On behalf of the Canadian Hazara Humanitarian Services, I would like to thank everyone who made this event possible to raise the voices of millions of Hazara victims who have perished and the thousands who continue to suffer systemic persecution.
Mr. Chair, I'm a witness and survivor of the unspoken August 1998 Hazara genocide. This is my personal history. I'm hoping this can be a learning experience for our future generations.
In the afternoon of July 31, 1998, my fiancée and I, along with family and friends, were celebrating our engagement ceremony in the Arezo banquet hall in Mazar-e-Sharif. Midway through our ceremony, only a few family members were left in the banquet hall. I asked my brother why the guests were leaving so early. He replied that the Taliban had taken over the city of Sheberghan, which is 75 miles west of Mazar-e-Sharif. The ceremony ended without the traditional rituals.
A week later, the Taliban invaded the city of Mazar-e-Sharif, shooting on the Hazara people in the streets, farms and alleys, killing thousands just because they were Hazara. They started searching houses for Hazaras. The Taliban knocked on my door. I didn't open it. I heard someone say that nobody is in this house. The Taliban went to my next-door neighbour. Each time they knocked on my door, I jumped over the fence to the next-door neighbour. Finally, my neighbour forced me to leave their house. I headed toward my uncle's house, which was in a rural area of the city. On my way, I saw hundreds of mutilated dead bodies of Hazaras on the roads and alleys.
I was working as a medical officer for a leprosy control organization and also as a medical doctor at the city hospital. Eventually, I made my way towards my workplace—the city hospital. I saw trucks with cargo containers full of Hazara people. I witnessed the Taliban's brutal act when they dragged a Hazara patient to the back of their pickup while the serum bag was still connected to his veins.
Mr. Chair, I can talk for hours on end about all the bloodshed that I witnessed or about the indifference of non-Hazara civilians, who were throwing stones at Hazaras to prove their loyalty and allegiance to the Taliban.
Why is it important to recognize the Hazara genocide of 1891-93? It's because the perpetual persecution and systemic discrimination that the Hazara have endured is the after-effect of the 1891-93 genocide committed by the dictator Abdur Rahman. The Hazara have been considered secondary citizens and have been refugees in their own homeland. They have been targeted in their mosques, gyms, schools, markets and on roads and highways.
The recognition of the 1891-93 Hazara genocide won't revive those who were brutally slaughtered, but it will help to change the social and psychological view and belief towards the Hazara. The recognition of the Hazara genocide will not heal our grandparents' wounds, but it will ensure our grandchildren feel valued and can live with dignity.
We humbly request that this committee—and through it, the Canadian Parliament—formally recognize the 1891-93 ethnic cleansing perpetrated against the Hazara as a genocide and designate September 25 as Hazara genocide memorial day.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.