The Hazara ethnic group suffered under the Taliban’s first Islamic Emirate. The Hazarajat region was the first to rebel against that Emirate and the Taliban army burnt down the regional centre Bamyan in revenge. Massacres of Hazara civilians followed. Many feared that there would be a repetition of these events once the Taliban returned to power in 2021. In today’s episode we do a reality check on minority rights under the second Islamic Emirate, asking how Hazaras have been treated by the Taliban this time round. We start with impressions from this year’s commemoration of the 28^th anniversary of the killing by Taliban of the main Hazara jihadi leader, Abdul Ali Mazari and then reflect on Hazara political participation and the state of human rights. And as the podcast was recoded on 21^st March, we wish listeners a happy new Persian year – Nauroz Mubarak.

Podcast produced by Colm Heatley.