Local sources from the Gizab district of Urozgan province report that they (the Hazaras and Shia) paid 15 million Afghanis out of a total of 30 million to the Pashtuns “under pressure from government forces” in a dispute over land, and if they do not pay the remaining 15 million within the next two months, they will have to leave the area.
At least three sources speaking to the Goharshad media outlet stated that the dispute concerns approximately 700 jeribs of fertile land in the Kandir area of Gizab district, and the residents (Hazaras and Shia) claim to have owned it since the time of Daoud Khan, the then-president of Afghanistan.
The source mentioned that the local people have sufficient documents proving that this land has been their ancestral property for decades. The source quoted the opposing party (the Pashtuns and Kuchis) as saying that Mohammad Zahir Shah had entrusted this land to their ancestors, and there was already a dispute over it during the previous government.
Hazaras and Shia in the Kandir area claim that the Kuchis (immigrants) have no evidence to support their claims. The source emphasized that after the current government came to power, the Hazaras residing in Gizab in the Kandir and Loreh Shibdun areas were subjected to forced displacement.
The source added that following media attention on this issue, local officials in Urozgan told the Hazaras they could return to their homes but must resolve the dispute through court or by a decision from elders of both sides.
In a resolution issued by the elders of the Hazaras and Pashtuns in the last month of the previous year, it was stated that the Shia community must pay 30 million Afghanis for the land to the Pashtuns within seven months.
The local people say this resolution is “unfair” as they have lived in this area for over four decades. The source indicated that the Hazaras and Shia of Gizab protested against this decision, stating that “they do not want to pay for their own land,” but had no alternative but to comply with this resolution.
At the same time, the Hazaras and Shia residing in Gizab reported that on the 10th of Asad this year, they paid 15 million Afghanis of the agreed amount to the Kuchis. They clarified that the villagers did not have this money themselves and had managed to gather it with great difficulty with help from others.
The source stated that government forces have warned them to pay the remaining 15 million Afghanis to the Pashtuns by the beginning of Mizan, or else they would be forced to leave the area.
Since the current government came to power in Afghanistan, disputes over land between local residents and Kuchis have escalated in Hazara-populated areas and northern Afghanistan.
