Afghan Biographies

Ali, Hazrat Haji

Name Ali, Hazrat Haji
Ethnic backgr. Pashai
Date of birth 1964
Function/Grade Wolesi Jirga Member 2018 MP MNA Nangahar
History and Biodata

Haji Hazrat Ali
Phone: 0799111110

2. Previous Functions:
Police Chief Nangahar Province,
Wolesi Jirga Member 2005 MP MNA Nangahar
Wolesi Jirga Member 2010 MP MNA Nangahar reelected
Wolesi Jirga Member 2018 MP MNA Nangahar

3. Biodata
hazrat_aliHaji Hazrat Ali is the son of Mullah Mohammad Amir. Born in 1964, he grew up in the isolated mountain village of Kushmoon in Char Bagh district, Laghman province. Ali completed his basic education in Laghman province. He completed his secondary education in Nangarhar province. A fighter since he was a teenager, Ali fought against the Soviets, the Taliban and his rival commanders. His father was a farmer and his brother died in the mujahideen war. Ali became a commander of a minor force during the Soviet war, first expelling the Russians from his village and later becoming leader of the fractious Pashai. He speaks his native Pashai, Pushto, Dari and Urdu. He is rapidly learning English from his new American friends. He has three wives, all living in Mashad, Iran, three sons and nine daughters. A 16-year old son is studying in London, while his 22-year old son Samiullah stays with him in Jalalabad. Before moving to Iran, his family lived in exile in Dubai, before that, in Pakistan.

Hazrat Ali is a member of the minority-dominated Northern Alliance and a member of the small Pashai tribe. He succeeded in wresting control of Jalalabad from two Pashtun rivals Mohammed Zaman Gamsharek and Abdul Qadir in the center of Afghanistan's Pashtun belt. The Pashai Ali is commonly described in Jalalabad by the Pashtun insult Shurrhi, which translates roughly to "ignorant mountain man." He is regarded as someone who has brought the primitive code of the mountains to the more civilized city on the plains, Jalalabad.

Ali was favored by the Americans over Jalalabad's two other major figures because he was Northern Alliance and not Pashtun, rendering him a more reliable partner. The Americans enlisted him to lead the ground battle against Osama bin Laden's fighters in Tora Bora in late 2001. During the Soviet war Ali was a low-level commander in Hezb-i-Islami (Yunis Khalis faction) . Eventually, he rose up to become a powerful military commander and an important leader in the Pashai community. During the war against the Taliban, he was aligned with Ahmad Shah Masood.

After the removal of the Taliban from power, he was appointed as the Jalalabad police chief. He resigned from his postion as police chief in order to run for a seat in parliament in the Wolesi Jirga 2005 election where a bagged a seat. . Ali was reelected in Wolesi Jirga 2010 election and bagged most votes in Nangahar Province.

Hundreds of people of Zanguyi village in Behsud district of Nangarhar province staged a demonstration against Hazrat Ali, the re-elected member of the Wolesi Jirga. The demonstrators claimed that Hazrat Ali and his supporters usurped their land. One of the demonstrators said that Ali’s supporters opened fire on the villagers, injuring five civilians. (20101024)

Hazrat Ali on 20120526 vehemently rejected claims that Iran had given him money to be distributed to his colleagues to block the approval of a US-Afghan strategic deal in parliament. On 20120524 a government source said that Iran had set aside $25 million to ·block the parliamentary approval of the Afghan-US strategic cooperation agreement. Ali was believed to have paid several MPs $5,000 to $10,000 each who was ready to ensure the pact failed to pass at the assembly, but did not reveal exactly how many MPs received the money. The source had also claimed that the spouse of Ali was an Iranian citizen and that he owned a house in Mashhad. Ali, who is also head of the Mujaheddin Council in eastern Afghanistan, strongly rejected the allegation as a false propaganda.

Commission (2012): Internal Affairs

Supportive of Zalmai Rassoul in the April 5 vote, the Pashayee tribe in the eastern zone on Tuesday announced to back Dr. Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai in the second round of the presidential polls.(20140527)

Haji Hazrat Ali has urged government to allow him launch a parallel anti-militant operation in order to restore peace in Nangarhar province.(20150817)

Hazrat Ali received 6,452 votes in Wolesi Jirga 2018 election and got a seat in WJ 2018.

He is married to three wives with five sons and eight daughters.

He speaks Pashai, Pashto, Dari, Urdu, and is even learning a little English.

Last Modified 2019-04-14
Established 2009-10-09