Draft:Abdul Ali Mazari

Abdul Ali Mazari
Name	Abdul Ali Mazari
Other Names	{{{other_names}}}
Personal Details
Birth Place	Balkh Province, Afghanistan
Brith Date	1947 (CE)
Death Date	13 March 1995 (CE)
Religion	Islam

Abdul Ali Mazari was a prominent political and jihadist figure from Afghanistan and the first secretary-general of the Shia Islamic Unity Party of Afghanistan who was martyred by the Taliban.

Birth

Abdul Ali Mazari was born in 1947 (CE) in Charikent city in Balkh Province, Afghanistan.

Education

After completing his military service, Abdul Ali Mazari returned to his hometown and continued his studies at Sheikh Sultan School in Mazar-i-Sharif. However, in early spring 1972 (CE), he left Afghanistan to continue his education. After traveling to Iraq and visiting the Holy Shrines in Najaf and Karbala, he resided at the Qom Seminary. While studying in Iran, Mazari was engaged in distributing Islamic and revolutionary books and promotional activities. He studied in Qom from 1972 to 1976 (CE). On 22 June 1980 (CE), Mazari received permission from Imam Khomeini to collect and spend religious funds in Mazar-i-Sharif and surrounding areas.

Political Activities

Abdul Ali Mazari's first political activities within a party framework can be traced back to 1974 (CE), in the Hosseini Party. Establishing and forming an Islamic government and struggle based on Islamic principles were among Mazari's main approaches in the Hosseini Party.

Following the Islamic Revolution of Iran and the intensification of the Afghan people's struggles in 1978 (CE), the Sazman-e Nasr Afghanistan was formed from a coalition of groups such as the New Clergy, the Mostazafin Group, and the Hosseini Party, and announced its existence in Farvardin 1979 (CE). This organization followed the thoughts of Imam Khomeini, and Abdul Ali Mazari, Mohammad Karim Khalili, Azizullah Shafaq, Youssef Waizi, Mohammad Nateqi, etc. were members of its leadership council.

Mazari, who had left Afghanistan after the Communists' coup, returned to Afghanistan in 1979 (CE) after the intensification of the people's movement against the Communists and Soviet forces, and began organizing the struggle against government forces in Charikent. He then went to Iran and remained there until 1986 (CE).

Abdul Ali Mazari returned to Afghanistan in early 1986 (CE). In conditions where he had managed to gradually increase his power and influence within Sazman-e Nasr and become the organization's most prominent leader, he made extensive efforts to unite Shia groups. During these years, he laid the groundwork for the formation of Hezb-e Wahdat-e Milli Afghanistan. After Mazari's leadership began, Hezb-e Wahdat became the most prominent Shia party in Afghanistan, and Bamyan became the party's central headquarters and the center for important political and military decisions.

After the mujahideen managed to overthrow the Communist government of Najibullah in Ordibehesht 1992 (CE) and enter Kabul, the forces of the Islamic Unity Party settled in Shia-populated areas of Kabul. This party was a member of the Islamic Mujahideen Government after its formation and had good relations with its main groups. However, following their failure to adhere to agreements, especially the failure to fully allocate the share of Hazara Shias in the government, Hezb-e Wahdat, led by Mazari, decided to withdraw from the government. Afterwards, Shia-populated areas of Kabul came under attack by Rabbani and Massoud forces and the forces of the Islamic Unity Party commanded by Abdul Rasul Sayyaf – with Wahhabi thoughts. In one of the largest of these attacks on 10 February 1993 (CE), in the Afshar neighborhood in western Kabul, hundreds of Hazara and Shia civilian residents of this neighborhood were massacred.

Martyrdom

Following the emergence of the Taliban and their rapid growth, which continued with the capture of southern regions and reaching Kabul, clashes between the forces of Burhanuddin Rabbani, Ahmad Shah Massoud and their allies with the Islamic Unity Party intensified. Mazari decided to sign an agreement with this group to create conflict between these forces and the Taliban, and also due to optimism about the Taliban – who had not revealed their true thoughts until that time. Mazari acted on the agreement, but the Taliban, upon entering Kabul, sought to completely disarm the soldiers of Hezb-e Wahdat and take control of all areas under their command. They then arrested the leader of Hezb-e Wahdat and some of his close associates and sent them to Kandahar. Mazari was martyred by the Taliban on 13 March 1995 (CE) on the way and in a helicopter along with his companions.

Reactions Following Mazari's Martyrdom

After his martyrdom, Mazari became a symbol of the oppression, resistance, and struggle of the Hazaras, sparking a powerful wave of public sentiment. Many poems were composed in his elegy. Some have considered these poems rare and even unprecedented in terms of volume and quality, claiming that "in the contemporary history and perhaps even the past of Afghanistan, no figure has been mourned with this much poetry." On 11 March 2016 (CE), Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, President of Afghanistan, officially titled Abdul Ali Mazari as "Martyr of National Unity of Afghanistan" in a formal decree, and the day 22 Esfand was registered in his name in the official calendar of Afghanistan.