Nur Muhammad Taraki
Nur Muhammad Taraki | |
---|---|
نور محمد ترکی | |
Mohammed Daoud Khan (as President) | |
Succeeded by | Hafizullah Amin |
Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Afghanistan | |
In office 1 May 1978 – 27 March 1979 | |
Preceded by | Position established Mohammad Musa Shafiq (as Prime Minister, 1973) |
Succeeded by | Hafizullah Amin |
Personal details | |
Born | Nawa, Ghazni Province, Emirate of Afghanistan | 14 July 1917
Died | 9 October 1979 Kabul, Democratic Republic of Afghanistan | (aged 62)
Manner of death | Assassination by suffocation |
Political party | People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (Khalq) |
Spouse | Nur Bibi |
Profession | Politician, journalist, writer |
Nur Muhammad Taraki (
Taraki was born in
Taraki's leadership was short-lived and marked by controversies. The government was divided between two PDPA factions: the Khalqists (led by Taraki), the majority, and the Parchamites, the minority. Taraki along with his "protégé" Amin started a purge of the government and party that led to several high-ranking Parchamite members being sent into de facto exile by being assigned to serve overseas as ambassadors, and later started jailing domestic Parchamites. His regime locked up dissidents and oversaw massacres of villagers, citing the necessity of Red Terror by the Bolsheviks in Soviet Russia, that opponents of the Saur Revolution had to be eliminated.[2] These factors, among others, led to a popular backlash that initiated a rebellion. Despite repeated attempts, Taraki was unable to persuade the Soviet Union to intervene in support of the restoration of civil order. Amin initiated most of these policies behind the scenes.[3]
Taraki's reign was marked by a cult of personality centered around him that Amin had cultivated. The state press and subsequent propaganda started to refer to him as the "Great Leader" and "Great Teacher", and his portrait became a common sight throughout the country.[4] His relationship with Amin turned sour during his rule, ultimately resulting in Taraki's overthrow on 14 September 1979 and subsequent murder on 8 October,[5] on Amin's orders, with Kabul press reporting that he died of illness. His death was a factor that led to the Soviet intervention in December 1979.
Early life and career
Taraki was born on 14 July 1917 to a
In 1937, Taraki started working for
Under
At the founding congress of the PDPA, held in his own home in Kabul's
On 17 April 1978, a prominent leftist named
Leadership
Establishment and purge
Taraki cabinet (1978–1979)[17] | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Office | Incumbent | Took office | Left office | |||||
Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers | Babrak Karmal | 30 April | 5 July 1978 | |||||
Hafizullah Amin | 30 April | 27 March 1979 | ||||||
Muhammad Aslam Watanjar
|
30 April | 27 March | ||||||
Minister of Foreign Affairs | Hafizullah Amin | 30 April | 27 March | |||||
Minister of Communications
|
Muhammad Aslam Watanjar
|
30 April | 27 March | |||||
Minister of National Defence
|
Abdul Qadir | 30 April | 17 August 1978 | |||||
Nur Muhammad Taraki (de facto, not de jure) | 17 August | 27 March | ||||||
Minister of Health | Shah Wali | 30 April | 27 March | |||||
Minister of Interior
|
Nur Ahmad Nur
|
30 April | 5 July 1978 | |||||
Minister of Education | Ghulam Dastagir Panjsheri | 30 April | 28 August 1978 | |||||
Abdul Rashid Jalili | 28 August | 27 March | ||||||
Minister of Planning | Sultan Ali Keshtmand | 30 April | 23 August 1978 | |||||
Muhammad Siddiq Alemyar | 23 August | 27 March | ||||||
Minister of Radio, Television | Sulaiman Layeq | 30 April | 27 March | |||||
Minister of Agriculture | Saleh Muhammad Zirai | 30 April | 27 March | |||||
Minister of Finance | Abdul Karim Misaq | 30 April | 27 March | |||||
Minister of Information, Culture | Muhammad Hasan Bareq-Shafi' | 30 April | 27 March | |||||
Attorney General
|
Abdul Hakim Shara'i | 30 April | 27 March | |||||
Minister of Social Affairs | Anahita Ratebzad | 30 April | 27 March | |||||
Minister of Commerce | Abdul Quddus Ghorbandi | 30 April | 27 March | |||||
Minister of Mines, Industries | Muhammad Isma'il Danesh | 30 April | 27 March | |||||
Minister of Public Works | Muhammad Rafie
|
30 April | 28 August 1978 | |||||
Dastagir Panjsheri | 28 August | 27 March | ||||||
Minister of Water, Power | Muhammad Mansur Hashimi | 30 April | 27 March | |||||
Minister of Higher Education | Mahmud Suma | 30 April | 27 March | |||||
Minister of Tribal Affairs | Nizamuddin Tahzib | 30 April | 27 March | |||||
Minister of Border Affairs | Sahibjan Sahrayi | 28 August | 27 March |
Taraki was appointed Chairman of the Revolutionary Council (head of state) and Chairman of the Council of Ministers (head of government) while retaining his post as PDPA general secretary (supreme leader). He initially formed a government which consisted of both Khalqists and Parchamites;[18] Karmal became Deputy Chairman of the Presidium of the Revolutionary Council[19] while Amin became Minister of Foreign Affairs[18] and Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers.[20] Internal problems soon arose and several prominent Khalqists accused the Parcham faction of conspiring against the Taraki government. A Khalqi purge of the Parcham then began with the faction's most prominent members being sent out of the country: Karmal became Afghan Ambassador to Czechoslovakia and Mohammad Najibullah became Afghan Ambassador to Iran. Internal struggle was not only to be found between the Khalqist and Parchamites; tense rivalry between Taraki and Amin had begun in the Khalq faction with both vying for control.[18]
Karmal was recalled from Czechoslovakia but rather than returning to Afghanistan he went into hiding with Anahita Ratebzad, his friend and former Afghan ambassador to Yugoslavia, as he feared execution if he returned. Muhammad Najibullah followed them. Taraki consequently stripped them of all official titles and political authority.[21][22]
The new government, under Taraki, launched a campaign of repression against opponents of the Saur Revolution, which killed thousands,[23] mostly at Pul-e-Charkhi prison. Estimates for the number executed at the prison, between April 1978 and December 1979, are as high as 27,000.[24]
Socio-economic changes
Land reform
Taraki's Government initiated a land reform on 1 January 1979 which attempted to limit the amount of land a family could own. Those whose landholdings exceeded the limit saw their property requisitioned by the government without compensation. The Afghan leadership believed the reform would be met with popular approval amongst the rural population while weakening the power of the bourgeoisie. The reform was declared complete in mid-1979 and the government proclaimed that 665,000 hectares (approximately 1,632,500 acres) had been redistributed. The government also declared that only 40,000 families, or 4 percent of the population, had been negatively affected by the land reform.[25]
Contrary to government expectations the reform was neither popular nor productive. Agricultural harvests plummeted and the reform itself led to rising discontent amongst Afghans.[25] When Taraki realized the degree of popular dissatisfaction with the reform he quickly abandoned the policy.[26] However, the land reform was gradually implemented under the later Karmal administration, although the proportion of land area impacted by the reform is unclear.[27]
Other reforms
In the months following the coup, Taraki and other party leaders initiated other radical
Traditional practices that were deemed
Under the previous administration of Mohammad Daoud Khan, a literacy programme created by UNESCO had been launched with the objective of eliminating illiteracy within 20 years. The government of Taraki attempted to reduce this time frame from 20 to four years, an unrealistic goal in light of the shortage of teachers and limited government capacity to oversee such an initiative. The duration of the project was later lengthened to seven years by the Soviets in the aftermath of the Soviet intervention. The cultural focus of the UNESCO programme was declared "rubbish" by Taraki, who instead chose to introduce a political orientation by utilizing PDPA leaflets and left-wing pamphlets as basic reading material.[29]
On 19 August 1978, Afghan Independence Day, Taraki started the broadcasts of Afghanistan National Television, the first TV channel in the country.[34]
Afghan–Soviet relations
We believe it would be a fatal mistake to commit ground troops. [...] If our troops went in, the situation in your country would not improve. On the contrary, it would get worse. Our troops would have to struggle not only with an external aggressor, but with a significant part of your own people. And the people would never forgive such things"
— Alexei Kosygin, the Chairman of the USSR Council of Ministers, in response to Taraki's request for Soviet presence in Afghanistan[35]
Taraki signed a Twenty-Year Treaty of Friendship with the Soviet Union on 5 December 1978 which greatly expanded Soviet aid to his regime.
In 1979, Taraki attended a conference of the Non-Aligned Movement in Havana, Cuba. On his way back he stopped in Moscow on 20 March and met with Brezhnev, foreign minister Andrei Gromyko and other Soviet officials. It was rumoured that Karmal was present at the meeting in an attempt to reconcile Taraki's Khalq faction and the Parcham against Amin and his followers.[39] At the meeting, Taraki was successful in negotiating some Soviet support, including the redeployment of two Soviet armed divisions at the Soviet–Afghan border, the sending of 500 military and civilian advisers and specialists, and the immediate delivery of Soviet armed equipment sold at 25 percent below the original price. However, the Soviets were not pleased about the developments in Afghanistan and Brezhnev impressed upon Taraki the need for party unity. Despite reaching this agreement with Taraki, the Soviets continued to be reluctant to intervene further in Afghanistan and repeatedly refused Soviet military intervention within Afghan borders during Taraki's rule as well as later during Amin's short rule.[40]
Taraki–Amin break
In the first months after the April 1978 revolution, Hafizullah Amin and Taraki had a very close relationship. Taraki reportedly remarked, "Amin and I are like nail and flesh, not separable". Amin set about constructing a personality cult centered on Taraki.[41] In party and government meetings Amin always referred to Taraki as "The Great Leader", "The Star of the East" or "The Great Thinker" among other titles,[42] while Amin was given such titles as "The True Disciple and Student". Amin would later come to realize he had created a monster when the Kim Il Sung-style personality cult he had created inspired Taraki to become overly confident and believe in his own brilliance.[41] Taraki began discounting Amin's suggestions, fostering in Amin a deep sense of resentment. As their relationship turned increasingly sour, a power struggle developed between them for the control of the Afghan Army.[41] Their relations came to a head later that year when Taraki accused Amin of nepotism after Amin had appointed several family members to high-ranking positions.[43]
On 3 August 1978, a KGB delegation visited Afghanistan, and on first impression of general Oleg Kalugin, Taraki "did not have the physical strength or the backing to continue to lead the country for long", adding that Amin was a "far more impressive figure".[3]
Taraki could count on the support of four prominent army officers in his struggle against Amin:
During Taraki's foreign visit to the 6th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in Cuba, his Gang of Four had received an intelligence report that Amin was planning to arrest or kill them. This report, it turned out, was incorrect.[44] Nonetheless, the Gang of Four were ordered to assassinate Amin, its leader Sarwari selecting his nephew Aziz Akbari to conduct the assassination. However, Akbari was not informed that he was the chosen assassin or that it was a secret mission, and he confided the information to contacts in the Soviet embassy. The embassy responded by warning Amin of the assassination attempt, thereby saving him from certain death.[39]
Assassination
On 11 September 1979, Chairman Taraki was greeted by Amin at the airport on his return to Kabul from Moscow. The flight was scheduled to land at 2:30, but Amin forced the delay of the landing by an hour as a demonstration to Taraki of his control over the government.
The Soviets tried to dissuade Amin from expelling Taraki and his associates from their positions, but Amin refused. On 15 September, a Soviet battalion at
Post-death
On the day that Taraki was assassinated, 28 men and women from Taraki's extended family (including his wife and brother) were jailed at Pul-e-Charkhi prison.[49] After Karmal came into power, family members including Taraki's widow were released.[50]
On 2 January 1980 edition of the
Books
Novels
- De Bang musāfirī, his first and best-known novel, published in 1957, The Journey of Bang looks at the tribal Pashtun world through Soviet novelist Maxim Gorky"[52]
- Ṡaṛah, criticism of feudal lords of Afghanistan
- Sangsār
- Spīn
- Be tarbiyatah zoy
Short stories
- Mochī : da lanḍo kīso ṭolagah
Essays
- Pahāṛon̲ kā baiṭā : ek Pukhtun kī dāstān-i alam, written in Urdu, chiefly on socio-cultural and economical conditions in Balochistan
References
- ^ Shaista Wahab & Barry Youngerman, A Brief History of Afghanistan, Infobase Publishing (2007), p. 137
- ^ "The World Was Going Our Way: The KGB and the Battle for the Third World".
- ^ a b The Intervention in Afghanistan and the Fall of Detente: A Chronology
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- ^ ISBN 978-1590334218.
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- ISBN 978-0415702058.
- ^ Refugees, United Nations High Commissioner for. "Refworld | Women in Afghanistan: Pawns in men's power struggles". Refworld.
- OCLC 685132509.
- ^ Kaplan, Robert D., Soldiers of God: With Islamic Warriors in Afghanistan and Pakistan, New York, Vintage Departures, (2001), p. 115
- ^ ISBN 978-0788111112.
- ISBN 978-0788111112.
- ISBN 978-0788111112.
- ^ Ishiyama, John (March 2005). "The Sickle and the Minaret: Communist Successor Parties in Yemen and Afghanistan after the Cold War". 19 (1). Middle East Review of International Affairs. Retrieved 19 April 2011.
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires|journal=
(help) - ^ ISBN 978-0788111112.
- ISBN 978-0-224-07879-5.
- ^ "Women's Rights in the PDPA". En.convdocs.org. 4 November 1978. Archived from the original on 24 December 2013. Retrieved 22 December 2013.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "Secular PDPA". Countrystudies.us. Retrieved 22 December 2013.
- ^ "Women in Afghanistan: Pawns in men's power struggles". Amnesty International. Retrieved 24 March 2009.
- The Kabul Times. 20 August 1978. p. 1. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
- ISBN 978-0099135111.
- ISBN 978-0-691-02332-8.
- ISBN 978-0415702058.
- ISBN 978-0817948122.
- ^ ISBN 978-0415702058.
- ISBN 978-1850438571.
- ^ ISBN 978-0415702058.
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- ISBN 978-0415702058.
- ^ ISBN 978-0415702058.
- ^ ISBN 978-0415702058.
- ISBN 978-0-19-983265-1.
- ISBN 0-520-22861-8.
- . p. 26.
- ^ My Three Lives on Earth: The Life Story of an Afghan American by Tawab Assifi
- ^ https://www.scribd.com/document/345774276/washingtons-secret-war-against-afghanistan[permanent dead link]
- Kabul New Times. 2 January 1980.
- ISBN 0-520-20893-5.
External links
- Media related to Nur Muhammad Taraki at Wikimedia Commons
- Quotations related to Nur Muhammad Taraki at Wikiquote
- History of the brief period of Communist-controlled Government in Afghanistan
- Biography of President Taraki Archived 21 February 2008 at the Wayback Machine at Afghanland.com
- Telephone Conversation Between Kosygin and Taraki