Abdul Ali Mazari
Abdul Ali Mazari (Dari: عبدالعلی مزاری; 5 June 1946 – 13 March 1995) was an ethnic Hazara politician and leader of the Hezbe Wahdat during and following the Soviet–Afghan War, who advocated for a federal system of governance in Afghanistan.[1][2][3] He believed that this would end political and ethnic division in Afghanistan by guaranteeing rights to every ethnic group.[4] He was allegedly captured and murdered by the Taliban during negotiations in 1995. In 2016, he was posthumously given the title "Martyr for National Unity of Afghanistan" and had a statue erected in his honor by the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.[5][6] Shortly after reclaiming power, the Taliban demolished the statue.[7]
Abdul Ali Mazari
5 June 1946
Charkent, Balkh province, Kingdom of Afghanistan
13 March 1995 (aged 48)
Ghazni, Islamic State of Afghanistan
Mim Hea Mim peace award
Baba Mazari (بابه مزاری)
Early life[edit]
Abdul Ali Mazari was born in 1946 in the Charkent district of Balkh province, south of the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif. He began his primary schooling in theology at the local school in his hometown, then went to Mazar-e-Sharif and later to Qom, Iran and Najaf, Iraq.[8]
Death[edit]
According to Hazara Press, On March 12, 1995, the Taliban requested a meeting with Mazari and a delegation from the Islamic Wahdat Central Party Abuzar Ghaznawi, Ekhlaasi, Eid Mohammad Ibrahimi Behsudi, Ghassemi, Jan Mohammad, Sayed Ali Alavi, Bahodari, and Jan Ali in Chahar Asiab, near the city of Kabul. On their arrival, the group was abducted and tortured. A Western journalist reported seeing Mazari in Taliban captivity with his hands and feet bound.[14] The following day Mazari was killed and his body was found in Ghazni. The Taliban issued a statement that Mazari had attacked the Taliban guards while being flown to Kandahar. Later, his body and those of his companions were handed over to Hezb-e Wahdat, mutilated and showing signs of torture.[15]
According to the Taliban's Al Somood magazine, claims of him being killed deliberately are false, and he died in an accident involving a helicopter crash near Ghazni.[16] Taliban-affiliated researcher Mustafa Hamid described the Taliban's version of events surrounding the death of Abdul Ali Mazari in detail, stating that it began with Mazari and a group accompanying him being detained by the Taliban during a routine inspection of taxis passing through a village on the outskirts of Kabul. At the request of Taliban officials, he was thereafter placed on a helicopter leaving Kabul. Having become suspicious of the Taliban's intentions, Mazari and his partners snatched the weapon of one of the Taliban guards whilst mid-flight, killing another one of the guards and injuring the pilot. This caused the Helicopter to violently crash over the province of Ghazni, killing everyone on board. The crash of the aircraft attracted the attention of a nearby Taliban patrol, who found Mazari's deceased body onboard.[17] However, locals denied seeing any evidence of a helicopter crash, and the Taliban did not publicly disclose the exact location of the crash.[14]
Mazari's body, after being handed over by the Taliban, was carried by his followers on foot from Ghazni across Hazarajat to Mazar-e-Sharif (at the time under the control of his ally Abdur Rashid Dustom) in heavy snow over forty days.[1] Hundreds of thousands attended his funeral in Mazar-e-Sharif.[18] Mazari was officially named "Martyr for National Unity of Afghanistan" in 2016 by the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and a statue of him was erected in Bamiyan, a Hazara cultural hub.[6][5] Shortly after retaking power, the Taliban demolished the statue and renamed Bamiyah square, which had been named in his honor. This prompted outcry from the Hazara population, who see Mazari as a beloved figure.[6]