Hazara diaspora asks the world to spare a thought

...for their people in Afghanistan

I recently read a piece on the growing numbers in Australia of Hazara, who are originally from Afghanistan, and it took me right back to the US Embassy complex in Kabul. (‘The Pomegranate Peace’, the novel I wrote from my year in Kabul is available here as an ebook and here as a paperback.)

It’s Kabul 2012 and a Hazara colleague and friend is telling me that he wants to travel but not to the West. Instead, he wants to go to central Asia, to Mongolia and to other places that matter to the Hazara community’s ethnicity, culture and identity, thereby putting together all the pieces that make up the jigsaw.

I remember being astonished at my young friend’s ‘look-east’ (or at least, ‘don’t-look-west’) mindset. It was distinctive and spoke not just to his predilections and mindset but also to the values, inclinations and yes, the situation of the Hazaras.

An unfortunate consequence of their distinctive inclinations — and appearance — is the Hazaras’ persecution. They have historically suffered u…