Separation+of+Classes

__ The Hazaras __
 * The Hazaras (pronounced Huh-zah-ruhz), although indigenous to Afghanistan, believe themselves to be descendents of the Turko-Mongol tribes of Asia. Little is known about their ethnic origins and their history in Afghanistan, as they have been the target of many attempted ethnic cleansings and exiles.


 * Hazarajat, the area known as their homeland, is located within the central, mountainous regions of Afghanistan. [[image:http://wapedia.mobi/thumb/9ac5499/en/fixed/300/237/Hazarajat_map.jpg?format=jpg align="right" caption="An outline of the "borders" of Hazarajat."]]


 * Since there has never been a completed national census in Afghanistan, the exact population of the Hazaras is uncertain but government estimates have shown that the Hazaras account for approximately 7% to 20% of the total population of Afghanistan. Hazara people are predominately Shi'ite Muslims, which means that they are part of the minority because Afghanistan is most populated by Sunni Muslims.
 * That being said, the Hazaras are, generally speaking, poorer and less educated than their Pashtun counterparts, who are largely made up of Sunni Muslims.


 * Throughout history, the Hazaras have been repressed time and time again by not only the Afghani government, but the Soviet government too. During the late 20th Century, the Soviet Union invaded Afghan territory, which eventually caused a snowball effect leading to a 9 year war involving Soviets, Taliban, United States, United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and many other Muslim nations which ended in 1989.
 * In 1996, Taliban forces captured Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. The Taliban had completely isolated Hazarajat from the rest of the world, even going as far as not letting the United Nations deliver food. After the 9/11 attacks on the United States, American and British forces invaded Afghanistan and promptly removed the Taliban from power.


 * Currently, the Hazaras seemingly serve no other purpose than to be the government's punching bag.

__ The Pashtuns __ The Pashtun's are a group that are also known as the Pathans. They are a eastern Iranian group that is guided by their Pashtunwali, a code of conduct and speak with their Pashto language. Their ancestors were called the Paktha. Pashtuns are a Sunni Muslim, which is the largest branch of Islam. Taking the title as the world's largest patriarchal ethnic group the Pashtun's have between 350 to over 400 different pashtun tribes and clans. The total population for this ethnic group is estimated at 49 million people and account for up to 16% of the total population of Afghanistan.

Like the Hazaras, little is known about the Pashtun history as well. What we do know is that the Pashtun race played a vital role during the Great game. The great game was a rivalry between Britain and Russia over the Central Asia regions which lasted as early as the pre- nineteenth century to the early twentieth century. While Britain waited for the Russia troops, Afghan mobs constantly attacked British soldiers that eventually led them to retreat.

Today many people are still illiterate within the Pashtun community. The descending power of the Taliban has effected many of the Pashtun people because it violates their religious background. Most of the Pashtun people have become urbanized and has bred many Pashtun singers and actresses. The talibs ,people that support the Taliban, have kidnapped and killed various musicians. Since 2001 the talibs strive to demolish the music or any other aspect of life that involves musical expressions. With the Taiban's forceful methods, a new breed of music as evolved within Afghanistan called the The Music of Resistance.

The introduction to the differences in classes first comes while Amir is reading one of his mother's old History textbooks. In the novel, Amir is a Pashtun, and his bestfriend, Hassan, is a Hazara. The textbooks he studies in school now do not include the information his mother's do. The reader cannot tell why from the passage, but there is still a clear difference. Here's a few aspects covered in his mother's textbook; the differences are crystal clear.
 * Amir's people, the Pashtun, "had persecuted and oppressed the Hazaras."
 * According to the text book, the Hazaras had attempted to rise against the harsh Pashtun, but were unsuccessful because of the Pashtun's "unspeakable violence."
 * Amir: "The book said that my people had killed the Hazaras, driven them from their lands, burned their homes, and sold their women."
 * The textbook also explained that the center behind the problem was deprived from the differences of the Shi'a and Sunni Muslim.
 * Later, Amir showed the textbook to one of his teachers who simply shrugged and said, "That's the one thing the Shi'a people do well...passing themselves as martyrs."

Quote Examples from "Kite Runner"
 * "Never mind any of those things. Because history isn't easy to overcome. Neither is religion. In the end, I was a Pashtun and he was a Hazara, I was Sunni and he was Shi'a, and nothing was ever going to change that, ever."
 * History is impossible to change, as well as religion. Amir realizes that he has never seen Hassan as a friend because of their two social class differences.


 * "...That Hassan would grow up illiterate like Ali and most Hazaras had been decided the minute he had been born, perhaps even the moment he was conceived in Sanaubar's unwelcoming womb- after all, what use did a servant have for the written word?"
 * Amir states this quote which proves the huge gap between the high and low class. The low class will never be able to rise anywhere near the Pashtuns, their fate is determined once they are conceived.

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