KABUL – The Taliban have closed the office and religious school of Ayatollah Waezzada Behsudi, a prominent Shia cleric and influential religious authority, in the Dasht-e-Barchi neighborhood of western Kabul, an area predominantly populated by the Hazara Shia community.
In a statement issued today, Behsudi said that Taliban authorities sealed his office and madrasa, expelling teachers, students, and staff members.
“I deeply regret that officials of the Islamic Emirate act without verifying facts,” he said, criticizing what he described as arbitrary actions by the Taliban.
Behsudi further claimed that about a week ago, Taliban personnel from Kabul’s 18th Police District and the Ministry of Justice were “misled by a conspiracy” to close down his charitable foundation in Dasht-e-Barchi.
During that raid, four of his associates were detained. He said the individuals were released on Tuesday after a court found no evidence to support the allegations against them, though he did not specify the charges.
The cleric accused a man identified as Haji Amin and a self-appointed board of trustees at the Mahdawiya Mosque and School in Dasht-e-Barchi of orchestrating the plot against him. He announced that he would relinquish custodianship of the mosque and school, issuing a fatwa declaring that prayers at the mosque are “religiously invalid.”
Behsudi stated he would not appeal to the Taliban’s Ministry of Justice to reopen his office, saying, “Let my office remain closed while the offices of non-Afghan religious authorities operate freely.”
Ayatollah Waezzada Behsudi has been an outspoken critic of the Taliban since their return to power in August 2021.
He has repeatedly condemned the group’s policies toward Afghanistan’s Hazaras and Shia community, including reports of arbitrary detentions and harassment of women in public spaces.
He has also criticized Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada for refusing to meet with Shia scholars, saying that “the 10 million Shia population of Afghanistan cannot be ignored.”
The move comes against the backdrop of increasing concerns over the treatment of ethnic and religious minorities under Taliban rule. Rights groups, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, have documented systematic discrimination and targeted violence against Hazaras, who have historically faced persecution in Afghanistan.
Dasht-e-Barchi, home to much of the Hazara population in Kabul, has also been the site of repeated attacks by the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISIS-K) in recent years, adding to community fears of marginalization and insecurity under the Taliban.
