Babrak Karmal

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Babrak Karmal
ببرک کارمل
General Secretary of the Central Committee of the People's Democratic Party
In office
27 December 1979 – 4 May 1986
Preceded by Hafizullah Amin
Succeeded by Mohammad Najibullah
Chairman of the Presidium of the Revolutionary Council
In office
27 December 1979 – 24 November 1986
Preceded by Hafizullah Amin
Succeeded by Haji Mohammad Chamkani
Chairman of the Council of Ministers
In office
27 December 1979 – 11 June 1981
Preceded by Hafizullah Amin
Succeeded by Sultan Ali Keshtmand
Personal details
Born 6 January 1929(1929-01-06)
Kamari, Kingdom of Afghanistan
Died 3 December 1996(1996-12-03) (aged 67)
Moscow, Russia
Political party People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan
Religion None (Atheism)

Babrak Karmal (born Babrak Hashem; 6 January 1929 – 1 or 3 December 1996) was an Afghan politician and statesman during the Cold War. Karmal was born in Kamari and educated at Kabul University, after which he started his career as a bureaucrat. Before, during and after his career as a bureaucrat Karmal was a leading member of the Afghan movement. He was introduced to marxism by Mir Akbar Khyber during his imprisonment for activities deemed to radical by the government. When the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) was formed, Karmal became one of its leading members, and eventually became the leader of the Parcham faction. When the PDPA split in 1967, the Parcham-faction established a Parcham PDPA, while their ideological nemesis, the Khalq's established a Khalqist PDPA. Under Karmal's leadership, the Parchamite PDPA participated in Mohammad Daoud Khan's rise to power, 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 refoundation of the PDPA in 1977. The PDPA took power in the 1978 Saur Revolution.

Karmal was appointed Deputy Chairman of the Revolutionary Council, synonymous with vice head of state, in the communist government. The Parchamite faction found itself squeezed by the Khalqists soon after taking power, and shortly after, in June a PDPA Central Committee meeting voted in favour of giving the Khalqist faction exclusive right for formulating and deciding PDPA policy. This decision was followed by a failed Parchamite coup, which in turn led Hafizullah Amin, a Khalqist, to initiate a purge against the Parchamite. Karmal survived this purge, probably due to his contacts with the Soviets, and was sent to exile in Prague. Karmal would remain in exile until December 1979, when the Soviet Union intervened in Afghanistan (with the support of the Afghan government) and killed Amin, the leader of the PDPA and the Afghan government.

Karmal was made Chairman of the Revolutionary Council and Chairman of the Council of Ministers on 27 December 1979, he would retain his Council of Ministers chairmanship until 1981 when he was succeeded in office by Sultan Ali Keshtmand. Throughout his reign Kamral tried to establish a support base for the PDPA by introducing several changes, among these were the writing of the Fundamental Principles of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, introducing a general amnesty of those people imprisoned during Nur Mohammad Taraki's and Amin's rule, and replacing the old Khalqist flag with a more traditional one. These policies and more did not increase the PDPA's legitimacy in the eyes of the Afghan people. These policy failures, and the stalemate that ensued following the Soviet intervention, led the Soviet leadership to become highly critical of Karmal's leadership. Under Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet Union was able to depose Karmal and replace him with Mohammad Najibullah. Following his loss of power, he was exiled to Moscow. He was allowed to return to Afghanistan in 1991 by the Najibullah government for unknown reasons. Back in Afghanistan he helped topple the Najibullah government, and he became an associate of Abdul Rashid Dostum, one of the men who brought down the communist government. Not long after, in 1996, Karmal died from liver cancer.

Contents

[edit] Early life and career

Karmal was born Sultan Hashem on 6 January 1929,[1] was the son of Muhammad Hussein Hashem, a Major General[2] in the Afghan Army and former governor of the province of Paktia, and was the second of five siblings. His family was one of the wealthier families in Kabul.[1] His ethnic background is disputed, some claim that he was Tajik who represented himself as a Ghilzai Pashtun but others claim that he descended from Hindu ancestors of Kashmir.[3] In 1986, Karmal announced that he, and his brother Mahmud Baryalay, were Pashtun because their mother came from the Mullakhel branch of the Pashtuns. However, this was controversial, considering that lineage in Afghanistan is supposed to be traced through the father, not the mother. The accusation that he was of Indian Muslim ancestry comes from the fact that his birthname, Sultan Hussein, is a common Indian Muslim name. It didn't help either that Karmal's own father denied his own ethnicity; Karmal's father was a Tajik.[4] To make matters even worse, Karmal spoke Dari (Persian) and not Pashto.[5]

Karmal was born in Kamari, a village close to Kabul.[4] He attended Nejat High School, a German-speaking school,[1] and graduated from it in 1948, and applied to enter the Faculty of Law and Political Science of Kabul University. Karmal's application was turned down because of his student union activities.[2] He studied at the College of Law and Political Science at Kabul University[4] 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 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.[2] When his mother died, Karmal left his own with his maternal aunt to live somewhere else. His father disowned him because of his leftist views. Karmal was involved in much debauchery, which was controversial in the mostly conservative Afghan society.[6]

[edit] Communist politics

In prison (from 1953 to 1956), Karmal was befriended by a fellow inmate, Mir Akbar Khyber, who introduced Karmal to marxism.[7] It was during his stay in prison that Karmal changed his name from Sultan Hussein to Babrak Karmal, which means "Comrade of the Workers'" in Pashtun, to disassociate himself from his bourgeoisie background. When he was released from prison, he continued his activities in the student union, but began to promote marxism.[8] Karmal used the rest of the 1950s and the early 1960s to become involved in marxist groups; there were at least four marxist groups in Afghanistan at the time, of the four of them, two were established by Karmal.[9] When the 1964 Afghan Provisional Constitution, which legalised the establishment of political parties, was introduced several Marxists came to the conclusion it was about time to establish a communist party. The People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA, the Communist Party) was established in January 1965 in Nur Muhammad Taraki's home.[10] Factionalism within the PDPA quickly became a problem; two factions were established within the party, the Khalq led by Taraki alongside Hafizullah Amin and the Parcham led by Karmal.[11]

Shuja Shah Durrani of Afghanistan in 1839.jpg
History of Afghanistan
See also: Timeline

Wikipedia book Book · Category Category · Portal Portal

During the 1965 parliamentary election Karmal was one of four PDPA members elected to the lower house of parliament; the three others were Anahita Ratebzad, Nur Ahmed Nur and Fezanul Haq Fezan. No Khalqist were elected to the lower house of parliament; albeit, Amin was 50 votes short. The Parchamite victory can be explained by the simple fact that Karmal could contribute financially to the PDPA electoral campaign.[12] Karmal became a leading figure within the student movement in the 1960s, and was able to get Mohammad Hashim Maiwandwal elected as Prime Minister after a student demonstration (called for by Karmal) concluded with three deaths.[13]

In 1967, the PDPA split in half, and two PDPAs were established, one Khalqist and one Parchamist. What initiated the dissolution of the PDPA was the closing down of the Khalqist newspaper, Khalq. Karmal criticised the Khalq for being to communist, and believed that its leadership should have hidden its marxist orientation instead of promoting it.[14] 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 the Central Committee to win the vote; this plan seemed to have failed considering that eighth of the new members became waverers and one became a Parchamite. In the spring of 1967 the PDPA had unofficially split, it was never stated officially that the split had occurred. Karmal and half the PDPA Central Committee left the PDPA to establish a Parchamite-led PDPA.[15] Officially the split was caused by ideological differences, but the truth was much simpler, the party split because of the different leadership styles and plans of Taraki and Karmal; Taraki wanted to model the party after Leninist norms while Karmal wanted to establish a democratic front. Another difference was that the majority of Khalqist came from rural areas, hence they were poorer, and were of Pashtun origins. The Parchamites were urban, hence richer and spoke more often than note Dari. The Khalqists also accused the Parchamites of having connection with the monarchy, and because of it, referred to the Parchamite PDPA as the "Royal Communist Party".[16] Both Karmal and Amin retained their seats in the lower house of parliament in the 1969 parliamentary election.[17]

[edit] The Daoud era

Further information: Saur Revolution

Mohammed Daoud Khan, in collaboration with the Parchamite PDPA and radical military officers, overthrew the monarchy and instituted the Republic in 1973.[18] After Daoud's seizure of power, an American embassy cable stated that the new government had established a Soviet-like Central Committee in which Karmal and Mir Akbar Khyber were given leading roles. The majority of ministries was also given to Parchamites; Hassan Sharq became Deputy Prime Minister, Major Faiz Mohammad became Minister of Internal Affairs and Nematullah Pazhwak became Minister of Education – the Parchamites also took control over the ministries of finance, agriculture, communications and border affairs. The new government quickly oppressed 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 as President by enhancing its executive, legislative and judicial powers. To make matters worse for the Parchamites, all parties other than the National Revolutionary Party (NRP, established by Daoud) were illegalised. Shortly after the ban of all parties other than the NRP, Daoud began a massive purge of Parchamites in government. Mohammad lost his position as interior minister, Abdul Qadir Dagarwal was demoted and Karmal was put under government surveillance.[19] To handle Daoud's suddenly anti-communist policies, the Soviet Union was able to reestablish the PDPA; Taraki was elected its General Secretary and Karmal its Second Secretary. While the Saur Revolution (literally the April Revolution) was planned for August, the assassination of Khyber led to a chain of events which ended with the communist seizing power. Karmal, when taking power in 1979, accused Amin of ordering the assassination of Khyber.[20]

[edit] Taraki–Amin rule

Taraki was appointed Chairman of the Presidium of the Revolutionary Council and Chairman of the Council of Minister, and retained his post as PDPA general secretary. Taraki initially formed a government which consisted of both Khalqists and Parchamites;[21] Karmal became Deputy Chairman of the Revolutionary Council[22] while Amin became Minister of Foreign Affairs[21] and Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers[23] and Mohammad Aslam Watanjar became Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers. The two Parchamites Abdul Qadir Dagarwal became Minister of Defence and Mohammad Rafi became Minister of Public Works.[24] According to Angel Rasanayagam, the appointment of Amin, Karmal and Watanjar as Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers led to a split within the Council of Ministers; the Khalqists answered to Amin, Karmel led the civilian Parchamites and the military officers (who were Parchamites) were answerable to Watanjar (a Khalqist).[25] The first conflict arose when the Khalqists wanted to give PDPA Central Committee membership to military officers who participated in the Saur Revolution; Karmal such a move. A PDPA Politburo meeting voted in favour of given Central Committee membership to the officers.[26]

On 27 June, three months after the Saur Revolution, Amin outmaneuvered the Parchamites at a Central Committee meeting;[27] the meeting decided to give the Khalqists exclusive right over formulating and deciding policy.[28] A purge was initiated by Amin, supported by Taraki, on 1 July against the Parchamites. Karmal, fearing for his safety, went into hiding in one of his Soviet friends home. Karmal tried to contact Alexander Puzanov, the Soviet ambassador to Afghanistan, to talk about the situation, but Puzanov refused. After hours of thinking about what he should do, Puzanov informed Amin about Karmal's whereabouts. It should be noted that the Soviets probably saved Karmal's life by sending him to the Socialist Republic of Czechoslovakia.[29] Karmal was exiled, but was able to establish a network with the remaining Parchamites in government. A coup to overthrow Amin was planned for September that year. Its leading members in Afghanistan were Qadir and Army Chief of Staff General Shahpur Ahmedzai. The coup was planned to be initiated on 4 September, on the Festival of Eid, because of the relaxed atmosphere. The conspiracy failed when the Afghan ambassador to India told the Afghan leadership about the plan. A purge was initiated, and Parchamite ambassadors were recalled, but few returned to Afghanistan, for instance, Karmal and Mohammad Najibullah stayed in their respective countries.[28]

Following the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan (Amin was informed of the decision to intervene, and supported the intervention),[30] and his assassination shortly after under the command of the Soviets, led to Karmal's ascension to power.[31] On 27 December Radio Kabul broadcast Karmal's pre-recorded speech, which stated "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 was not in Kabul when the speech was broadcast, he was in Bagram, protected by the KGB. On the evening of the 27 December Yuri Andropov, the Chairman of the KGB, congratulated Karmal's appointment to the Chairmanship of the Presidium of the Revolutionary Council, strange, considering the fact that Andropov stated he was appointed to the office before any Afghan body had appointed him anything.[32] Karmal first set fot in Kabul on 28 December; he travelled alongside a Soviet military column. For the next few days Karmal would live in a villa on the outskirt of Kabul under the protection of the KGB. On 1 January 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's "election" as leader.[33]

[edit] Presidency

[edit] Domestic policies

[edit] The "Fundamental Principles" and amnesty

When he came to power, Karmal promised an end to executions, the establishment of democratic institutions and free elections, the creation of a constitution, legalising the establishment of other parties than the PDPA and to respect individual and personal property. Prisoners incarcerated under the two previous governments would be freed in a general amnesty. He even promised that a coalition government was going to be established which was not going to 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. Even if Karmal indeed wanted all this, it would be impossible to put this into practice considering the presence of the Soviet Union.[34] A problem facing Karmal was the general mistrust most Afghans felt towards the government at this time, many still remembered that Karmal said he would protect private capital in 1978, a promise later proven to be a lie.[35]

Flag change under Karmal

Flag in use from 1978 to 1980
Flag in use from 1980 to 1987

Karmal's three most important promises was the general amnesty of prisoners, the promulgation of the Fundamental Principles of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan and the adoption of a new flag based on the traditional black, red and green colours (the flag of Taraki and Amin was red). The government also granted concessions to religious leaders, the restoration of confiscated property and the partial restoration of some of the previously confiscated property, which was confiscated during the land reform, of landowners. All these measures, with the exception of the general amnesties of prisoners, were introduced gradually. Of the 2,600 out of the 2,700 prisoners released from prison, 600 of these were Parchamites; 2,000 other prisoners were release. The general amnesty was greatly publicised by the government; while the event was greeted with enthusiasm by some, many people greeted the event with disdain since their loved ones, or associates, had died during the previous purges. Amin had planned to introduce a general amnesty in 1 January 1980, to coincide with the PDPA's sixteenth anniversary.[36]

The Fundamental Principles, work on it had started under Amin, guaranteed democratic rights such as freedom of speech, the right of security and life, the right for peaceful associations, the right to demonstrate and the right that "no one would be accused of crime but in accord with the provisions law" and that the accused had the right to a fair trial. The Fundamental Principles envisaged a democratic state led by the PDPA, the only party 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 sessions. The Presidium consisted mostly of PDPA Politburo members. The state would safeguard three kinds of property; state, cooperative and private property. The Fundamental Principles stated that the state had the right to develop the Afghan economy from an economy where man was exploited man to an economy were man was free. Another point stated that the state had the right to take "families, both parents and children, under its supervision."[37] While it looked democratic at the outlook, the Fundamental Principles relied on contradictions.[37]

The Fundamental Principles led to the establishment of two state organs, the Special Revolutionary Court, a specialised court for crimes against national security and territorial integrity, and the Legal and Scientific Research and Legislative Affairs, which became the supreme legislative organ of state. The organ could amend and draft laws, and introduce regulations and decrees on behalf of the government. Other institutions were introduced as well, most of them resembling Soviet institutions. The introduction of such institutions led the Afghan people to distrust the communist government even more.[38]

[edit] Separation of power: Khalq–Parcham

With Karmal's ascension to power, Parchamites began to "settle old scores". Revolutionary Troikas were established to arrest, sentence and to execute people. The personnel of Amin's guard were the first victim of the terror which ensued. Those commanders who had stayed loyal to Amin were arrested, and the prison, which had become nearly empty after the general amnesty, became full again. The Soviets protested, 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, and remained in prison for twelve years, until Mohammad Najibullah, then leader of the PDPA, released her.[39] When Karmal, a Parchamite, took power, leading posts in the Party and Government bureaucracy was taken over by the Parchamites. The Khalq faction was to be removed from political power, and only technocrats, opportunists and individual which the Soviets trusted would be appointed to the higher echelons of power. The Khalqists would remain in control of the Ministry of Interior, but the Parchamite were given control over KHAD, 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 – the Khalqists controlled the Ministry of Communications and the interior ministry, the Parchamites on the other hand controlled the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defence.[40] In contrast to the changes in government, the Parchamites had a clear majority in the PDPA Central Committee – only one Khalqi, Saleh Mohammad Zeary, held a seat in the PDPA Secretariat during Karmal's rule.[41]

On 14–15 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 the PDPA. The rules of holding a party conference was different, and the Parchamites were able to have a three-fifths majority. This infuriated several Khalqists, and the threat of expulsion did not dampen their anger.[42] The conference was not successful, but it was portrayed as such by the official media. The conference broke up after one and a half day in a 3-day long programme because of the intra-party struggle for power between the Khalqists and the Parchamites. A "programme of action" was introduced, and party rules were given minor changes. The official media also made it seem, as an explanation of the low party membership, hard to become a member of the party.[43]

[edit] PDPA base

When Karmal took power, he began a policy of 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 the PDPA.[45] At the beginning of his rule, Karmal tried to increase support for PDPA rule by appointing 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 costume of having an Islamic invocation every time the government issued a proclamation. In his first speech to the Afghan people, Karmal called for the establishment of the National Fatherland Front (NFF) – NFF's founding congress was held in June 1981. Sadly 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.[46]

By 1981, the government began to give up on a political solution to the conflict. At the fifth PDPA Central Committee plenum. In June Karmal resigned from his Council of Ministers chairmanship and was replaced by Sultan Ali Keshtmand, while Nur Ahmad Nur was given a bigger role in the Revolutionary Council. This was seen as a policy of his policy of "base broadening".[42] The previous weight given to non-PDPA members in top positions ceased to be an important matter in the media by June 1981. This is notable, considering the fact that up-too five members of the Revolutionary Council were non-PDPA members. By the end of 1981, the previous figures which had been heavily presented in the media, were all gone; two were given ambassadorships, two ceased to active in politics, one continued as an advisor to the government and the other three changed sides, and began to work for the opposition.[42]

The national policy of reconciliation continued, in January 1984 the land reform introduced by Taraki and Amin was drastically modified, the limits of landholdings was increased to win the support of middle class peasants, the government's literacy programme was continued, but concessions to woman were made and in 1985 the Loya Jirga was reconvened; the 1985 Loya Jirga was followed by a tribal jirga which convened September that year. 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 the elected officials were non-PDPA members. By the end of Karmal's rule, several non-PDPA members were given high-level government positions.[47]

[edit] Civil war and military

Further information: Soviet war in Afghanistan
Troop levels
Soldiers As of
25,000 1980[48]
25–30,000 1981[49]
25–30,000 1982[49]
40,000 1983[50]
40,000 1984[51]
35–40,000 1985[52]

In March 1979, the military budget was 6.4 million dollars, which was 8.3 percent of the government bugdet, but only 2.2 of gross national product. After the Soviet intervention, the defence budget increased to 208 million dollars in 1980, and 325 million dollars in 1981. In 1982 it was reported that the government spent around 22 percent of total expenditure.[53]

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 sudden, but gradually. It began in January 1981 Karmal doubled wages for military personnel, issued several promotions, and one general and thirteen colonels were bestowed decorations. The draft age 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, Assadullah Sarwari lost his seat in the PDPA Politburo, and in his place Mohammad Aslam Watanjar, a former tank commander and the then Minister of Communications, Major General Mohammad Rafi, the Minister of Defence and KHAD Chairman Mohammad Najibullah. These measures were introduced due to the collapse of the army; before the invasion the army could field 100,000 troops, after the invasion only 25,000. Desertions was pandemic, and the recruitment campaigns for young people often led them to flew to the opposition.[54] To better organise the military, seven military zones were established each with its own Defence Council. The Defence Council was established at the national, provincial and district level to devolve powers to the local PDPA.[42] It is estimated that the Afghan government as much as 40 percent of government on defence.[55]

[edit] Economy

During the civil war, and the ensuing Soviet war in Afghanistan, most of the country's infrastructure was destroyed, and normal patterns of economic activity were disrupted.[56] The Gross national product (GNP) fell substantially during Karmal's rule because of the conflict; trade and transport was disrupted along with the loss of labor and capital. In 1981 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 most dominant form of economic activity was the agricultural sector. Agriculture accounted for 63 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 1981; 56 percent of the labour force worked in agriculture in 1982. Industry accounted for 21 percent of GDP in 1982, and employed 10 percent of the labour 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, and turned negative by 1982 and reached minus 70.3 million United States dollars. The only economic activity which grew substantially during Karmal's rule was export and import.[57]

[edit] Foreign policy

As Karmal noted in the spring of 1983, without Soviet intervention "Is 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."[59] Two weeks before this statement Sultan Ali Keshtmand, the Chairman of the Council of Ministers, lamented about the fact that one-half of the schools and three-quarters of communications had been destroyed since 1979.[59] The Soviet Union rejected several Western made peace plans, such as the Carrington Plan, since they did not take into consideration the PDPA government. For example, the majority of Western peace plans were made in collaboration with Afghan opposition forces. At the 26th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) Leonid Brezhnev, the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, stated;[60]

"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 the 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 the Pakistani government was clear; complete Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, and the establishment of a non-PDPA government. Karmal, summarising his discussions with Iran and Pakistan, said "Iran and Pakistan have so far not opted for concrete and constructive positions."[61] During Karmal's rule Afghan–Pakistani relations remained hostile; it was the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan which was the catalyst for the hostile relations between the countries. The increasing numbers of Afghan refugees in Pakistan helped, and sustained, the PDPA's illegitimacy to rule.[62] The Soviet Union threatened Pakistan in 1985 that it would help the Balochi liberation movement in Pakistan if the Pakistani government continued to aid the mujahideen in Afghanistan.[63] Karmal became a problem to the Soviets when they wanted to withdraw; Karmal, in contrast to the Soviets, did not want a Soviet withdrawal, and he hampered attempts to improve relations with Pakistan since the Pakistanti government had refused to recognise the PDPA government.[64]

[edit] Fall from power and succession

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."[65] It didn't help Karmal either that the Soviet government blamed him for the failures in Afghanistan. Gorbachev was worried over the situation in Afghanistan, and the told the Soviet Politburo "If we don't change approaches [to evacuate Afghanistan], we will be fighting there for another 20 or 30 years."[66] Its not clear when the Soviet leadership began to campaign for Karmal's dismissal, but its noteworthy that Andrei Gromyko discussed the possibility of Karmal's resignation with Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, 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 that Karmal needed to resign already in 1983. Gorbachev's own plan was to replace Karmal with Mohammad Najibullah, who had joined the PDPA at its creation.[67] Najibullah was thought highly of by Yuri Andropov, Boris Ponomarev and Dmitriy Ustinov, and negotiations for his successions may have started in 1983. Najibullah was not the Soviet leadership's only choice for Karmal's succession, a GRU reported 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 because he could balance between the Pashtuns, Tajiks and Uzbeks among others, in contrast to Najibullah who was a Pashtun nationalist. Another viable candidate was Abdul Qadir Dagarwal, who had been a participant in the Saur Revolution.[68]

Najibullah was appointed to the PDPA Secretariat in November 1985. During Karmal's March 1986 visit to the Soviet Union, the Soviets persuaded Karmal that he was in ill health, and should resign.[69] This did not go as planned, when a Soviet doctor told Karmal that he was in good health. Karmal, understanding the situation, asked to return home to Kabul, and said that he understod Soviet wishes, and promised he would listen to Soviet recommendations. Before leaving, Karmal promised he would step down as PDPA General Secretary. The Soviets, who did not trust him, sent Vladimir Kryuchkov, the head of intelligence in the KGB, after him. At a meeting in Kabul, Karmal confessed his undying love for the Soviet Union, comparing his love to the Soviet Union to his Muslim faith. Kryuchkov, concluding that he could not persuade him, asked to be able to leave, and return the next day. In the mean time, the Afghan defence minister and the state security minister visited Karmal at his office, telling him that he had to resign from one of his posts. At this point Karmal understood he had no other choice, and resigned from his PDPA General Secretaryship at the 18th PDPA Central Committee plenum, and he was succedeed as General Secretary by Najibullah.[70]

Karmal still had support in the party, and began a campaign to weaken Najibullah's position within the party. He even went as far as to spread rumours that he would be reappointed PDPA General Secretary. Karmal's power base was the KHAD, the Afghan equivalent to the KGB.[70] 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. Yulii Vorontsov, the Soviet ambassador to Afghanistan, was ordered to tell Najibullah that he should ease Karmal slowly out of power, not quickly. Najibullah then began complaining to the Soviet leadership that Karmal used most of his time spare looking for errors and "speaking against the National Reconciliation [programme]".[71] At a meeting of the Soviet Politburo on 13 November it was decided that Najibullah should remove Karmal; this motion was supported by Gromyko, Vorontsov Eduard Shevardnadze, Anatoly Dobrynin and Viktor Chebrikov. A meeting in the PDPA in November relieved Karmal of his Revolutionary Council chairmanship, and he was exiled to Moscow where he was given a state-owned apartment and a dacha.[71] In his position as Revolutionary Council chairman Karmal was succeeded by Haji Mohammad Chamkani, who was not a member of the PDPA.[72]

[edit] Later life and death

For unknown reasons, Karmal was invited back to Kabul by Najibullah, "for equally obscure reasons Karmal accepted." If Najibullah's plan was to strengthen his position within the Homeland Watan Party (the renamed PDPA) by appeasing the pro-Karmal Parchamites he failed. Karmal's apartment became a centre for opposition to Najibullah's government. When Najibullah was toppled in 1992, Karmal was not arrested, and continued to live in liberty.[73] When the government indeed collapsed, Karmal became the leading force in Kabul through his leadership of the Parcham. Negotiations with the rebels soon collapsed, and the rebels led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar took Kabul on 16 April.[74] After the fall of Najibullah's government, Karmal was based in Hairatan. There, it is alleged, Karmal used most of his time by either trying to establish a new party, or advising people to join National Islamic Movement (NIM). Abdul Rashid Dostum, the leader of NIM, was a supporter of Karmal during his rule. It is unknown how much control Karmal had over Dostum, but there is little to prove that Karmal had any control over Dostum at all. What is more probable is that Karmal's influence over Dostum was indirect – some of his former associates supported Dostum. Those who talked to Karmal during this period noted his lack of interest in politics.[75] In early December 1996, Karmal died in Moscow's Central Clinical Hospital from liver cancer. The date of his death was reported by some sources as 1 December[76][77] and by others as 3 December.[78][79] 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."[76]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b c Arnold, Anthony (1983). Afghanistan's Two-party Communism: Parcham and Khalq. Hoover Press. p. 19. ISBN 9780817977924. 
  2. ^ a b c Clements, Frank (2003). Conflict in Afghanistan: a Historical Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. p. 141. ISBN 9781851094028. 
  3. ^ Wahab, Shaista; Youngerman, Barry (2007). A Brief History of Afghanistan. Infobase Publishing. p. 156. ISBN 9780816057610. 
  4. ^ a b c Kakar, Hassan; Kakar, Mohammed (1997). Afghanistan: The Soviet Invasion and the Afghan Response, 1979–1982. University of California Press. p. 65. ISBN 9780520208933. 
  5. ^ Arnold, Anthony (1983). Afghanistan's Two-party Communism: Parcham and Khalq. Hoover Press. p. 21. ISBN 9780817977924. 
  6. ^ Kakar, Hassan; Kakar, Mohammed (1997). Afghanistan: The Soviet Invasion and the Afghan Response, 1979–1982. University of California Press. p. 64. ISBN 9780520208933. 
  7. ^ Misdaq, Nabi (2006). Afghanistan: Political Frailty and External Interference. Taylor & Francis. p. 94. ISBN 9780674076082. 
  8. ^ Rasanayagam, Angelo (2005). Afghanistan: A Modern History. I.B.Tauris. p. 47. ISBN 9781850438571. 
  9. ^ Rasanayagam, Angelo (2005). Afghanistan: A Modern History. I.B.Tauris. pp. 47–48. ISBN 9781850438571. 
  10. ^ Rasanayagam, Angelo (2005). Afghanistan: A Modern History. I.B.Tauris. p. 48. ISBN 9781850438571. 
  11. ^ Rasanayagam, Angelo (2005). Afghanistan: A Modern History. I.B.Tauris. p. 49. ISBN 9781850438571. 
  12. ^ Arnold, Anthony (1983). Afghanistan's Two-party Communism: Parcham and Khalq. Hoover Press. p. 32. ISBN 9780817977924. 
  13. ^ Arnold, Anthony (1983). Afghanistan's Two-party Communism: Parcham and Khalq. Hoover Press. pp. 33–34. ISBN 9780817977924. 
  14. ^ Arnold, Anthony (1983). Afghanistan's Two-party Communism: Parcham and Khalq. Hoover Press. p. 34. ISBN 9780817977924. 
  15. ^ Arnold, Anthony (1983). Afghanistan's Two-party Communism: Parcham and Khalq. Hoover Press. p. 35. ISBN 9780817977924. 
  16. ^ Gladstone, Cary (2001). Afghanistan Revisited. Nova Publishers. p. 113. ISBN 9781590334218. 
  17. ^ Gladstone, Cary (2001). Afghanistan Revisited. Nova Publishers. p. 114. ISBN 9781590334218. 
  18. ^ Tomsen, Peter (2011). The Wars of Afghanistan: Messianic Terrorism, Tribal Conflicts, and the Failures of Great Powers. PublicAffairs. p. 105. ISBN 9781586487638. 
  19. ^ Tomsen, Peter (2011). The Wars of Afghanistan: Messianic Terrorism, Tribal Conflicts, and the Failures of Great Powers. PublicAffairs. p. 107. ISBN 9781586487638. 
  20. ^ Tomsen, Peter (2011). The Wars of Afghanistan: Messianic Terrorism, Tribal Conflicts, and the Failures of Great Powers. PublicAffairs. pp. 110–111. ISBN 9781586487638. 
  21. ^ a b Gladstone, Cary (2001). Afghanistan Revisited. Nova Publishers. p. 117. ISBN 9781590334213. 
  22. ^ Brecher, Michael; Wilkenfeld, Jonathan (1997). A Study of Crisis. University of Michigan Press. p. 356. ISBN 9780472108060. 
  23. ^ Asthana, N.C.; Nirmal, A. (2009). Urban Terrorism: Myths and Realities. Pointer Publishers. p. 219. ISBN 9788171325986. 
  24. ^ Rasanayagam, Angelo (2005). Afghanistan: A Modern History. I.B.Tauris. p. 70. ISBN 978-1850438579. 
  25. ^ Rasanayagam, Angelo (2005). Afghanistan: A Modern History. I.B.Tauris. pp. 70–71. ISBN 978-1850438579. 
  26. ^ Rasanayagam, Angelo (2005). Afghanistan: A Modern History. I.B.Tauris. p. 71. ISBN 978-1850438579. 
  27. ^ Rasanayagam, Angelo (2005). Afghanistan: A Modern History. I.B.Tauris. p. 72–73. ISBN 978-1850438579. 
  28. ^ a b Westad, Odd (2005). Afghanistan: A Modern History. Cambridge University Press. p. 73. ISBN 978-1850438579. 
  29. ^ Rasanayagam, Angelo (2005). The Global Cold War: Third World Interventions and the Making of Our Times. I.B.Tauris. p. 296. ISBN 9780521853644. 
  30. ^ Garthoff, Raymond (1994). Détente and Confrontation: American–Soviet relations from Nixon to Reagan. Brookings Institution Press. p. 1017. ISBN 9780815730415. 
  31. ^ Braithwaite, Rodric (2011). Afgantsy: The Russians in Afghanistan, 1979–1989. Oxford University Press. p. 99. ISBN 9780199832651. 
  32. ^ Braithwaite, Rodric (2011). Afgantsy: The Russians in Afghanistan, 1979–1989. Oxford University Press. p. 103. ISBN 9780199832651. 
  33. ^ Braithwaite, Rodric (2011). Afgantsy: The Russians in Afghanistan, 1979–1989. Oxford University Press. pp. 103–104. ISBN 9780199832651. 
  34. ^ Kakar, Hassan; Kakar, Mohammed (1997). Afghanistan: The Soviet Invasion and the Afghan Response, 1979–1982. University of California Press. p. 71. ISBN 9780520208933. 
  35. ^ Kakar, Hassan; Kakar, Mohammed (1997). Afghanistan: The Soviet Invasion and the Afghan Response, 1979–1982. University of California Press. pp. 71–72. ISBN 9780520208933. 
  36. ^ Kakar, Hassan; Kakar, Mohammed (1997). Afghanistan: The Soviet Invasion and the Afghan Response, 1979–1982. University of California Press. p. 72. ISBN 9780520208933. 
  37. ^ a b Kakar, Hassan; Kakar, Mohammed (1997). Afghanistan: The Soviet Invasion and the Afghan Response, 1979–1982. University of California Press. p. 73. ISBN 9780520208933. 
  38. ^ Yassari, Nadjma (2005). The Sharīʻa in the Constitutions of Afghanistan, Iran, and Egypt: Implications for Private Law. Mohr Siebeck. p. 13. ISBN 9783161487873. 
  39. ^ Braithwaite, Rodric (2011). Afgantsy: The Russians in Afghanistan, 1979–1989. Oxford University Press. p. 104. ISBN 9780199832651. 
  40. ^ Weiner, Myron; Banuazizi, Ali (1994). The Politics of Social Transformation in Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan. Syracuse University Press. p. 44. ISBN 9780815626084. 
  41. ^ Weiner, Myron; Banuazizi, Ali (1994). The Politics of Social Transformation in Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan. Syracuse University Press. p. 45. ISBN 9780815626084. 
  42. ^ a b c d Weiner, Myron; Banuazizi, Ali (1994). The Politics of Social Transformation in Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan. Syracuse University Press. p. 48. ISBN 9780815626084. 
  43. ^ Weiner, Myron; Banuazizi, Ali (1994). The Politics of Social Transformation in Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan. Syracuse University Press. p. 49. ISBN 9780815626084. 
  44. ^ Adamec, Ludwig (2011). Historical Dictionary of Afghanistan. Scarecrow Press. pp. Iii, Iiii & lv. ISBN 9780810878150. 
  45. ^ Weiner, Myron; Banuazizi, Ali (1994). The Politics of Social Transformation in Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan. Syracuse University Press. pp. 45–46. ISBN 9780815626084. 
  46. ^ Weiner, Myron; Banuazizi, Ali (1994). The Politics of Social Transformation in Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan. Syracuse University Press. p. 46. ISBN 9780815626084. 
  47. ^ Regional Surveys of the World: Far East and Australasia 2003. Routledge. 2002. p. 64. ISBN 9781857431339. 
  48. ^ Arnold, Anthony (1983). Afghanistan's Two-party Communism: Parcham and Khalq. Hoover Press. p. 111. ISBN 9780817977924. 
  49. ^ a b Amtstutz, J. Bruce (1994). Afghanistan: The First Five Years of Soviet Occupation. DIANE Publishing. p. 180. ISBN 9780788111116. 
  50. ^ Amtstutz, J. Bruce (1994). Afghanistan: The First Five Years of Soviet Occupation. DIANE Publishing. p. 181. ISBN 9780788111116. 
  51. ^ Bonosky, Phillip (2001). Afghanistan–Washington's secret war. International Publishers. p. 261. ISBN 9780717807321. 
  52. ^ Levite, Ariel; Jenteleson, Bruce; Berman, Larry (1992). Foreign Military Intervention: The Dynamics of Protracted Conflict. Columbia University Press. p. 80. ISBN 9780231072953. 
  53. ^ Amtstutz, J. Bruce (1994). Afghanistan: The First Five Years of Soviet Occupation. DIANE Publishing. p. 186. ISBN 9780788111116. 
  54. ^ Weiner, Myron; Banuazizi, Ali (1994). The Politics of Social Transformation in Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan. Syracuse University Press. p. 47. ISBN 9780815626084. 
  55. ^ Regional Surveys of the World: Far East and Australasia 2003. Routledge. 1986. p. 86. ISBN 9781857431339. 
  56. ^ "Economy". Afghanistan.com. http://www.afghanistans.com/Information/Economy/default.htm. Retrieved 1 February 2012. 
  57. ^ "Country Profile: Afghanistan". Illinois Institute of Technology. http://www.gl.iit.edu/govdocs/afghanistan/country.html. Retrieved 1 February 2012. 
  58. ^ Rubin, Barnett (2002). The Fragmentation of Afghanistan: State Formation and Collapse in the International System (2nd ed.). Yale University Press. pp. 296–297. ISBN 9780300095197. 
  59. ^ a b Leird, Robbin; Hoffmann, Erik (1986). Soviet foreign policy In a Changing World. Transaction Publishers. p. 306. ISBN 9780202241661. 
  60. ^ Leird, Robbin; Hoffmann, Erik (1986). Soviet foreign policy In a Changing World. Transaction Publishers. pp. 313–314. ISBN 9780202241661. 
  61. ^ Leird, Robbin; Hoffmann, Erik (1986). Soviet foreign policy In a Changing World. Transaction Publishers. p. 314. ISBN 9780202241661. 
  62. ^ Qassem, Ahmad (2009). Afghanistan's Political Stability: a Dream Unrealised. Ashgate Publishing. pp. 87–88. ISBN 9780754679400. 
  63. ^ Hilali, A. Z. (2005). US–Pakistan relationship: Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Ashgate Publishing. p. 50. ISBN 9780754642206. 
  64. ^ Qassem, Ahmad (2009). Afghanistan's Political Stability: a Dream Unrealised. Ashgate Publishing. p. 78. ISBN 9780754679400. 
  65. ^ Kakar, Hassan; Kakar, Mohammed (1997). Afghanistan: The Soviet Invasion and the Afghan Response, 1979–1982. University of California Press. p. 74. ISBN 9780520208933. 
  66. ^ Kakar, Hassan; Kakar, Mohammed (1997). Afghanistan: The Soviet Invasion and the Afghan Response, 1979–1982. University of California Press. p. 75. ISBN 9780520208933. 
  67. ^ Kalinovsky, Artemy (2011). A Long Goodbye: The Soviet Withdrawal from Afghanistan. Harvard University Press. p. 95. ISBN 9780674058668. 
  68. ^ Kalinovsky, Artemy (2011). A Long Goodbye: The Soviet Withdrawal from Afghanistan. Harvard University Press. p. 96. ISBN 9780674058668. 
  69. ^ Kalinovsky, Artemy (2011). A Long Goodbye: The Soviet Withdrawal from Afghanistan. Harvard University Press. pp. 96–97. ISBN 9780674058668. 
  70. ^ a b Kalinovsky, Artemy (2011). A Long Goodbye: The Soviet Withdrawal from Afghanistan. Harvard University Press. p. 97. ISBN 9780674058668. 
  71. ^ a b Kalinovsky, Artemy (2011). A Long Goodbye: The Soviet Withdrawal from Afghanistan. Harvard University Press. p. 98. ISBN 9780674058668. 
  72. ^ Amtstutz, J. Bruce (1994). Afghanistan: Past and Present. DIANE Publishing. p. 152. ISBN 9780788111116. 
  73. ^ Steele, Jonathan (2011). Ghosts of Afghanistan: Hard Truths and Foreign Myths. Counterpoint Press. p. 146. ISBN 9781582437873. 
  74. ^ Clements, Frank (2003). Conflict in Afghanistan: a Historical Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. p. 26 (xxvi). ISBN 9781851094028. 
  75. ^ Giustozzi, Antonio (2009). Empires of Mud: War and Warlords of Afghanistan. Columbia University Press. p. 182. ISBN 9780231700801. 
  76. ^ a b Pace, Eric (6 December 1996). "Babrak Karmal, Afghanistan's Ex-President, Dies at 67". The New York Times. Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, Jr.. http://www.nytimes.com/1996/12/06/world/babrak-karmal-afghanistan-s-ex-president-dies-at-67.html. Retrieved 31 January 2012. 
  77. ^ "Gestorben: Babrak Karmal [Died: Babrak Karmal]" (in German). Der Spiegel. Spiegel Online. 9 December 1996. http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-9133712.html. Retrieved 2 February 2012. 
  78. ^ "Babrak Karmal". Encyclopædia Britannica. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/312510/Babrak-Karmal. Retrieved 2 February 2012. 
  79. ^ Whitaker, Raymond (6 December 1996). "Obituary: Babrak Karmal". The Independent. Independent Print Limited. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-babrak-karmal-1313192.html. Retrieved 2 February 1996. 

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Babrak Karmal
Political offices
Preceded by
Hafizullah Amin		 Chairman of the Presidium of the Revolutionary Council
1979–1986		 Succeeded by
Haji Mohammad Chamkani
Preceded by
Hafizullah Amin		 Chairman of the Council of Ministers
1979–1981		 Succeeded by
Sultan Ali Keshtmand
Party political offices
Preceded by
Hafizullah Amin		 General Secretary of the Central Committee of the People's Democratic Party
1979–1986		 Succeeded by
Mohammad Najibullah
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Babrak_Karmal&oldid=478557144"
Personal tools
Namespaces

Variants
Actions
Navigation
Interaction
Toolbox
Print/export
Languages