How Shi’a Muslims are treated with discrimination in a country’s wrong assumptions
The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini) is a novel that deals with alienation. It reveals, for example, how bigotry can be a reflection on the socio-economic, cultural and religious conditions of a society. Hosseini’s book discusses ethnic discrimination by reminding readers about the rigid division in treatment between Pashtuns and Hazaras. Hazara Afghans are Shi’a Muslims who practice a sect of Islam. They face intolerance. These Muslims are minorities in Afghanistan’s Sunni Muslim majority. Amir practices Sunni Islam and his bestie, Hassan a Shi’a Muslim. Hassan suffers from a lot of discrimination and oppression throughout the book because of his religious beliefs and ethnicity. This oppression seems to have no limits and is unending. Hassan is constantly weighed down by uncontrollable circumstances. The torment that he experiences in Afghanistan reflects the morals of the Afghan society and explains his daily prejudice. Hassan’s rape in particular, as well the suffering of Hazara Afghans, is a powerful and authentic example of Hassan’s struggles.
Both Sunni and Shia Muslims are subgroups of Islam, which share many similarities. However, they both have a hatred that is unreasonable. Afghani children are aware of the differences between the majority and the minority. Their cultural and social assumptions about the minorities Islamic group result in violence, both physical and emotional. Assef was a Sunni Muslim Pashtun child who bullied Hassan. Hassan soon learned that religion played a significant role in Afghan lives (AmirDabbaghian, Solimany 2 ). Hassan’s home in Afghanistan, Kabul, is where Amir and Hassan live. There, children take part in “kitefights”, in which kites fly through the sky in mass. Their strings are coated with small glass shards or bits, ready for them to cut off the string from the opponent’s. Kites are carried away by the wind when their strings are cut. Children chase them to get the prize. Hassan, Amir’s Kite Runner, runs after the kite that Amir has cut in the air during a tournament. Assef and friends then corner him in an alley. Assef’s unwarranted sexual assault of Hassan reveals to readers that “oppression” has become “almost ritualistic” for Shi’a Muslims. This unwelcome and aggressive assault on Hassan is a further example of the oppression and separation that the Hazaras face due to hatred. If a child is raping another child because of religious hate, then a society will be on the dark road to economic, cultural, and social turmoil. Hassan, a child of the same age, is excluded from his peers because of his ethnicity. He also represents Afghanistan’s arbitrary and hateful attitude towards minority Islamic groups. After the growing instability and fragility of the whole country, the Taliban is elected, increasing threats against minorities, killing women and even children.
Amir and Baba, Amir’s dad, give Hassan their house when they decide to move to America for better economic and socio-economic opportunities. The Taliban gains a lot of power in Afghanistan during this period through violence, tyranny and hatred of certain Muslim sects. Hassan lives in his home as an adult. He is almost always alone, but a small Taliban group arrives at his house with armed Taliban. Hassan’s life is taken by the Taliban’s hatred for minorities. Hazaras face a great deal of discrimination, and because the political changes in the book have influenced the Afghan people, no Muslims, Shia or Sunni are willing to defend Hassan before his public, sadistic execution. There are many Afghans who understand this as an unjustified act of murder based on hatred. However, no one dared risk anything to save a Hazara (Hosseini 104) servant. Hassan’s life could have ended differently if Hassan was a Sunni Muslim.
The alienation and tolerance of Shi’a Muslims perpetuates a normality of bigotry. Hassan was raped and eventually killed because of the oppression that he endures from Afghans who follow the most popular or dominant Islamic sect. The assumption is that a group can be accurately categorized based on their ethnicity or religion, but this is not true. Hassan learns early that his Hazara identity will be a permanent burden to him, and that the people around him are more likely to view him negatively than Pashtuns. The complex narrative of Hassan reveals the hate-infused ideologies which are embedded deep in Afghanistan’s chaotic culture. Most people do not condemn bigotry or constant alienation, because they are not discussed openly. These concepts are not frowned upon by most, as they are not openly discussed or acknowledged.
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