Majority-Minority Relations and Targeted Violence

Abstract

Using a conflict model to analyse Majority-Minority relations (M-M), this paper focuses on the Hazara community in Afghanistan. Assuming M-M relations are power relations, the struggle for control among divergent ethnic groups has persisted. The Hazaras have historically resided in several provinces and experienced various forms of targeted violence. Millions have fled to other countries to escape persecution. This research diverges from dominant approaches that focus only on ethnicity and religion as the causes of violence against the Hazaras. Instead, the paper examines other factors that have been largely neglected by conflict studies literature. Based on historical data, the study finds that the Hazaras’ geostrategic location in Afghanistan, their alliances with Pashtun tribes, and their struggle for autonomy have been the primary factors contributing to the targeted violence against them. Therefore, while ethnicity and religion may have made the Hazaras vulnerable to violence, they are not the main causes of violence.