Thread by @NafeesRehmanDr

That's embarrassingly wrong and devoid of facts!

Hazaras are not only mentioned as an ethnic unit of the Afghan nation but very much referred to as Muslims & Momin in a historic document issued by none other than Amir Abdur Rahman himself, issued ca. 1886-1890.

1/n.

https://twitter.com/BharadwajSpeaks/status/1428432164228517888

Yet another embarrassing take by a Twitter historian to attribute a poem written in 2002 to the great Khushal Khan Khattak who lived through 17th-18th centuries. @Pashz7 already pointed this out earlier.

2/n

Another very poor take! Hazarajat has always been part of Afghanistan and was controlled by the Afghan/Pashtuns since their rule established in 1747. Read about the rule of the governors appointed by Taimur Shah.... by Shir Ali, even Amir Abdur Rahman - in late 1860s.
3/n

If nothing else read at least the PRELIMINARY NOTES ON HAZARA CULTURE (The Danish Scientific Mission to Afghanistan 1953-55) BY KLAUS FERDINAND and the Amir's memoirs before you decided to write about Hazaras.
4/n

The sectarian aspect has been a reality in the wars of the region (Af-Pak-Iran) but Abdur Rahman was brutal to anyone who opposed his centralized control & govt - be it Pashtuns or Hazara. He decapitated Sunni Mullah with his own sword.

Also, his own grandmother was a Shia!
5/n

One more error: No source of the quote by Mullah Niazi. The man was joined Ashraf Ghani's govt forces against the Taliban, and was later killed.

6/n

gandhara.rferl.org/a/talban-facti…

The mosque is venerated by ALL Muslims and ALL Afghans. You can't find a single Muslim Afghan who would not venerate this mosque which was built by a Sunni.

7/n

https://twitter.com/Pashz7/status/1428702718751817733

Large scale propaganda in the recent weeks reg. the developments in AFG. Do recognize the people who pretend to favor one or another group of Afghans without calling for intra-Afghan political settlement. Those fueling Shia-Sunni rift is neither friend of Afghans nor of AFG.

No, it's not. Abdur Rahman killed or enslaved them bcz of his political ambitions not bcz that they were particularly Shias. He did exploit the fact they being Shia but it was not the driver of his brutalities.

It is simply not possible to fit his actions

https://twitter.com/nawab_safiullah/status/1428880597284438016?s=20

into any racial, sectarian or religious model if you look at his brutalities against Kafiristan, or the way he colluded with the British against the Pashtun tribes, or his conquest of Hazaras. His actions were self-serving for his own rule, common of most rulers of the region.