became a racial issue.

For example, Hosseini shows the ignorance of the children when Amir is looking for a

book about Hazaras, because all he knows about are their features. Due to lack of

knowledge, the children would not know any better so they would just go based off

appearance. The children would yell random insults at Hazaras, acting like their parents.

For some the only thing they knew of Hazaras was that they looked like Chinese people

(Hosseini 8). There is scarce information as to why Pashtuns have a form of hate towards

the Mongol decent, however Pashtuns continue to express this hate.

With all these insults coming from children under eighteen it reinforces the fact

that children are influenced by their surroundings. Pashtun children notice their parents

and other elders discriminating against Hazaras, which make them think their actions are

acceptable. As Hassan is about to be raped a thought goes through Amir’s head. Rather

then going to save his friend he thinks, “He was just a Hazara, wasn’t he” (Hossenini

68)? Basically making him seem like less then human. The adults and other children

influenced Amir. Proving that Pashtun children are discriminating too. As the children

grow up they may also have children and pass down these discriminating tendencies. This

in turn creates a cycle of unnecessary hate. With this cycle going on the discrimination

will not be abolished.

An individual can change what they believe is right or wrong. When Amir is older

he goes back to Afghanistan to save his Hazara nephew. This shows that all Pashtuns are
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not bad and that some even fall in love with Hazaras. Once Amir’s task is complete, his

father in-law asks him why he brought back a Hazara boy and Amir defends him despite

the discrimination he grew up around. Unfortunately, these few individuals cannot

change the mind set that most of Afghanistan has. When adult Pashtuns have this

discriminating mind set and they are passing it down to their children, the violence will

never stop.

Works Cited

Amin, Hussein Abdulwaheed. "The Origins of the Sunni/Shia Split in Islam." Islam For
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Today. Web. 18 July 2010.

Hakim, Salman. "Pathans." Mnsu.edu. 2009. Web. 18 July 2010.

<http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/cultural/oldworld/asia/pashtun.html>.

Black, Crystal. "The Hazaras." Mnsu.edu. 01 Mar. 2001. Web. 18 July 2010.

<http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/cultural/oldworld/asia/hazaraculture.html>.

Hosseini, Khaled. The Kite Runner. New York: Riverhead, 2003. Print.

Magnus, Ralph, and Naby Eden. Afghanistan: Mullah, Marx, and Mujahid. Boulder, CO:

Westview Press, 1998. Print.

"Pashtuns of Afghanistan." Afghan Network INteractive. WebMedia INteractive., 1997-

2002. Web. 18 July 2010.

"Program for Culture and Conflict Studies at NPS - Home." Naval Postgraduate School.

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<http://www.nps.edu/programs/ccs/Logar.html>.

Sinha, Arun. "Shia-Sunni Conflict." Economic & Political Weekly 13.45 (1978): 1841-

842. CSUDH. Economic and Political Weekly, 11 Nov. 1978. Web. 19 July 2010.

<http://www.jstor.org/stable/4367078>.

"Shi'a Islam." RE-XS for Higher Education. Web. 18 July 2010.

<http://philtar.ucsm.ac.uk/encyclopedia/islam/shia/geness.html>.

"Sunni Islam - ReligionFacts." Religion, World Religions, Comparative Religion - Just

the Facts on the World's Religions. Religion Facts, 2004-2009. Web. 18 July

2010.