Parrish The Thought

My guest today is the Communications Director for the Utah Hazara Association, Ghazanfar Ali. Until I attended a fund raising event one month ago, I too, knew nothing about the Hazara people nor the tremendous struggle they have endured for generations. Hazaras are Dari-speaking people, thought to be of the Turk-Mongol race and live primarily in the rugged central mountainous core of Afghanistan with an area of approximately 50,000 sq. km. They, much like the Jews, have been systematically marginalized, persecuted and brutalized for centuries simply because they exist. For whatever reason, because they want to live normal productive lives, like their neighbors, they are deemed a threat in Afghanistan and neighboring countries like Pakistan. Thousands upon thousands have fled for their lives to neighboring countries and, of course to Utah and other cities in the US. Ghazanfar Ali shares a brief history of his people internationally and how we can help locally as more and more refugees arrive in our community