Khalq ("Masses") was a faction of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan. The People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (حزب دموکراتيک خلق افغانستان د افغانستان د خلق دموکراټیک ګوند PDPA was a Communist Its historical leaders were Presidents Nur Mohammed Taraki and Hafizullah Amin. Nur Muhammad Taraki ( July 15, 1913 – September 14, 1979) was an ethnic Pashtun Politician from Afghanistan Hafizullah Amin ( حفيظ الله امين) ( August 1, 1929 – December 27, 1979) was the second President of Afghanistan It was also the name of the leftist newspaper produced by the same movement.
It was supported by the USSR and was formed in 1965 when the PDPA was born. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 The Khalqist wing of the party was made up primarily of Pashtuns from non-elite classes. Pashtuns ( Pashto: پښتون Paṣtūn, Paxtūn, also rendered as Pushtuns, Pakhtuns, Pukhtuns) also called However, their Marxism was often a vehicle for tribal resentments.
Bitter resentment between the Khalq and Parcham factions eventually led to the failure of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan and the Saur Revolution. Parcham (پرچم meaning "Banner" or "Flag" was the name of one of the factions of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan. The Democratic Republic of Afghanistan was a Soviet -backed government in Afghanistan between 1978 and 1992. The Saur Revolution (انقلاب ثور is the name given to the Communist People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan takeover of political power in Afghanistan It was also responsible for the radical reforms that encourage the resistance of the people of Afghanistan, and eventually, to the creation of the Mujahideen. A Mujahid (Arabic ar مجاهد, literally "struggler" is a Muslim involved in a Jihad, id est fighting in a war or
Their radicalism was also responsible for the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan on December 1979. The Soviet war in Afghanistan, also known as the Soviet-Afghan War or just the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan, was a nine-year conflict involving
Contents |
Early political history
The People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan held its First Congress on January 1, 1965. The People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (حزب دموکراتيک خلق افغانستان د افغانستان د خلق دموکراټیک ګوند PDPA was a Communist New Year See also New Year The Ancient Romans began their consular year on January 1st since 153 BC Year 1965 ( MCMLXV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. Twenty-seven men gathered at Nur Mohammed Taraki's house in Kabul, elected Taraki PDPA Secretary General, Babrak Karmal as Deputy Secretary General, and chose a five-member Central Committee(or Politburo). Nur Muhammad Taraki ( July 15, 1913 – September 14, 1979) was an ethnic Pashtun Politician from Afghanistan } Kābul ( Persian and Pashto: کابل, IPA:) is the Capital and largest city of Afghanistan, with Babrak Karmal ( January 6, 1929 - December 3, 1996) was the third President of Afghanistan (1979 - 1986 during the period of the communist Central Committee most commonly refers to the central executive unit of a Leninist (commonly also Trotskyist) or Communist party, whether ruling or Politburo, short for Political Bureau, Russian Politicheskoye Buro, is the executive organization for a number of Political parties, most notably
Finally, Hafizullah Amin was the only Khalqi member of the PDPA to be elected to Parliament in 1969.
Khalq - Parcham division of the PDPA
The party was weakened by bitter, and sometimes violent, internal rivalries. Especially on the ideological level, Karmal and Taraki differed in their perceptions of Afghanistan’s revolutionary potential:
- Taraki believed that revolution could be achieved in the classical Leninist fashion by building a tightly disciplined working-class party.
- Karmal felt that Afghanistan was too undeveloped for a Leninist strategy and that a national democratic front of patriotic and anti-imperialist forces had to be fostered in order to bring the country a step closer to socialist revolution. Afghanistan /æfˈgænɪstæn/ officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan ( Pashto: د افغانستان اسلامي جمهوریت, Leninism refers to various related political and economic theories elaborated by Bolshevik revolutionary leader Vladimir Lenin. Democracy is a form of government in which the supreme power is held completely by the people under a free electoral system Patriotism is commonly defined as love of and/or devotion to one's country Anti-imperialism, strictly speaking is a term that may be applied to or movement opposed to some form of Imperialism. Socialism refers to a broad set of economic theories of social organization advocating state or collective ownership and administration of the Means of production and distribution A revolution (from the Latin revolutio, "a turnaround" is a fundamental change in power or organizational structures that takes place in a relatively
The newspaper was highly successful, especially among students. Its first edition sold 20,000 copies, and later editions numbered around 10,000 (there were only six editions altogether). On May 23, 1966, the authorities closed Khalq on the grounds that it was anti-Islamic, anticonstitutional, and antimonarchical.
Karmal’s faction founded Parcham, a weekly magazine that he published between March 1968 and July 1969. Parcham was shut down in June 1969 on the eve of parliamentary elections.
Khalq during the Republican Revolution
Khalq was excluded from the government because of its lack of good political connections and its go-it-alone policy on noncooperation. Taraki did sing a song of united fronts briefly after Daoud's takeover in an attempt to gain places in the government for his followers, but this effort was unsuccessful.
The Khalqis calimed to more leftist and more independent of the Soviet Union than Parcham, but their base of support was not strong among the masses, and much stronger in the military. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 Because of this, Khalq abandoned his party's traditional emphasis on working-class recruitment and sought to build his own power base within the officer corps. Khalq's influence at Kabul University was also limited. Kabul University ( - Dāneshgāh-e Kābul; Pashto: دکابل پوهنتون
In 1973 the Khalq faction energetically began to encourage military personnel to join them. Taraki had been in charge of Khalq activity in the military. In 1973 he passed his recruitment duties to Amin. This move was highly successful: by the time of the communist coup, in April 1978, Khalq outnumbered Parcham by a factor of two or three to one. Communism is a Socioeconomic structure that promotes the establishment of an egalitarian, classless, stateless Society based
The Moscow-sponsored union of Parcham and Khalq may have been in preparation for his peaceful passage from the scene in the near future. The merger of Parcham and Khalq rapidly became unglued. However, Mir Akbar Khyber, a prominent leftist, was killed by the government and his associates.
Although the government issued a statement deploring the assassination, the PDPA leaders feared that Daoud was planning to exterminate them all. In this way, both Khalq and Parcham forgot their internal rivalries and worked to overthrow the government.
On the eve of the communist coup, Hafizullah Amin was the only member of the Central Committee that was not arrested. Hafizullah Amin ( حفيظ الله امين) ( August 1, 1929 – December 27, 1979) was the second President of Afghanistan Central Committee most commonly refers to the central executive unit of a Leninist (commonly also Trotskyist) or Communist party, whether ruling or The police did not sent him to immediate imprisonment, as it did with Politburo members of the PDPA on April 25, 1978. Politburo, short for Political Bureau, Russian Politicheskoye Buro, is the executive organization for a number of Political parties, most notably Events 1607 - Eighty Years' War: The Dutch fleet destroys the anchored Spanish fleet at Gibraltar. Year 1978 ( MCMLXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1978 Gregorian calendar)
He was the last person to be arrested, his imprisonment was postponed for five hours, during which time Amin, without having the authority and while the Politburo members were in prison, instructed the Khalqi army officers to overthrow the government. Politburo, short for Political Bureau, Russian Politicheskoye Buro, is the executive organization for a number of Political parties, most notably
The Khalqist Army cells prepared for a massive uprising. On April 27 the Khalqist military leaders began the revolution by proclaiming to the cells in the armed forces that the time for revolution had arrived.
Khalqist Colonel Mohammad Aslam Watanjar was the Army commander on the ground during the Coup, and his troops gained control of Kabul. Mohammad Aslam Watanjar was an Afghan General and Politician. } Kābul ( Persian and Pashto: کابل, IPA:) is the Capital and largest city of Afghanistan, with Colonel Abdul Qadir, the leader of the Air Force squadrons, also launched a major attack on the Royal Palace, in the course of which President Mohammad Daoud Khan was killed. Abdul Qadir may refer to Abd al-Qadir al-Jazairi, Algerian Sufi saint and military leader Abdul Qadir Jelani, famous Iranian Sufi saint Mohammed Daoud Khan ( July 18, 1909 – April 28, 1978) was a politician in Afghanistan who overthrew the monarchy of Zahir Shah
PDPA-Khalq and The Saur Revolution (April 1978 - April 1992)
The Saur Revolution, as the new government labeled its coup d'état (after the month in the Islamic calendar in which it occurred), was almost entirely the achievement of the Khalq faction of the PDPA.
Khalq's victory was partially due to Daud's miscalculation that Parcham was the more serious threat. This success gave it effective control over the armed forces, a great advantage over its Parchami rival. During the first months of the revolution, Cabinet membership was split eleven to ten, with Khalq in the majority.
Khalq as Government (April 1978 - December 1979)
However, the initial, moderate, approach to Islam taken by the PDPA was quickly abandoned as the Khalqists sought to consolidate their hold on power. Khalq dominated the Revolutionary Council, which was to serve as the ruling body of the government.
The Khalq leadership ran the country by issuing a series of eight edicts. They suspended all laws except those on civil matters. Another exception was the criminal law of the Daoud period, retained as a repressive instrument.
They also embarked on a campaign of radical land reform accompanied by mass repression in the countryside that resulted in the arrest and summary execution of tens of thousands. A summary execution is a type of Extrajudicial punishment in which a person is killed on the spot without Trial.
The Khalqi policy of encouraging the education of girls, for example, aroused deep resentment in the villages. Female education is a catch-all term for a complex of issues and debates surrounding education ( Primary education, Secondary education, Tertiary education By putting Afghanistan on the revolutionary road the Khalq wing of the PDPA stirred the countryside into revolt. Rural areas can be large and isolated (also referred to as "the country" and/or "the countryside over the course of time
President Nur Mohammad Taraki refused to tolerate any Parchamis in the military and insisted that all officers affiliate with Khalq. Nur Muhammad Taraki ( July 15, 1913 – September 14, 1979) was an ethnic Pashtun Politician from Afghanistan By June 1978 an estimated 800 Parchami military personnel were forced to quit the armed forces.
Shortly after, the Khalqist wing in the Army, initiated a purge of Parchamis. They accomplished this performing the elimination of the opposition and removal of any restraints posed by the Parchamis
Hafizullah Amin took over as prime minister in March 1979, retaining the position of field marshal and becoming vice-president of the Supreme Defence Council. Hafizullah Amin ( حفيظ الله امين) ( August 1, 1929 – December 27, 1979) was the second President of Afghanistan Taraki remained President and in control of the Army, though now he reportedly devoted a lot of his time at the Royal Palace, which had been renamed the People's Palace.
Events also tended to sub-divide the protagonists. The intense rivalry between Taraki and Amin within the Khalq faction heated up. In September 1979, Taraki's followers, with Soviet complicity, had made several attempts on Amin's life.
The final attempt backfired. Amin murder of Taraki divided the Khalqis. Rival military cliques divided the Khalqis further.
In late October, Amin made a military sweep against the insurgents, victoriously driving 40,000 people - mostly non-combatants - across the border into Pakistan. At the end of 1979 there were 400,000 Afghan refugees, mostly in Pakistan. Afghan refugees (known as Muhajir Afghans in South Asia) are people who fled Afghanistan after the Soviet invasion in 1979 and during the Pakistan () officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia, Southwest Asia, Middle East and
The USSR attempted to temper the Khalqis' radicalism, urging attendance at mosques, inclusion of Parchamis and non-communists in the government, and a halt to the unpopular land reform movement. Most of this advice was ignored.
The last Khalq President, Hafizullah Amin, was assassinated after Soviet intelligence forces took control of the government and installed Babrak Karmal, a Parchami, in his place. Babrak Karmal ( January 6, 1929 - December 3, 1996) was the third President of Afghanistan (1979 - 1986 during the period of the communist Parcham (پرچم meaning "Banner" or "Flag" was the name of one of the factions of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan.
Khalq during the Parcham Government and Soviet invasion (December 1979 - April 1989)
Khalqi-Parchami differences began to rend the military as Khalqi leaders, fearful that the Parchamis retained their cellular organization within the military, mounted massive purges of Parchamis. Thanks to Amin's efforts in the 1970s, the officer corps consisted largely of Khalqis
The Army was also not immune to antigovernment sentiment. Soldiers began to desert and mutiny. Herat was the site of an uprising in March 1979 in which a portion of the town's military garrison joined. The rebels butchered Soviet citizens as well as Khalqis.
The purging of Parchamis had left the military forces so dominated by Khalqis that the Soviets had no choice but to rely upon Khalqi officers to rebuild the army. Khalq officers and men expressed bitterness over the preferential treatment given their Parcham rivals by the Parcham dominated regime.
Disaffected Khalqis often assisted the Mujahideen. Khalqis in the armed forces often accused their Parchami officers of using them as cannon fodder and complained that young Parchami men were exempted from compulsory military service.
A show of this was that, in 1980, at the April military parade celebrating the Saur Revolution, many Tank Corps continued to display the Red Flag of Khalq, instead of the new national flag adopted by Babrak Karmal. Babrak Karmal ( January 6, 1929 - December 3, 1996) was the third President of Afghanistan (1979 - 1986 during the period of the communist
PDPA - Khalq from 1989 to our days
President Najibullah's Administration ( 1986 - 1992 )
After the 40th Soviet Army left the country, President Najibullah suffered, to a lesser degree, the same disadvantage that Karmal had when he was installed as General Secretary of the PDPA by the Soviets. The Red Army ( Russian: Рабоче-Крестьянская Красная Армия R aboche- K rest'yanskaya K rasnaya A rmiya
This fact was shown by the fierceness of the resistance to Najibullah's appointment within the Parcham faction. This split persisted, forcing President Najibullah to straddle his politics between whatever Parchami support he could maintain and alliances he could win from the Khalqist. Parcham (پرچم meaning "Banner" or "Flag" was the name of one of the factions of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan.
In December 1989, 127 Khalqist military officers were arrested for an attempted coup. Twenty-seven officers escaped and later showed up at a press conference with Gulbuddin Hekmatyar in Peshawar. Gulbuddin Hekmatyar ( ګلبدین حکمتیار) (born 1947 is an Islamist Mujahideen leader and former warlord. ( پښور; Urdu: پشاور) is the capital of the North-West Frontier Province and the administrative centre for the Federally Administered Former Minister of Tribal Affairs, Bacha Gul Wafadar and Minister of Civil Aviation Hasan Sharq were among the conspirators.
In March 1990, once again the Mujahideen leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar cooperated in a coup attempt, this time lead by the Khalqist Defense minister Shahnawaz Tanai. A Mujahid (Arabic ar مجاهد, literally "struggler" is a Muslim involved in a Jihad, id est fighting in a war or Gulbuddin Hekmatyar ( ګلبدین حکمتیار) (born 1947 is an Islamist Mujahideen leader and former warlord. The Afghan Ministry of Defense is an organ of the Central Government of Afghanistan, overseeing the entire Military of Afghanistan. Lieut Gen Shahnawaz Tanai is a former communist general He was chief of Afghanistan's army under the Soviet -backed Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. Tanai was apparently also supported by those important Khalqist who remained in the Politburo, Assadullah Sarwary and Mohammad Gulabzoi, respectively their country’s envoys to Aden and Moscow. Politburo, short for Political Bureau, Russian Politicheskoye Buro, is the executive organization for a number of Political parties, most notably Aden (ˈeɪdən Arabic: عدن) is a city in Yemen, 170 kilometers east of Bab-el-Mandeb. Moscow (Москва́ romanised: Moskvá, IPA: see also other names) is the Capital and the largest city of
They were said to have been intimately connected with the coup and with Gral Tanai. However, Tanai had no direct control of troops inside Kabul. The plot misfired and failed because of faulty communications.
Afghan Civil War ( 1992 - 2001 )
At the end, however, the former Khalqists either joined or allied themselves with the Taliban or other Mujahideen warlords after the collapse of President Dr. Najibullah's Government in April, 1992.
A perfect example of this was that, once Kabul was captured, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar gained the support of some Khalqi (and mostly Pashto) hardliners, including the Minister of Internal Affairs Raz Mohammad Paktin and then Defence Minister Mohammad Aslam Watanjar. } Kābul ( Persian and Pashto: کابل, IPA:) is the Capital and largest city of Afghanistan, with Gulbuddin Hekmatyar ( ګلبدین حکمتیار) (born 1947 is an Islamist Mujahideen leader and former warlord. Pashto ( Naskh: پښتو pəʂ'to also rendered as Pakhto, Pushto, Pukhto, Pashtu, Pushtu, also known as Mohammad Aslam Watanjar was an Afghan General and Politician.
Another example of this is the fact that Gral Tanai has (according to western diplomatic sources) acted as an agent for ISI by providing the Taliban a skilled cadre of military officers. History After independence in 1947 two new intelligence agencies were created in Pakistan called the Intelligence Bureau (IB and Military Intelligence The Taliban ( طالبان, also anglicised as Taleban; translation "students" is a Sunni Islamist, predominately
In this way, the Khalqi faction were once again involved in the war, using his pilots to fly the Mig-23 and Sukhoi fighters of what was left of the Afghan Air Force, driving Soviet Tanks and using Soviet Artillery. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout Sukhoi ( Сухой) is a major Russian manufacturer famous for its fighters The Afghan National Air Corps is a service branch of the Military of Afghanistan, which is responsible for Air defense and Air warfare. A tank is a tracked, Armoured fighting vehicle designed for Front-line combat which combines Operational mobility and tactical Artillery (from French artillerie) is a military Combat Arm which employs any apparātus machine With no central government and fighting for different groups, Khalq was merely a pawn in the Afghan Civil War between the Afghan Northern Alliance and the Taliban. The United Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan ( UIF, Jabha-yi Muttahid-i Islami-yi Milli bara-yi Nijat-i Afghanistan) also known as the Northern The Taliban ( طالبان, also anglicised as Taleban; translation "students" is a Sunni Islamist, predominately
President Karzai's Administration ( 2002 - To our days )
Other Khalqists have developed fairly close relations with the current regime, after the defeat of the Taliban and the ascendance of Hamid Karzai in 2002. The Taliban ( طالبان, also anglicised as Taleban; translation "students" is a Sunni Islamist, predominately Hamid Karzai ( حامد کرزي, حامد کرزي) (born 24 December 1957) is the current President of Afghanistan, since December
- General Babrak Shinwari, former head of the youth affairs section of the PDPA under Taraki and Amin, who migrated to Peshawar in Pakistan in the winter of 1992. Nur Muhammad Taraki ( July 15, 1913 – September 14, 1979) was an ethnic Pashtun Politician from Afghanistan Hafizullah Amin ( حفيظ الله امين) ( August 1, 1929 – December 27, 1979) was the second President of Afghanistan ( پښور; Urdu: پشاور) is the capital of the North-West Frontier Province and the administrative centre for the Federally Administered Pakistan () officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia, Southwest Asia, Middle East and He later helped found the Afghanistan-Pakistan People Friendship Society and was elected member of the Loya Jirga by a council of elders from Nazyan Shinwari area of Nangarhar province. A Loya Jirga ( Pashto: لويه جرګه, Persian: جرگه بزرگ) is a "grand assembly" a phrase taken from the name of large Nangarhar ( Pashto: ننګرهار) is one of the thirty-four Provinces of Afghanistan.
- Another former Khalqist general who has enjoyed the protection of powerful politicians in the current Afghan government is the former PDPA governor of Kandahar, Nur al-Haq Olumi, who enjoys the patronage of Marshal Mohammad Qasim Fahim. For the 2001 film see Kandahar (film; for the Kandahar meteorite of 1959 see Meteorite falls; for the places in Azerbaijan see Cəndəhar and Marshal Mohammad Qasim Fahim ( محمد قسيم فهيم) (born 1957 in Omarz, Afghanistan) is a prominent Military Commander and Politician
- The National Unity Party (Motahed-e Melli Hezb) was established on 2003. In this way, the Khalqi faction of the Homeland Party is once again attempting to participate in Afghan politics. The Democratic Watan Party of Afghanistan (Persian حزب "وطن" دموکراتیک افغانستان is a Political party in Afghanistan. It is now lead by former Khalqist General Noorul Haq Uloomi.
Prominent members of the Khalq faction
External links
- A brief description of the Khalqist successful Coup of 1978
- Constitution of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan - Khalqist Administration
- About the future of the Afghan Khalqi faction
- Online Afghan Calendar with Historical dates
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