By Gibran Naiyyar Peshimam

KABUL (Reuters – Hussain Rahimi, a Kabul resident who leaves for Kabul to go to the mosque to pray, recites the Kalima – a brief verse that describes the core tenets of Islam – as he doesn’t know if he will return home.

“I fear. Rahimi (23 years old) said that her family was afraid to go to the mosque. Rahimi is an ethnic Hazara, a Shi’ite minority who has suffered some of the worst attacks on Afghanistan in its bloody history.

Two suicide bombings of mosques occurred on Fridays in the last week. Both attacks were claimed by Islamic State, ISIS and targeted at minority Shi’ite sect. In total, more than 100 people died.

Some Hazaras have decided not to go to the mosque in the aftermath of violence.

Hazaras are discriminated against in Afghanistan for a number of reasons, not just religion.

While thousands of people died during the Taliban regime from 1996 to 2001, the Islamic State’s appearance in Afghanistan around 2015 made the Shiite community and them a targeted group.

Many thousands were murdered in attacks on mosques by Sunni militants. These extremists do not consider them true Muslims and bring a kind of sectarian violence that has devastated many countries, including Iraq and Afghanistan.

There are not current data on censuses. However, it is estimated that Shiite communities make up between 10-20% and half of all the people, which includes Pashtuns and Persian-speaking Tajiks.

Hazaras are also often victims of ethnic and economic rivalries that plague Afghan politics.

Rahimi’s sister, a 12-grade student, was killed in the May bombing at a Kabul school, which mostly targeted young girls.

While the Taliban claim that they will protect all ethnic Afghan groups, violence continues since August when they took power.

Rahimi, a Kabul University computer science student, said that his family called him and asked where he was. He also clutched a photograph of his sister.

It is difficult for him to summon the courage to visit the mosque on Friday for prayers, the most important gathering for Muslims all over the world.

GARDEN OF MARTYRS

Security is not possible with more than 400 Shi’ite Mosques in Kabul.

Mohammad Baqer Sayed a professor at a university who works for victims of attacks in the past, stated that “our community feels that Fridays will be Herat’s explosion, Kabul’s explode or some other”.

According to some, the Persian-speaking Hazara are the third most populous ethnic group in Afghanistan, after the Tajiks and Pashtuns.

However, they continue to be subjected to oppression and discrimination ever since Abdur Rahman (the “Iron Amir”) removed thousands from their central Afghan lands during his relentless campaign for the establishment of the modern Afghan government in 1921.

Numerous people were killed by suicide attacks. This is why Kabul has a unique graveyard called the Garden of the Martyrs. It’s the place where the majority of the students who died from the May school blasts were buried.

Asif Lali is a doctor who lives a short distance from the school. He has made a decision with his family not to participate in Friday prayers.

“We fear everything. He even said that he was afraid to cross the road.

He is not like many Shi’ite Hazara family members in Kabul. His brother, who was his younger brother, died when an Islamic State suicide bomber attacked Kabul Airport in August.

He said, “The attacks against Shias don’t just happen in mosques…they also occur in universities and educational institutions – in that education institution you see below me.”

The previous government offered basic weapons and training to Shiite communities so they could defend their mosques. But the Taliban mostly took these away, making many feel even more vulnerable.

Taliban officials pledged security to Shi’ite mosques this week. But, for many who are skeptical about a movement they have long considered their enemy, the promise isn’t enough.

Professor Sayed stated that they should talk to the Hazara leaders, scholars, professors and social activists, as these people know more about the Taliban’s security issues than the Taliban.