It has been reported that on June 9th 2007 a large group of Kuchies attacked and burned down villages, schools, and farms in Central Afghanistan where Hazara Shia Muslims live. The large groups of Kuchies and thousands of their animals came to the region from southern Afghanistan so that their animals could graze the pastureland of Hazaras. The nomads arrived armed with modern weapons such as automatic machine guns and rocket launchers.
Behsood is not that far from Kabul, only about a two hour drive. I wonder why there aren’t any Human Rights agencies to defend the people of Behsood or at least to stop the Kuchies from destroying the Hazaras’ homes and way of life. Another question that comes to mind is why isn’t President Karzai taking any action on this issue? And what made me almost lose my faith in Afghani democracy was that most of the groups within these specific regions in Afghanistan were disarmed by the United Nations DDR program (Disarmament, Demobilization, Reintegration). So it seems very interesting that the national media showed that the Kuchi tribes used modern weapons against the villagers during their attack, such an RPG-700, machine guns, SV-99, and AK-47. Where did they get these weapons if the DDR program made sure every weapon was confiscated?
Finally I came to the only logical conclusion. The Behsood attack was a conspiracy. The Kuchies stayed in Behsood until Karzai finally advised them to leave the area. This shows that it was a planned-out attack. I also understood that this attack was planned when I read on the BBC news site that the Afghan government has agreed to build 12 cities for the kuchies so that they might start living in one place and therefore drop the nomadic lifestyle.
First, the Kuchies are not homeless people who need to travel around the country looking for homes. They have their own land and houses in the southern part of the country. The reason they move around is so that their animals can graze in the pasture land of others.
The BBC report says that Mr. Sabawon, an ex-member of the anti-western Hezb-Islami party and now senior adviser to President Karzai, had an announcement that Karzai approved to build 12 cities in north and south side of Hindu Kush Mountains which are located in the Northern areas of Afghanistan in order to help the Kuchi tribe have a permanent place.
This plan was previously mentioned in a Pashtu book called title Douwm-e-Saqawi (The Second Water Bearer) which was published in Pakistan around the year 2000. The booklet, written in Pashtu, calls for the non-Pashtun Tajik and Hazaras populations to be removed from key areas and be replaced by Pashtuns from the south of Afghanistan.
Of course with the whole world practically watching them, they cannot just force people to leave their homes so that they may be given to the Pashtun tribes like how they used to do before. However, they are tricking the non-Pashtuns by using old dangerous plans under the pretense of acting as “torchbearers” of democracy in Afghanistan. They are the ones who have sent the Kuchi tribes to the attack the people of Behsood in order to get the attention of the international communities. They want to make it seem like the Kuchies are having a problem finding a place to live when in reality they are taking the land and homes of others.
Reference:
BBC news about new cities building for Kuchies
http://www.bbc.co.uk/persian/afghanistan/story/2007/08/070802_s-nomads.shtml
French television station TF-1.
A tract calling for wholesale ethnic cleansing in Afghanistan that is circulating in Afghanistan and in Pakistan
http://afghanprofile.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=21&Itemid=27
Video Documentary in Kuchi Attacks in Behoosd
http://www.pcplanets.com/videoyoutube-Kochi-Attack-in-b-Hazarajat-b-.OXpRZ
Afghan Profile