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163-660: Babrak Karmal ( Dari / Pashto : ببرک کارمل ; born Sultan Hussein ; 6 January 1929 – 1 or 3 December 1996) was an Afghan communist revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Afghanistan, serving in the post of general secretary of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan from 1979 to 1986. Born in Kabul Province into a Tajik family, Karmal attended Kabul University and developed openly leftist views there, having been introduced to Marxism by Mir Akbar Khyber during his imprisonment for activities deemed too radical by
326-513: A Parcham member of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA), he was exiled by the purge of the party's Khalqist leaders, living in Peshawar , Pakistan for a while. After the Soviet invasion ( Operation Storm-333 ) and installation of Babrak Karmal as head of state, Dostum returned to Afghanistan where he started commanding a local pro-government militia in his native Jawzjan Province. By
489-643: A puppet leader of the Soviet Union by Afghans and the Western press. Despite his position, Karmal was apparently not permitted to make key decisions as he was following advice from Soviet advisers. The Soviet control of the Afghan state was apparently so much that Karmal himself admitted to a friend of his unfree life, telling him: “The Soviet comrades love me boundlessly, and for the sake of my personal safety, they don’t obey even my own orders.” The hands, feet and tongue of
652-522: A German-speaking school, and graduated from it in 1948, and applied to enter the Faculty of Law and Political Science of Kabul University . Karmal's application was initially denied admission to Kabul University because of his student political activist and his openly leftist views. He was always a charismatic speaker and became involved in the student union and the Wikh-i-Zalmayan (Awakened Youth Movement),
815-470: A Karmal-Taraki coalition government. However Amin managed to order the arrest and later the murder of Taraki. One of the dirty faces who for years under the false revolutionary mask and false slogans wanted to seduce the youth was Babrak Karmal, a product of tyrannical and despotic rule of Daoud , the unprecedented hangman of history. Amin was informed of the Soviet decision to intervene in Afghanistan and
978-522: A Pashtun, while Tajik sympathizers and affiliates insisted that he was a Tajik with roots originating from Kashmir. It is important to note that during and after the Cold War, many English language sources tended to categorize him as a Tajik, often with the intention of discrediting him and providing a rationale for the Russians' decision to oust him from power for not being Pashtun. He attended Nejat High School,
1141-734: A communist political party. The People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA, the Communist Party) was established in January 1965 in Nur Muhammad Taraki 's home. Factionalism within the PDPA quickly became a problem; the party split into the Khalq led by Taraki alongside Hafizullah Amin , and the Parcham led by Karmal. During the 1965 parliamentary election Karmal was one of four PDPA members elected to
1304-610: A distinction between varieties of the Sistan region and the varieties in the Western group. However Encyclopaedia Iranica considers the Sistani dialect to constitute their own distinctive group, with notable influences from Balochi . Dari does not distinguish [ ɪ ] and [ ɛ ] in any position, these are distinct phonemes in English but are in un-conditional free variation in nearly all dialects of Dari. There are no environmental factors related to
1467-470: A general amnesty on 1 January 1980, to coincide with the PDPA's sixteenth anniversary. Work on the Fundamental Principles had started under Amin: it guaranteed democratic rights such as freedom of speech , the right to security and life, the right to peaceful association, the right to demonstrate and the right that "no one would be accused of crime but in accord with the provisions of law" and that
1630-607: A government which consisted of both Khalqists and Parchamites; Karmal became Deputy Chairman of the Revolutionary Council, while Amin became Minister of Foreign Affairs and Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers . Mohammad Aslam Watanjar became Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers. The two Parchamites Abdul Qadir and Mohammad Rafi , became Minister of Defence and Minister of Public Works , respectively. The appointment of Amin, Karmal and Watanjar led to splits within
1793-445: A leading figure within the student movement in the 1960s, electing Mohammad Hashim Maiwandwal as Prime Minister after a student demonstration (called for by Karmal) concluded with three deaths under the former leadership. In 1966 inside parliament, Karmal was physically assaulted by an Islamist MP, Mohammad Nabi Mohammadi . In 1967, the PDPA unofficially split into two formal parties, one Khalqist and one Parchamist. The dissolution of
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#17328557839591956-477: A lie. Karmal's three most important promises were the general amnesty of prisoners, the promulgation of the Fundamental Principles of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan and the adoption of a new flag containing the traditional black, red and green (the flag of Taraki and Amin was red). His government granted concessions to religious leaders and the restoration of confiscated property. Some property, which
2119-444: A modern dialect form of Persian that is the standard language used in administration, government, radio, television, and print media. Because of a preponderance of Dari native speakers, who normally refer to the language as Farsi ( فارسی , "Persian"), it is also known as "Afghan Persian" in some Western sources. There are different opinions about the origin of the word Dari . The majority of scholars believe that Dari refers to
2282-518: A nearly identical categorization but considered varieties spoken in the Sistan region to constitute a distinct group. Takhar and the MOE only discussed vocabulary differences between the dialect groups and did not extensively discuss phonological differences between these groups. However there was a noticeable difference in the romanizations of the Western dialects and the South-Eastern dialects. Chiefly that
2445-560: A new front before the U.S.-led campaign against the Taliban joined him, along with Commander Massoud, Ismail Khan and Mohammad Mohaqiq . On 17 October 2001, the CIA's eight-man Team Alpha, including Johnny Micheal Spann landed in the Dar-e-Suf to link up with Dostum. Three days later, the 12 members of Operational Detachment Alpha (ODA) 595 landed to join forces with Dostum and Team Alpha. Dostum,
2608-647: A participant in the Saur Revolution . Najibullah was appointed to the PDPA Secretariat in November 1985. During Karmal's March 1986 visit to the Soviet Union, the Soviets tried to persuade Karmal that he was too ill to govern, and that he should resign. This backfired, as a Soviet doctor attending to Karmal told him he was in good health. Karmal asked to return home to Kabul, and said that he understood and would listen to
2771-492: A political agreement between Ghani and former Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah . Dostum is a controversial figure in Afghanistan. He is seen as a capable and fierce military leader and remains wildly popular among the Uzbek community in the country. Many of his supporters call him " Pasha " (پاشا), an honorable Uzbek/Turkic term. However, he has also been widely accused of committing atrocities and war crimes , most notoriously
2934-487: A progressive and leftist organization. He studied at the College of Law and Political Science at Kabul University from 1951 to 1953. In 1953 Karmal was arrested because of his student union activities, but was released three years later in 1956 in an amnesty by Muhammad Daoud Khan . Shortly after, in 1957, Karmal found work as an English and German translator, before quitting and leaving for military training. Karmal graduated from
3097-440: A result. He achieved several promotions in the army and was honored as a "Hero of Afghanistan" by President Mohammed Najibullah in 1988. By this time he was commanding up to 45,000 troops in the region under his responsibility. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union , Dostum played a central role in the collapse of Najibullah's government by "defecting" to the mujahideen; the division -sized loyal forces he commanded in
3260-768: A shared heritage that includes thinkers, writers, and poets of the Farsi language against those who believe that Dari has older roots and provides a distinct identity that cannot be confused with Iran's claim. Abdul Rashid Dostum Soviet–Afghan War Afghan Civil War (1989–1992) Afghan Civil War (1992–1996) Afghan Civil War (1996–2001) War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Abdul Rashid Dostum ( / ˈ ɑː b d əl r ə ˈ ʃ iː d d oʊ ˈ s t uː m / AHB -dəl rə- SHEED doh- STOOM ; Dari : عبدالرشید دوستم ; Uzbek Latin : Abdurrashid Do'stum , Uzbek Cyrillic : Абдуррашид Дўстум , IPA: [ˈæbdurræˈʃid dosˈtum] ; born 25 March 1954)
3423-560: A suicide bombing by ISIL-KP as he returned to Afghanistan at Kabul airport . Just after Dostum's convoy departed the airport, an attacker armed with a suicide vest bombed a crowd of several hundred people celebrating his return at the entrance to the airport. The attack killed 14 and injured 50, including civilians and armed security. On 30 March 2019, Dostum again escaped an expected assassination attempt while traveling from Mazar-e-Sharif to Jawzjan Province , though two of his bodyguards were killed. The Taliban claimed responsibility for
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#17328557839593586-415: A support base for the PDPA by introducing several reforms. Among these were the "Fundamental Principles of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan", introducing a general amnesty for those people imprisoned during Nur Mohammad Taraki 's and Amin's rule. He also replaced the red Khalqist flag with a more traditional one. These policies failed to increase the PDPA's legitimacy in the eyes of the Afghan people and
3749-460: A very basic traditional education as he was forced to drop out of school at a young age. From there, he took up work in the village's major gas fields . Dostum began working in 1970 in a state-owned gas refinery in Sheberghan , participating in union politics, as the new government started to arm the staff of the workers in the oil and gas refineries . The reason for this was to create "groups for
3912-729: A villa on the outskirts of Kabul under the protection of the KGB. On 1 January 1980 Leonid Brezhnev , the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , and Alexei Kosygin , the Soviet Chairman of the Council of Ministers , congratulated Karmal on his "election" as leader. Karmal's ascension was quickly troubled as he was effectively installed by
4075-506: A village close to Kabul . He was the son of Muhammad Hussein, a dagar jenral ( lieutenant general , three-star rank ) in the Afghan Army and former governor of the province of Paktia and Herat provinces, and was the first of six siblings. His family was one of the wealthier families in Kabul. His ethnic background was publicly disputed, with some sources claiming he was Pashtun and that he
4238-460: A wide area in the west of Kabul which is mainly recognized as Dashti Barchi, and some regions near Herat . As a group, the Hazaragi varieties are distinguished by the presence of retroflex consonants and distinctive vocabulary. However it has been shown that Hazaragi is more accurately a sub-dialect of Dari rather than its own variety of Persian. Afghanistan's Ministry of Education does not make
4401-633: Is an Afghan warlord, exiled politician, former Marshal in the Afghan National Army , founder and leader of the political party Junbish-e Milli . Dostum was a major army commander in the communist government during the Soviet–Afghan War , initially part of the Afghan Commando Forces , and in 2001 was a key indigenous ally to U.S. Special Forces and the CIA during the campaign to topple
4564-674: Is its conservative nature compared to, for example, the Tehrani dialect. This can be seen in its Phonology (e.g. it's preservation of "Majhul" vowels), Morhphonology and Syntax, and it's Lexicon. A further distinction may be made between varieties in and near Kabul and varieties in and near Afghan Turkistan. With dialects near Kabul exhibiting some influences from languages in southern Afghanistan and South Asia and dialects in Afghan Turkistan exhibiting more influence from Tajik . All South-Eastern varieties exhibited some influence from Uzbek . Despite
4727-503: Is more than 183 centimetres (6.00 ft) tall and has been described as "beefy". He generally prefers to wear a Soviet-style camouflage military uniform, previously having worn KLMK , having a trademark bushy moustache. Dostum was married to a woman named Khadija. According to Brian Glyn Williams , Khadija had an accidental death in the 1990s which broke Dostum as he "really loved his wife". Dostum eventually remarried after Khadija's death. He named one of his sons Mustafa Kamal, after
4890-491: Is sugar – Rhyme method in Dari is sweeter Uzūbat usually means "bliss", "delight", "sweetness"; in language, literature and poetry, uzubat also means "euphonious" or "melodic". Referring to the 14th-century Persian poet Hafez , Iqbal wrote: شکرشکن شوند همه طوطیان هند Šakkar-šakan šavand hama tūtīyān-i Hind زین قند پارسی که به بنگاله میرود zīn qand-i Pārsī ki ba Bangāla mē-ravad English translation: All
5053-704: Is the variety of the Persian language spoken in Afghanistan . Dari Persian is the Afghan government's official term for the Persian language; it is known as Afghan Persian or Eastern Persian in many Western sources. The decision to rename the local variety of Persian in 1964 was more political than linguistic to support an Afghan state narrative. Dari Persian is most closely related to Tajiki Persian as spoken in Tajikistan and
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5216-415: Is the common language spoken in cities such as Balkh , Mazar-i-Sharif , Herat , Fayzabad , Panjshir , Bamiyan , and the Afghan capital of Kabul where all ethnic groups are settled. Dari Persian-speaking communities also exist in southwestern and eastern Pashtun-dominated areas such as in the cities of Ghazni , Farah , Zaranj , Lashkar Gah , Kandahar , and Gardez . Dari Persian has contributed to
5379-564: Is the language of the cities of Madā'en; it is spoken by those who are at the king's court. [Its name] is connected with presence at court. Among the languages of the people of Khorasan and the east, the language of the people of Balkh is predominant." Dari Persian spoken in Afghanistan is not to be confused with the language of Iran called Dari or Gabri, which is a language of the Central Iranian subgroup spoken in some Zoroastrian communities. Dari comes from Middle Persian which
5542-611: Is unknown how much control Karmal had over Dostum, but there is little evidence that Karmal was in any commanding position. Karmal's influence over Dostum appeared indirect – some of his former associates supported Dostum. Those who spoke with Karmal during this period noted his lack of interest in politics. In June 1992 it was reported that he had died in a plane crash along with Dostum, although these reports later proved to be false. In early December 1996, Karmal died in Moscow's Central Clinical Hospital from liver cancer . The date of his death
5705-402: The 2004 Constitution of Afghanistan , Dari Persian is one of the two official languages of Afghanistan; the other is Pashto . Dari Persian is the most widely spoken language in Afghanistan and the native language of approximately 25–55% of the population . Dari Persian serves as the lingua franca of the country and is understood by up to 78% of the population. Dari Persian served as
5868-414: The Afghan National Army and training as a paratrooper , serving in his native region around Sheberghan . Soon with the start of the Soviet–Afghan War , Dostum commanded a KHAD militia and eventually gained a reputation, often defeating mujahideen commanders in northern Afghanistan and even persuading some to defect to the communist cause. Much of the country's north was in strong government control as
6031-440: The Afghan mujahidin rebels, and he was widely seen as a Soviet puppet amongst the populace. These policy failures, and the stalemate that ensued after the Soviet intervention, led the Soviet leadership to become highly critical of Karmal's leadership. Under Mikhail Gorbachev , the Soviet Union deposed Karmal in 1986 and replaced him with Mohammad Najibullah . Following his loss of power, he was again exiled, this time to Moscow. It
6194-715: The Defense of the Revolution ". Because of the new communist ideas entering Afghanistan in the 1970s, he enlisted in the Afghan National Army in 1978. Dostum received his basic military training in Jalalabad . His squadron was deployed in the rural areas around Sheberghan, under the auspices of the Ministry of National Security. According to photographic evidence, Dostum additionally received airborne training and still chooses to wear two first-class "Master Paratrooper" Afghan jump wings. As
6357-550: The General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee , stated; We do not object to the questions connected with Afghanistan being discussed in conjunction with the question of security in the Persian Gulf . Naturally here on only the international aspects of the Afghan problem can be discussed, not internal Afghan affairs. The sovereignty of Afghanistan must be fully protected, as must its nonaligned status. The stance of
6520-520: The Khalq . Other perpetrators were also arrested, such as other commandos and soldiers in the 11th Division of the Afghan Army. Alamyar remained in jail for a decade, even after Karmal was removed from his post as president. When he came to power, Karmal promised an end to executions, the establishment of democratic institutions and free elections, the creation of a constitution, and legalization of alternative political parties. Prisoners incarcerated under
6683-594: The Secretary-General of the United Nations in 1982. While it was Gorbachev who would dismiss Karmal, there may have been a consensus within the Soviet leadership in 1983 that Karmal should resign. Gorbachev's own plan was to replace Karmal with Mohammad Najibullah , who had joined the PDPA at its creation. Najibullah was thought highly of by Yuri Andropov , Boris Ponomarev and Dmitriy Ustinov , and negotiations for his succession may have started in 1983. Najibullah
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6846-530: The Soviet ambassador to Afghanistan , to talk about the situation. Puzanov refused, and revealed Karmal's location to Amin. The Soviets probably saved Karmal's life by sending him to the Socialist Republic of Czechoslovakia . In exile, Karmal established a network with the remaining Parchamites in government. A coup to overthrow Amin was planned for 4 September 1979. Its leading members in Afghanistan were Qadir and
7009-523: The Taliban government. He is one of the most powerful warlords since the beginning of the Afghan wars, known for siding with winners during different wars. Dostum has also referred to as a kingmaker due to his significant role in Afghan politics . An ethnic Uzbek from a peasant family in Jawzjan province , Dostum joined the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) as a teenager before enlisting in
7172-681: The ezāfe ) have often been employed to coin words for political and cultural concepts, items, or ideas that were historically unknown outside the South Asian region, as is the case with the aforementioned "borrowings". Dari Persian has a rich and colorful tradition of proverbs that deeply reflect Afghan culture and relationships, as demonstrated through the works of Rumi and other literature. There are phonological, lexical, and morphological differences between Afghan Persian and Iranian Persian. For example Afghan Farsi has more vowels than Iranian Farsi. However, there are no significant differences in
7335-558: The 19th century garrison fortress, Qala-i-Jangi . The next day, while being questioned by CIA officers Spann and David Tyson, they used concealed weapons to revolt, triggering what became the Battle of Qala-i-Jangi against the guards. The uprising was finally brought under control after six days. Dostum has been accused by Western journalists of responsibility for the suffocating or otherwise killing of Taliban prisoners in December 2001, with
7498-512: The Afghan GDP stood at 154.3 billion Afghan afghanis , a drop from 159.7 billion in 1978. GNP per capita decreased from 7,370 in 1978 to 6,852 in 1981. The dominant form of economic activity was in the agricultural sector . Agriculture accounted for 63 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 1981; 56 percent of the labor force was working in agriculture in 1982. Industry accounted for 21 percent of GDP in 1982, and employed 10 percent of
7661-605: The Afghanistan Ministry of Education referring to this group as "South-Eastern" some of the varieties included are in the north. As seen in many Hazaragi varieties, certain Eastern Dialects have developed a system of retroflex consonants under pressure from Pashto. They are not widespread, however. The Kabuli dialect has become the standard model of Dari Persian in Afghanistan, as has the Tehrani dialect in relation to
7824-604: The April Revolution) was planned for August, the assassination of Khyber led to a chain of events which ended with the communists seizing power. Karmal, when taking power in 1979, accused Amin of ordering the assassination of Khyber. Taraki was appointed Chairman of the Presidium of the Revolutionary Council and Chairman of the Council of Ministers , retaining his post as PDPA general secretary. Taraki initially formed
7987-582: The Army Chief of Staff General Shahpur Ahmedzai. The coup was planned for the Festival of Eid, in anticipation of relaxed military vigilance. The conspiracy failed when the Afghan ambassador to India told the Afghan leadership about the plan. Another purge was initiated, and Parchamite ambassadors were recalled. Few returned to Afghanistan; Karmal and Mohammad Najibullah stayed in their respective countries. The Soviets decided that Amin should be removed to make way for
8150-623: The Central Committee to win the vote; this plan resulted in eight of the new members becoming politically unaligned with and one switching to the Parchamite side. Karmal and half the PDPA Central Committee left the PDPA to establish a Parchamite-led PDPA. Officially the split was caused by ideological differences, but the party may have divided between the different leadership styles and plans of Taraki versus Karmal. Taraki wanted to model
8313-513: The College of Law and Political Science in 1960, and in 1961, he found work as an employee in the Compilation and Translation Department of the Ministry of Education . From 1961 to 1963 he worked in the Ministry of Planning. When his mother died, Karmal left with his maternal aunt to live somewhere else. His father disowned him because of his leftist views. Karmal was involved in much debauchery , which
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#17328557839598476-527: The Council of Ministers: the Khalqists answered to Amin; Karmal led the civilian Parchamites; and the military officers (who were Parchamites) were answerable to Watanjar (a Khalqist). The first conflict arose when the Khalqists wanted to give PDPA Central Committee membership to military officers who had participated in the Saur Revolution ; Karmal opposed such a move but was overruled. A PDPA Politburo meeting voted in favour of giving Central Committee membership to
8639-509: The Khalqists and the Parchamites. A "program of action" was introduced, and party rules were given minor changes. As an explanation of the low party membership, the official media also made it seem hard to become a member of the party. When Karmal took power, he began expanding the support base of the PDPA. Karmal tried to persuade certain groups, which had been referred to class enemies of the revolution during Taraki and Amin's rule, to support
8802-522: The NFF's founding congress was held in June 1981. Unfortunately for Karmal, his policies did not lead to a notable increase in support for his regime, and it did not help Karmal that most Afghans saw the Soviet intervention as an invasion. By 1981, the government gave up on political solutions to the conflict. At the fifth PDPA Central Committee plenum in June, Karmal resigned from his Council of Ministers chairmanship and
8965-570: The Northern Alliance forces after the US invasion and leading his loyal faction in the Fall of Mazar-i-Sharif . After the fall of the Taliban, he joined interim president Hamid Karzai 's administration as Deputy Defense Minister and later served as chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Afghan Army, a role often viewed as ceremonial. His militia feuded with forces loyal to general Atta Muhammad Nur . Dostum
9128-549: The Northern Autonomous Zone. He printed his own Afghan currency, ran a small airline named Balkh Air , and formed relations with countries like Uzbekistan effectively creating his own proto-state with an army of up to 40,000 men, and with tanks supplied by Uzbekistan and Russia. While the rest of the country was in chaos, his region remained prosperous and functional, and it won him the support from people of all ethnic groups. Many people fled to his territory to escape
9291-696: The Oxus River region, Afghanistan, and Khorasan after the Arab conquests and during Islamic-Arab rule. The replacement of the Pahlavi script with the Arabic script in order to write the Persian language was done by the Tahirids in 9th century Khorasan. Dari Persian spread and led to the extinction of Eastern Iranian languages like Bactrian and Khwarezmian with only a tiny amount of Sogdian descended Yaghnobi speakers remaining, as
9454-421: The PDPA was initiated by the closing down of the Khalqist newspaper, Khalq . Karmal criticised the Khalq for being too communist , and believed that its leadership should have hidden its Marxist orientation instead of promoting it. According to the official version of events, the majority of the PDPA Central Committee rejected Karmal's criticism. The vote was a close one, and it is reported that Taraki expanded
9617-425: The PDPA, released her. When Karmal took power, leading posts in the Party and Government bureaucracy were taken over by Parchamites. The Khalq faction was removed from power, and only technocrats , opportunists and individuals which the Soviets trusted would be appointed to the higher echelons of government. Khalqists remained in control of the Ministry of Interior , but Parchamites were given control over KHAD and
9780-428: The PDPA. Karmal appointed several non-communists to top positions. Between March and May 1980, 78 out of the 191 people appointed to government posts were not members of the PDPA. Karmal reintroduced the old Afghan custom of having an Islamic invocation every time the government issued a proclamation. In his first live speech to the Afghan people, Karmal called for the establishment of the National Fatherland Front (NFF);
9943-417: The PDPA. The rules of holding a party conference were different, and the Parchamites had a three-fifths majority. This infuriated several Khalqists; the threat of expulsion did not lessen their anger. The conference was not successful, but it was portrayed as such by the official media. The conference broke up after one and a half days of a 3-day long program, because of the inter-party struggle for power between
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#173285578395910106-403: The Pakistani government had refused to recognise the PDPA government. Because Karmal was put into power without a formal ceremony as in Afghan tradition, he was seen as an illegitimate leader in many eyes of his people. A poor performance in foreign interviews also did not help his public image where he was noted to speak like an "exhibitionist" rather than a statesman. Karmal was widely viewed as
10269-413: The Pakistani government was clear, demanding complete Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan and the establishment of a non-PDPA government. Karmal, summarizing his discussions with Iran and Pakistan, said "Iran and Pakistan have so far not opted for concrete and constructive positions." During Karmal's rule Afghan–Pakistani relations remained hostile; the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan was the catalyst for
10432-411: The Parchamite PDPA as the "Royal Communist Party". Both Karmal and Amin retained their seats in the lower house of parliament in the 1969 parliamentary election . Mohammed Daoud Khan , in collaboration with the Parchamite PDPA and radical military officers, overthrew the monarchy and instituted the Republic of Afghanistan in 1973. After Daoud's seizure of power, an American embassy cable stated that
10595-466: The Parchamite PDPA participated in Mohammad Daoud Khan 's rise to power in 1973 , and his subsequent regime. While relations were good at the beginning, Daoud began a major purge of leftist influence in the mid-1970s. This in turn led to the reformation of the PDPA in 1977, and Karmal played a role in the 1978 Saur Revolution when the PDPA took power. Karmal was appointed Deputy Chairman of the Revolutionary Council , synonymous with vice head of state, in
10758-409: The Parchamites held clear majority in the PDPA Central Committee . Only one Khalqi, Saleh Mohammad Zeary, was a member of the PDPA Secretariat during Karmal's rule. Over 14 and 15 March 1982 the PDPA held a party conference at the Kabul Polytechnic Institute instead of a party congress , since a party congress would have given the Khalq faction a majority and could have led to a Khalqist takeover of
10921-552: The Persian in Iran. Since the 1940s, Radio Afghanistan has broadcast its Dari programs in Kabuli Dari, which ensured the homogenization between the Kabuli version of the language and other dialects of Dari Persian spoken throughout Afghanistan. Since 2003, the media, especially the private radio and television broadcasters , have carried out their Dari programs using the Kabuli variety. The Western group includes various varieties spoken in and around: Herat , Badghis , Farah and Ghor . Varieties in this group share many features with
11084-443: The Persian word dar or darbār ( دربار ), meaning "court", as it was the formal language of the Sassanids . The original meaning of the word dari is given in a notice attributed to Ibn al-Muqaffaʿ (cited by Ibn al-Nadim in Al-Fehrest ). According to him, " Pārsī was the language spoken by priests, scholars, and the like; it is the language of Fars ." This language refers to Middle Persian . As for Dari , he says, "it
11247-438: The Soviet leadership began blaming him for the failures in Afghanistan. Gorbachev, worried over the situation, told the Soviet Politburo "If we don't change approaches [to evacuate Afghanistan], we will be fighting there for another 20 or 30 years." It is not clear when the Soviet leadership began to campaign for Karmal's dismissal, but Andrei Gromyko discussed the possibility of Karmal's resignation with Javier Pérez de Cuéllar ,
11410-489: The Soviet leadership that Karmal used most of his spare time looking for errors and "speaking against the National Reconciliation programme". At a meeting of the Soviet Politburo on 13 November 1986 it was decided that Najibullah should remove Karmal; this motion was supported by Gromyko, Vorontsov, Eduard Shevardnadze , Anatoly Dobrynin and Viktor Chebrikov . A PDPA meeting in November relieved Karmal of his Revolutionary Council chairmanship, and exiled him to Moscow where he
11573-423: The Soviet recommendations. Before leaving, Karmal promised he would step down as PDPA General Secretary. The Soviets did not trust him and sent Vladimir Kryuchkov , the head of intelligence ( FCD ) in the KGB , into Afghanistan. At a meeting in Kabul, Karmal confessed his undying love for the Soviet Union, comparing his ardor to his Muslim faith. Kryuchkov, concluding that he could not persuade Karmal to resign, left
11736-534: The Soviet-backed Afghan government against the mujahideen forces throughout the 1980s. While he was only a regional commander, he had largely raised his forces by himself. The Jowzjani militia Dostum controlled was one of the few in the country which was able to be deployed outside its own region. They were deployed in Kandahar in 1988 when Soviet forces were withdrawing from Afghanistan. Due to his efforts in
11899-547: The Special Revolutionary Court, a specialized court for crimes against national security and territorial integrity, and the Institute for Legal and Scientific Research and Legislative Affairs, the supreme legislative organ of state, This body could amend and draft laws, and introduce regulations and decrees on behalf of the government. The introduction of more Soviet-style institutions led the Afghan people to distrust
12062-503: The Tajik commander Atta Muhammad Nur and their American allies defeated Taliban forces and recaptured Mazar-i-Sharif on 10 November 2001. On 24 November 2001, 15,000 Taliban soldiers were due to surrender after the Siege of Kunduz to American and Northern Alliance forces. Instead, 400 Al-Qaeda prisoners arrived just outside Mazar-i-Sharif. After they surrendered to Dostum, they were transferred to
12225-481: The Taliban were not sincere with their promises as he saw his men being disarmed. He then rejoined the Northern Alliance, and turned against his erstwhile allies, driving them from Mazar-e-Sharif. In October 1997, Dostum returned from exile and retook charge. After Dostum briefly regained control of Mazar-e-Sharif, the Taliban returned in 1998 and he again fled to Turkey . Dostum returned to Afghanistan in May 2001 to open up
12388-412: The Taliban, who promised to respect his authority over much of northern Afghanistan, in exchange for the apprehension of Ismail Khan , one of their enemies. Accordingly, on 25 May 1997, Malik arrested Khan, handed him over and let the Taliban enter Mazar-e-Sharif, giving them control over most of northern Afghanistan. Because of this, Dostum was forced to flee to Turkey. However, Malik soon realized that
12551-506: The Taliban. We will not submit to a government where there is no whisky and no music. He viewed the ISAF forces attempt to crush the Taliban as ineffective and has gone on record saying in 2007 that he could mop up the Taliban "in six months" if allowed to raise a 10,000 strong army of Afghan veterans. As of 2007, senior Afghan government officials did not trust Dostum as they were concerned that he might be secretly rearming his forces. Dostum
12714-579: The accused had the right to a fair trial . The Fundamental Principles envisaged a democratic state led by the PDPA, the only party then permitted by law. The Revolutionary Council, the organ of supreme power, would convene twice every year. The Revolutionary Council in turn elected a Presidium which would take decisions on behalf of the Revolutionary Council when it was not in session. The Presidium consisted mostly of PDPA Politburo members. The state would safeguard three kinds of property: state, cooperative and private property. The Fundamental Principles said that
12877-632: The ancestors of Tajiks started speaking Dari after relinquishing their original language (most likely Bactrian) around this time, due to the fact that the Arab-Islamic army which invaded Central Asia also included some Persians who governed the region like the Sassanids . Persian was a prestigious high-ranking language and was further rooted into Central Asia by the Samanids. Persian also phased out Sogdian. The role of lingua franca that Sogdian originally played
13040-511: The appearance of [ ɪ ] or [ ɛ ] and native Dari speakers do not perceive them as different phonemes (that is to say, the English words bet [b ɛ t] and bit [b ɪ t] would be nearly indistinguishable to a native Dari speaker). However, speakers in Urban regions of Kabul, Panjšir and other nearby provinces in southern and eastern Afghanistan tend to realize the vowel as [ ɪ ]. Speakers of Dari in central Afghanistan (i.e. Hazaragi speakers) tend to realize
13203-508: The army, Dostum was awarded the title "Hero of the Republic of Afghanistan" by President Najibullah. Dostum's men would become an important force in the fall of Kabul in 1992, with Dostum deciding to defect from Najibullah and allying himself with opposition commanders Ahmad Shah Massoud and Sayed Jafar Naderi , the head of the Isma'ili community, and together they captured the capital city. With
13366-487: The attack, the second in eight months. On 11 August 2021 during the Taliban's nationwide offensive , Dostum, along with Atta Muhammad Nur , led the government's defence of the city of Mazar-i-Sharif. Three days later, they fled across Hairatan to Uzbekistan. Atta Nur claimed that they were forced to flee due to a "conspiracy". Both men later pled allegiance to the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan ,
13529-470: The ban on opposition to the NRP, Daoud began a massive purge of Parchamites in government. Mohammad lost his position as interior minister, Abdul Qadir was demoted, and Karmal was put under government surveillance. To mitigate Daoud's suddenly anti-communist directives, the Soviet Union reestablished the PDPA; Taraki was elected its General Secretary and Karmal, Second Secretary. While the Saur Revolution (literally
13692-516: The battlefield with leaders from all other major ethnic groups, Hazaras, Tajiks and Pashtuns. When Dostum was ruling his northern Afghanistan proto-state before the Taliban took over in 1998, women were able to go about unveiled , girls were allowed to go to school and study at the University of Balkh , cinemas showed Indian films , music played on television, and Russian vodka and German beer were openly available: activities which were all banned by
13855-519: The civilians they targeted – at least 13 killed and 32 wounded – were supporters of the Taliban. In November 2016, at a buzkashi match, he punched his political rival Ahmad Ischi, and then his bodyguards beat Ischi. In 2017, he was accused of having Ischi kidnapped in that incident and raped with a gun on camera during a five-day detention, claims that Dostum denies but that nevertheless forced him into exile in Turkey. On 26 July 2018, he narrowly escaped
14018-410: The collapse of the army during the Soviet intervention. Before the intervention the army could field 100,000 troops, after the intervention only 25,000. Desertions were pandemic, and the recruitment campaigns for young people often drove them to the opposition. To better organize the military, seven military zones were established, each with its own Defence Council. The Defence Councils were established at
14181-399: The communist government even more. The Fundamental Principles constitution came into power on 22 April 1980. With Karmal's ascension to power, Parchamites began to "settle old scores". Revolutionary Troikas were created to arrest, sentence and execute people. Amin's guard were the first victims of the terror which ensued. Those commanders who had stayed loyal to Amin were arrested, filling
14344-485: The communist government. The Parchamite faction found itself under significant pressure by the Khalqists soon after taking power. In June 1978, a PDPA Central Committee meeting voted in favor of giving the Khalqist faction exclusive control over PDPA policy. This decision was followed by a failed Parchamite coup, after which Hafizullah Amin , a Khalqist, initiated a purge against the Parchamites. Karmal survived this purge but
14507-414: The consent of Amin's government) to stabilize the country. The Soviet troops staged a coup and assassinated Amin, replacing him with Karmal. Karmal was promoted to Chairman of the Revolutionary Council and Chairman of the Council of Ministers on 27 December 1979. He remained in the latter office until 1981, when he was succeeded by Sultan Ali Keshtmand . Throughout his term, Karmal worked to establish
14670-412: The country was not ready for a revolution... I knew that people would not support us if we decided to keep power without such support. Karmal was invited back to Kabul by Najibullah, and "for equally obscure reasons Karmal accepted", returning on 20 June 1991 (this could have been on the recommendation of Anahita Ratebzad who was very close to Karmal and also respected by Najibullah). If Najibullah's plan
14833-462: The country's north which functioned as a relatively stable proto-state , but remained a loose partner of Massoud in the Northern Alliance . A year later, Mazar-i-Sharif was overrun by his former aide Abdul Malik Pahlawan , resulting in a battle in which he regained control. In 1998, the city was overrun by the Taliban and Dostum fled the country until returning to Afghanistan in 2001, joining
14996-431: The day after filing his nomination for the 2014 general elections as running mate of Ashraf Ghani , Dostum issued a press statement that some news media were willing to welcome as "apologies": "Many mistakes were made during the civil war (…) It is time we apologize to the Afghan people who were sacrificed due to our negative policies (…) I apologize to the people who suffered from the violence and civil war (…)". Dostum
15159-930: The dialect of Dari spoken in Western Afghanistan stands in between the Afghan and Iranian Persian. For instance, the Herati dialect shares vocabulary and phonology with both Afghan and Iranian Persian. Likewise, the dialect of Persian in Eastern Iran, for instance in Mashhad , is quite similar to the Herati dialect of Afghanistan. In a paper jointly published by Takhar University and the Ministry of Education in 2018, researchers studying varieties of Persian from Iran to Tajikistan, Identified 3 dialect groups (or macro dialects) present within Afghanistan. In an article about various languages spoken in Afghanistan, Encyclopaedia Iranica identified
15322-502: The dialects of Persian spoken in Eastern Iran, and one may make many comparisons between the speech of Herat and Mashhad . The third group recognized by Afghanistan Ministry of Education is Hazaragi . Spoken by the Hazara people , these varieties are spoken in the majority of central Afghanistan including: Bamyan , parts of Ghazni , Daikundi, Laal Sari Jangal in Ghor province, 'uruzgan khas', in
15485-421: The elected officials were non-PDPA members. By the end of Karmal's rule, several non-PDPA members had high-level government positions. In March 1979, the military budget was 6.4 million US$ , which was 8.3 percent of the government budget, but only 2.2 of gross national product . After the Soviet intervention, the defence budget increased to 208 million US$ in 1980, and 325 million US$ by 1981. In 1982 it
15648-764: The fifteenth century it appeared in Herat under the Persian-speaking Timurid dynasty . The Persian-language poets of the Mughal Empire who used the Indian verse methods or rhyme methods, like Bedil and Muhammad Iqbal , became familiar with the araki form of poetry. Iqbal loved both styles of literature and poetry, when he wrote: گرچه هندی در عذوبت شکر است Garče Hendī dar uzūbat šakkar ast طرز گفتار دری شیرین تر است tarz-e goftār-e Darī šīrīn tar ast This can be translated as: Even though in euphonious Hindi
15811-489: The government. He became a founding member of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) and eventually became the leader of the Parcham faction when the PDPA split in 1967, with their ideological nemesis being the Khalq faction. Karmal was elected to the Lower House after the 1965 parliamentary election , serving in parliament until losing his seat in the 1969 parliamentary election . Under Karmal's leadership,
15974-725: The help of fellow defectors Mohammad Nabi Azimi and Abdul Wakil , his forces entered Kabul by air in the afternoon of 14 April. He and Massoud fought in a coalition against Gulbuddin Hekmatyar . Massoud and Dostum's forces joined to defend Kabul against Hekmatyar. Some 4,000–5,000 of his troops, units of his Sheberghan -based 53rd Division and Balkh -based Guards Division, garrisoning Bala Hissar fort, Maranjan Hill and Khwaja Rawash Airport , where they stopped Najibullah from entering to flee. Dostum then left Kabul for his northern stronghold Mazar-i-Sharif , where he ruled, in effect, an independent region (or ' proto-state '), often referred as
16137-590: The hostile relationship. The increasing numbers of Afghan refugees in Pakistan challenged the PDPA's legitimacy to rule. The Soviet Union threatened in 1985 that it would support the Baloch separatist movement in Pakistan if the Pakistani government continued to aid the Afghan mujahideen . Karmal, problematically for the Soviets, did not want a Soviet withdrawal, and he hampered attempts to improve relations with Pakistan since
16300-448: The increased number of Persian speakers within Afghanistan. The World Factbook states that about 80% of the Afghan population speaks Dari Persian. About 2.5 million Afghans in Iran and Afghans in Pakistan , part of the wider Afghan diaspora , also speak Dari Persian as one of their primary languages. Dari Persian dominates the northern, western, and central areas of Afghanistan, and
16463-784: The introduction of Persian language into the subcontinent was set, from its earliest days, by various Persianized Central Asian Turkic and Afghan dynasties. The sizable Persian component of the Anglo-Indian loan words in English and in Urdu therefore reflects the Dari Persian pronunciation. For instance, the words dopiaza and pyjama come from the Afghan Persian pronunciation; in Iranian Persian they are pronounced do-piyāzeh and pey-jāmeh . Persian lexemes and certain morphological elements (e.g.,
16626-455: The invading Soviet Union, delegitimizing him. Unrest in the country quickly escalated, and in Kabul two major uprisings, on 3 Hoot (22 February) and the months long students' protests were early signs of trouble. Karmal would also arrest Major Saddiq Alamyar in 1980, the commander of the 444th Commando Battalion, who committed the Kerala massacre while Afghanistan was still under the leadership of
16789-451: The labor force. All industrial enterprises were government-owned. The service sector, the smallest of the three, accounted for 10 percent of GDP in 1981, and employed an estimated one-third of the labour force. The balance of payments , which had grown in the pre-communist administration of Muhammad Daoud Khan , decreased, turning negative by 1982 at 70.3 million $ US. The only economic activity which grew substantially during Karmal's rule
16952-652: The language of the Achaemenids (550–330 BC). In historical usage, Dari refers to the Middle Persian court language of the Sassanids . Dari is a name given to the New Persian language since the 10th century, widely used in Arabic (compare Al-Estakhri , Al-Muqaddasi and Ibn Hawqal ) and Persian texts. Since 1964, it has been the official name in Afghanistan for the Persian spoken there. In Afghanistan, Dari refers to
17115-449: The latter would henceforth be named Dari. Within their respective linguistic boundaries, Dari Persian and Pashto are the media of education. The term continues to divide opinion in Afghanistan today. While Dari has been the official name for decades, "Farsi" is still the preferred name to many Persian speakers of Afghanistan. Omar Samad , an Afghan analyst and ambassador, says of the dispute: This debate pits those who look at language as
17278-515: The limits of landholdings were increased to win the support of middle class peasants, the literacy programme was continued, and concessions to women were made. In 1985 the Loya Jirga was reconvened. The 1985 Loya Jirga was followed by a tribal jirga in September. In 1986 Abdul Rahim Hatef , a non-PDPA member, was elected to the NFF chairmanship. During the 1985–86 elections it was said that 60 percent of
17441-409: The lower house of parliament; the three others were Anahita Ratebzad (whom he would later have an affair with according to Vasili Mitrokhin ), Nur Ahmed Nur and Fezanul Haq Fezan. No Khalqists were elected; however, Amin was 50 votes short of being elected. The Parchamite victory may be explained by the simple fact that Karmal could contribute financially to the PDPA electoral campaign. Karmal became
17604-549: The majority of Persian borrowings in several Indo-Aryan languages , such as Urdu , Hindi , Punjabi , Bengali and others, as it was the administrative, official, cultural language of the Persianate Mughal Empire and served as the lingua franca throughout the Indian subcontinent for centuries. Often based in Afghanistan , Turkic Central Asian conquerors brought the language into South Asia. The basis in general for
17767-482: The meeting. After Kryuchkov left the room, the Afghan defence minister and the state security minister visited Karmal's office, telling him that he had to resign from one of his posts. Understanding that his Soviet support had been eliminated, Karmal resigned from the office of the General Secretary at the 18th PDPA Central Committee plenum. He was succeeded in his post by Najibullah. Karmal still had support within
17930-401: The mid-1980s, he commanded around 20,000 militia men and controlled the northern provinces of Afghanistan. While the unit recruited throughout Jowzjan and had a relatively broad base, many of its early troops and commanders came from Dostum's home village. He left the army after the purge of Parchamites , but returned after the Soviet occupation began. During the Soviet–Afghan War , Dostum
18093-445: The national, provincial and district level to empower the local PDPA. It is estimated that the Afghan government spent as much as 40 percent of government revenue on defense. Karmal refused to recognize the rebels as genuine, saying in an interview: The people of Afghanistan do not recognise [the rebels] who include a number of hired people of the reactionary circles of Pakistan, Chinese chauvinists, imperialist America and Britain, and
18256-488: The new government had established a Soviet-style Central Committee, in which Karmal and Mir Akbar Khyber were given leading positions. Most ministries were given to Parchamites; Hassan Sharq became Deputy Prime Minister , Major Faiz Mohammad became Minister of Internal Affairs and Niamatullah Pazhwak became Minister of Education . The Parchamites took control over the ministries of finance, agriculture, communications and border affairs. The new government quickly suppressed
18419-465: The north became an independent paramilitary of his newly founded party called Junbish-e Milli . He allied with Ahmad Shah Massoud and together they captured Kabul , before another civil war loomed. Initially supporting the new government of Burhanuddin Rabbani , he switched sides in 1994 by allying with Gulbuddin Hekmatyar , but he backed Rabbani again by 1996. During this time he remained in control of
18582-434: The number of victims estimated as 2,000. In 2009, Dostum denied the accusations and US President Obama ordered an investigation into the massacre. In the aftermath of Taliban's removal from northern Afghanistan, forces loyal to Dostum frequently clashed with Tajik forces loyal to Atta Muhammad Nur . Atta's men kidnapped and killed a number of Dostum's men, and constantly agitated to gain control of Mazar-e-Sharif. Through
18745-436: The officers. On 27 June, three months after the Saur Revolution , Amin outmaneuvered the Parchamites at a Central Committee meeting, giving the Khalqists exclusive right over formulating and deciding policy. A purge against the Parchamites was initiated by Amin and supported by Taraki on 1 July 1979. Karmal, fearing for his safety, went into hiding in one of his Soviet friends' homes. Karmal tried to contact Alexander Puzanov ,
18908-594: The opposition, and secured their power base. At first, the National Front government between Daoud and the Parchamites seemed to work. By 1975, Daoud had strengthened his position by enhancing the executive, legislative and judicial powers of the Presidency. To the dismay of the Parchamites, all parties other than the National Revolutionary Party (NRP, established by Daoud) were made illegal. Shortly after
19071-553: The parrots of India will crack sugar Through this Persian Candy which is going to Bengal Here qand-e Pārsī (" Rock candy of Persia") is a metaphor for the Persian language and poetry. Persian replaced the Central Asian languages of the Eastern Iranics. Ferghana, Samarkand, and Bukhara were starting to be linguistically Darified in originally Khorezmian and Soghdian areas during Samanid rule. Dari Persian spread around
19234-409: The party after Leninist norms while Karmal wanted to establish a democratic front. Other differences were socioeconomic. The majority of Khalqists came from rural areas; hence they were poorer, and were of Pashtun origin. The Parchamites were urban, richer, and spoke Dari more often than not. The Khalqists accused the Parchamites of having a connection with the monarchy, and because of it, referred to
19397-565: The party, and used his base to curb Najibullah's powers. He began spreading rumors that he would be reappointed General Secretary. Najibullah's power base was in the KHAD , the Afghan equivalent to the KGB, and not the party. Considering the fact that the Soviet Union had supported Karmal for over six years, the Soviet leadership wanted to ease him out of power gradually. Yuli Vorontsov , the Soviet ambassador to Afghanistan , told Najibullah to begin undermining Karmal's power slowly. Najibullah complained to
19560-698: The political mediations of the Karzai administration, the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and the United Nations, the Dostum-Atta feud gradually declined, leading to their alignment in a new political party. Dostum served as deputy defense minister the early period of the Karzai administration . On 20 May 2003, Dostum narrowly escaped an assassination attempt. He was often residing outside Afghanistan, mainly in Turkey. In February 2008, he
19723-421: The poor Sultan had been tied, and he had no right to speak [without permission] with his personal friends. Mikhail Gorbachev , then General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , said, "The main reason that there has been no national consolidation so far is that Comrade Karmal is hoping to continue sitting in Kabul with our help." Karmal's position became less secure when
19886-498: The post-Sassanid period, and the New era being the period afterward down to the present day. The first person in Europe to use the term Deri for Dari may have been Thomas Hyde in his chief work, Historia religionis veterum Persarum (1700). Dari or Deri has two meanings. It may mean the language of the court: It may also indicate a form of poetry used from Rudaki to Jami . In
20049-579: The preferred literary and administrative language among non-native speakers, such as the Turco-Mongol peoples including the Mughals , for centuries before the rise of modern nationalism. Also, like Iranian Persian and Tajiki Persian , Dari Persian is a continuation of Middle Persian , the official religious and literary language of the Sassanian Empire (224–651 AD), itself a continuation of Old Persian ,
20212-412: The previous contenders, who had been heavily presented in the media, were all gone; two were given ambassadorships, two ceased to be active in politics, and one continued as an advisor to the government. The other three changed sides, and began to work for the opposition. The national policy of reconciliation continued: in January 1984 the land reform introduced by Taraki and Amin was drastically modified,
20375-477: The prisons. The Soviets protested, and Karmal replied, "As long as you keep my hands bound and do not let me deal with the Khalq faction there will be no unity in the PDPA and the government cannot become strong ... They tortured and killed us. They still hate us! They are the enemies of the party ..." Amin's daughter, along with her baby, was imprisoned for twelve years, until Mohammad Najibullah , then leader of
20538-496: The reactionaries of Arab countries and the Zionists, who pretend to be the representatives of Afghanistan. During the civil war and the ensuing Soviet–Afghan War , most of the country's infrastructure was destroyed. Normal patterns of economic activity were disrupted. The Gross national product (GNP) fell substantially during Karmal's rule because of the conflict; trade and transport was disrupted with loss of labor and capital. In 1981
20701-457: The rebels, led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar , took Kabul. After the fall of Najibullah's government, Karmal was based in Hairatan . There, it is alleged, Karmal used most of his time either trying to establish a new party, or advising people to join the secular National Islamic Movement ( Junbish-i-Milli ). Abdul Rashid Dostum , the leader of Junbish-i-Milli, was a supporter of Karmal during his rule. It
20864-572: The remaining remnants of the collapsed Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. Dostum, Atta, Yunus Qanuni , Abdul Rasul Sayyaf and some other political figures formed the Supreme Council of National Resistance of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in opposition to the new Taliban regime in October 2021. Dostum is considered to be liberal and somewhat leftist . Being ethnic Uzbek, he has worked on
21027-473: The schools and three-quarters of communications had been destroyed since 1979. The Soviet Union rejected several Western-made peace plans, such as the Carrington Plan, since they did not take into consideration the PDPA government. Most Western peace plans had been made in collaboration with the Afghan opposition forces. At the 26th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) Leonid Brezhnev ,
21190-405: The secret police. The Parchamites and the Khalqists controlled an equal share of the military. Two out of Karmal's three Council of Ministers deputy chairmen were Khalqists. Khalqists controlled the Ministry of Communications and the interior ministry. Parchamites, on the other hand, controlled the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defence . In addition to the changes in government,
21353-430: The state had the right to change the Afghan economy from an economy where man was exploited to an economy where man was free. Another clause stated that the state had the right to take "families, both parents and children, under its supervision." While it looked democratic at the outset, the Fundamental Principles was based on contradictions. The Fundamental Principles led to the establishment of two important state organs:
21516-427: The student union, and began to promote Marxism. Karmal spent the rest of the 1950s and the early 1960s becoming involved with Marxist organizations, of which there were at least four in Afghanistan at the time; two of the four were established by Karmal. When the 1964 Afghan Provisional Constitution , which legalised the establishment of new political entities, was introduced several prominent Marxists agreed to establish
21679-683: The suffocation of up to 1,000 Taliban fighters in the Dasht-i-Leili massacre , and he was widely feared among the populace. In 2018, the International Criminal Court (ICC) was reported to be considering launching an inquiry into whether Dostum had engaged in war crimes in Afghanistan. Dostum was born in 1954 in Khwaja Du Koh near Sheberghan in Jowzjan province, Afghanistan. Coming from an impoverished ethnic Uzbek family, he received
21842-635: The time of the Delhi Sultanate (1206–1526), even as those governments were dominated by Pashtun people. Sher Ali Khan of the Barakzai dynasty (1826–1973) first introduced the Pashto language as an additional language of administration. The local name for the Persian variety spoken in Afghanistan was officially changed from Farsi to Dari, meaning "court language", in 1964. Zaher said there would be, as there are now, two official languages, Pashto and Farsi, though
22005-511: The two previous governments would be freed in a general amnesty (which occurred on 6 January). He promised the creation of a coalition government which would not espouse socialism . At the same time, he told the Afghan people that he had negotiated with the Soviet Union to give economic, military and political assistance. The mistrust most Afghans felt towards the government was a problem for Karmal. Many still remembered he had said he would protect private capital in 1978—a promise later proven to be
22168-414: The two share many phonological and lexical similarities. Apart from a few basics of vocabulary, there is little difference between formal written Persian of Afghanistan and Iran ; the languages are mutually intelligible. Dari Persian is the official language for approximately 35 million people in Afghanistan and it serves as the common language for inter-ethnic communication in the country. As defined in
22331-418: The violence and fundamentalism imposed by the Taliban later on. In 1994, Dostum allied himself with Gulbuddin Hekmatyar against the government of Burhanuddin Rabbani and Ahmad Shah Massoud, but in 1995 sided with the government again. Following the rise of the Taliban and their capture of Kabul, Dostum aligned himself with the Northern Alliance (United Front) against the Taliban. The Northern Alliance
22494-571: The vowel diacritic "pesh" ( Kasrah ) was romanized with an "i" for South-Eastern dialects but as an "e" for western dialects. This is presumably due to a difference in quality, however the paper itself did not explain why the vowels were transliterated differently. The South Eastern group (also referred to the Southern and Eastern group) constitutes varieties spoken in and around Kabul , Parwan , Balkh , Baghlan , Samangan , Kunduz , Takhar , Badakhshan and others. A distinctive character of this group
22657-494: The vowel in proximity to, or identically to, [ i ], unless the following syllable contains a high-back vowel. Speakers in western Afghanistan (such as in the Herat or Farah province) and some rural regions in the Kabul province (not the city) most commonly realize the vowel as [ ɛ ]. Additionally, in some varieties of Dari, the phoneme [ ɛ ] appears as an allophone of [a]. Successive governments of Afghanistan have promoted New Persian as an official language of government since
22820-683: The written forms, other than regional idiomatic phrases. The phonology of Dari Persian as spoken in Kabul, compared with Classical Persian, is overall more conservative than the accent of Iran's standard register. In this regard Dari Persian is more similar to Tajiki Persian. The principal differences between standard Iranian Persian and Afghan Persian as based on the Kabul dialect are: The dialects of Dari spoken in Northern, Central, and Eastern Afghanistan, for example in Kabul , Mazar , and Badakhshan , have distinct features compared to Iranian Persian . However,
22983-506: Was Anahita Ratebzad who persuaded Najibullah to allow Babrak Karmal to return to Afghanistan in 1991, where Karmal became an associate of Abdul Rashid Dostum and possibly helped remove the Najibullah government from power in 1992. He eventually left Afghanistan again for Moscow. Not long after, in 1996, Karmal died from liver cancer . Karmal was born Sultan Hussein on 6 January 1929 in Kamari,
23146-548: Was Tajik. Throughout his tenure in the Afghan Parliament, Karmal strategically sowed confusion by alternately identifying himself as Pashtun and Tajik, demonstrating a deliberate avoidance of strict ethnic categorization. Karmal's ethnicity was a subject of persistent dispute, with conflicting claims made by Pashtun sympathizers and affiliates asserting that he belonged to the Mullahkhel Kakar tribe of Khost and Paktia as
23309-510: Was a candidate in the 2004 elections , and was an ally of victorious Karzai in the 2009 elections . From 2011, he was part of the leadership council of the National Front of Afghanistan along with Ahmad Zia Massoud and Mohammad Mohaqiq . He served as Vice President of Afghanistan in Ashraf Ghani 's administration from 2014 to 2020. In 2020, he was promoted to the rank of marshal after
23472-521: Was asked to return from exile to Afghanistan to support President Hamid Karzai in his bid for re-election . He later flew by helicopter to his northern stronghold of Sheberghan, where he was greeted by thousands of his supporters in the local stadium. He subsequently made overtures to the United States, promising he could "destroy the Taliban and al Qaeda" if supported by the U.S., saying that "the U.S. needs strong friends like Dostum." On 7 October 2013,
23635-402: Was assembled in late 1996 by Dostum, Massoud and Karim Khalili against the Taliban. At this point he is said to have had a force of some 50,000 men supported by both aircraft and tanks. Much like other Northern Alliance leaders, Dostum also faced infighting within his group and was later forced to surrender his power to General Abdul Malik Pahlawan . Malik entered into secret negotiations with
23798-483: Was commanding a militia battalion to fight and rout mujahideen forces; he had been appointed an officer due to prior military experience. This eventually became a regiment and later became incorporated into the defense forces as the 53rd Infantry Division . Dostum and his new division reported directly to President Mohammad Najibullah . Later on he became the commander of the military unit 374 in Jowzjan . He defended
23961-517: Was confiscated during earlier land reforms, was also partially restored. All these measures, with the exception of the general amnesty of prisoners, were introduced gradually. Of 2,700 prisoners, 2,600 were released from prison; 600 of these were Parchamites. The general amnesty was greatly publicized by the government. While the event was hailed with enthusiasm by some, many others greeted the event with disdain, since their loved ones or associates had died during earlier purges. Amin had planned to introduce
24124-465: Was controversial in the mostly conservative Afghan society. Imprisoned from 1953 to 1956, Karmal befriended fellow inmate Mir Akbar Khyber , who introduced Karmal to Marxism . Karmal changed his name from Sultan Hussein to Babrak Karmal, which means "Comrade of the Workers'" in Pashto , to disassociate himself from his bourgeois background. When he was released from prison, he continued his activities in
24287-493: Was directly chosen as First Vice President of Afghanistan in the April–June 2014 Afghan presidential election , next to Ashraf Ghani as president and Sarwar Danish as second vice president. In July 2016, Human Rights Watch accused Abdul Rashid Dostum's National Islamic Movement of Afghanistan of killing, abusing and looting civilians in the northern Faryab Province during June. Militia forces loyal to Dostum stated that
24450-542: Was exiled to Prague and eventually dismissed from his post. Instead of returning to Kabul, he feared for his life and lived with his family in the forests protected by the Czechoslovak secret police StB . The Afghan secret police KHAD had allegedly sent members to Czechoslovakia to assassinate Karmal. In late 1979 he was brought to Moscow by the KGB and eventually, in December 1979, the Soviet Union intervened in Afghanistan (with
24613-519: Was export and import. Karmal observed in early 1983 that without Soviet intervention, "It is unknown what the destiny of the Afghan Revolution would be ... We are realists and we clearly realize that in store for us yet lie trials and deprivations, losses and difficulties." Two weeks before this statement Sultan Ali Keshtmand , the Chairman of the Council of Ministers, lamented the fact that half
24776-477: Was given a state-owned apartment and a dacha . Karmal was succeeded as Revolutionary Council chairman by Haji Mohammad Tsamkani , who was not a member of the PDPA. Many years after the end of his leadership, he denounced the Saur Revolution of 1978 in which he took part, taking aim at the Khalq governments of Taraki and Amin. He told a Soviet reporter: It was the greatest crime against the people of Afghanistan. Parcham's leaders were against armed actions because
24939-628: Was initially supportive, but was assassinated . Under the command of the Soviets, Karmal ascended to power. On 27 December 1979, Karmal's pre-recorded speech to the Afghan people was broadcast via Radio Kabul from Tashkent in the Uzbek SSR (the radio wavelength was changed to that of Kabul), saying: "Today the torture machine of Amin has been smashed, his accomplices – the primitive executioners, usurpers and murderers of tens of thousand of our fellow countrymen – fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, sons and daughters, children and old people ..." Karmal
25102-455: Was lowered, the obligatory length of arms duty was extended and the age for reservists was increased to thirty-five years of age. In June 1981, Assadullah Sarwari lost his seat in the PDPA Politburo, replaced by Mohammad Aslam Watanjar , a former tank commander and Minister of Communications , Major General Mohammad Rafi was made Minister of Defence and Mohammad Najibullah appointed KHAD Chairman. These measures were introduced due to
25265-431: Was not in Kabul when the speech was broadcast; he was in Bagram , protected by the KGB . That evening Yuri Andropov , the KGB Chairman , congratulated Karmal on his rise to the Chairmanship of the Presidium of the Revolutionary Council , some time before Karmal received an official appointment. Karmal returned to Kabul on 28 December. He travelled alongside a Soviet military column. For the next few days Karmal lived in
25428-401: Was not the Soviet leadership's only choice for Karmal's succession; a GRU report noted that the majority of the PDPA leadership would support Assadullah Sarwari 's ascension to leadership. According to the GRU, Sarwari was a better candidate as he could balance between the Pashtuns, Tajiks and Uzbeks; Najibullah was a Pashtun nationalist. Another viable candidate was Abdul Qadir , who had been
25591-404: Was replaced by Sultan Ali Keshtmand , while Nur Ahmad Nur was given a bigger role in the Revolutionary Council. This was seen as "base broadening". The previous weight given to non-PDPA members in top positions ceased to be an important matter in the media by June 1981. This was significant, considering that up to five members of the Revolutionary Council were non-PDPA members. By the end of 1981,
25754-599: Was reported by some sources as 1 December and by others as 3 December. The Taliban summed up his rule as follows: [he] committed all kinds of crimes during his illegitimate rule ... God inflicted on him various kinds of hardship and pain. Eventually he died of cancer in a hospital belonging to his paymasters, the Russians. Dari Dari ( / ˈ d ɑː r i , ˈ d æ -/ ; endonym : دری [d̪ɐˈɾiː] ), Dari Persian ( فارسی دری , Fārsī-yi Darī , [fʌːɾˈsiːjɪ d̪ɐˈɾiː] or Fārsī-ye Darī , [fʌːɾˈsiːjɛ d̪ɐˈɾiː] ), or Eastern Persian
25917-470: Was reported that the government spent around 22 percent of total expenditure. When the political solution failed ( see "PDPA base" section ), the Afghan government and the Soviet military decided to solve the conflict militarily. The change from a political to a military solution did not come suddenly. It began in January 1981, as Karmal doubled wages for military personnel, issued several promotions, and decorated one general and thirteen colonels. The draft age
26080-420: Was spoken during the rule of the Sassanid dynasty . In general, Iranian languages are known from three periods, usually referred to as Old, Middle, and New (Modern) periods. These correspond to three eras in Iranian history, the old era being the period from some time before, during, and after the Achaemenid period (that is, to 300 BC), the Middle Era being the next period, namely, the Sassanid period and part of
26243-677: Was succeeded by Persian after the arrival of Islam. Dari Persian is one of the two official languages of Afghanistan. In practice though, it serves as the de facto lingua franca among the various ethnolinguistic groups. Dari Persian is spoken by approximately 25-80% of the population of Afghanistan . Tajiks , who comprise 27-39% of the population , are the primary native speakers, followed by Hazaras (9%) and Aymāqs (4%). Moreover, while Pashtuns (48%) natively speak Pashto , those living in Tajik and Hazara dominated areas also use Dari Persian as their main or secondary language. Thus, non-native Persian speaking groups have contributed to
26406-442: Was suspended after the apparent kidnapping and torture of a political rival. Some media reports in 2008 stated earlier that Dostum was "seeking political asylum" in Turkey while others said he was exiled. One Turkish media outlet said Dostum was visiting after flying there with then Turkey's Foreign Minister Ali Babacan during a meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). On 16 August 2009, Dostum
26569-411: Was to strengthen his position within the Watan Party (the renamed PDPA) by appeasing the pro-Karmal Parchamites, he failed – Karmal's apartment became a center for opposition to Najibullah's government. When Najibullah was toppled in 1992, Karmal became the most powerful politician in Kabul through leadership of the Parcham. However, his negotiations with the rebels collapsed quickly, and on 16 April 1992
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