April 28 reminds Afghans of grim paradox of history

By Shadi Khan Saif

KABUL, Afghanistan (AA) – Each year, the date April 28 reminds the Afghans of the grim paradox of their modern history when a single day separates the anniversaries of the 1978's communist revolution and the Mujahedeen's victory of 1992.

- The haunting ghosts of past

April 28 has been celebrated in Afghanistan as 'Victory Day' to mark the Mujahedeen's overthrowing of the Soviet-backed Kabul government. It is to pay homage and commemorate the sacrifices of all those Afghans who stood in the face of an invading Red Army to reclaim their country.

With the US and Muslim world's support, groups of Afghan Mujahedeen inked the Peshawar Accord in Pakistan to form an interim government in 1992 amid brewing internal rifts.

However, on the flip side, what followed that change of guards and faces in the power quarters in Kabul, particularly the ensuing bloodshed, instability and destruction – that much-acclaimed and hard-fought victory by the Mujahedeen got tainted.

Defense analyst Dawood Shah's father was a senior civil servant when Mujahedeen took power. "There was still some form of state structure and institutions intact when Dr. Najibullah's government was toppled by the Mujahedeen. From then onwards, every institution became crumbling until complete collapse of the state forcing millions to flee the country", the 60-year-old recalled.

The rift among Mujahedeen factions, particularly forces of the then proclaimed Defense Minister Ahmad Shah Massoud, his ally Abdul Rasheed Dostum and then Prime Minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar over the composition of the interim government plunged the country into bloody civil war for turf that continued until the Taliban emerged from the southern Kandahar province to prominence and took over Kabul in 1996.

Shah said that people had high hopes for peace and order associated with these leaders, but their 'greed' for power and corresponding atrocities crushed them. "Memories of rockets pouring over Kabul and each militia leader erecting armed checkpoints in their areas of influence still haunts many."

The constant foreign meddling amid bitter experiments with communism, Islamic rule and presidential democracy claimed at least over two million lives as a direct result of the conflict and some two million more become permanently disabled in the past four decades following the fall of the monarchy, according to conservative estimates by the local and foreign rights group.

In his message on this historic moment, President Mohammed Ashraf Ghani said on Wednesday: "No one in Afghanistan can impose will on the people through war and violence, it is time for the Taliban to give up the war and turn to democratic mechanisms to share power".

- People's coup going wrong

Before the Mujahedeen, on the night of April 27 in 1978, the Soviet-inspired People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan's self-proclaimed revolution had killed then-President Daoud Khan and most of his immediate family members inside the presidential palace.

Followers and supporters of the PDPA, commonly known as 'Khalq' (people)'s party for its Marxist and Leninist ideology, celebrated the end of monarchy that proved short-lived as factions developed and a popular resistance by the Mujahedeen emerged.

Senior PDPA leader, late Sulaiman Layeq, told Anadolu Agency in an interview a couple of years back that what happened in the later years of 'Khalq's rule was not something he and other founding members had envisioned. "I admit Afghanistan lost a lot, unimaginable, due to the Soviet invasion, but I also deplore the way some quarters are still exploiting the holy Jihad politically," the acclaimed Afghan poet told AA in 2017 before he sustained injuries in a suicide bombing in Kabul and later succumbing to his wounds.

- At historic crossroads; again

Afghanistan stands yet again at a historic crossroads with the nascent West-backed democracy battling for survival in the wake of the imminent withdrawal of all foreign troops that helped install it two decades ago in this mountainous and landlocked country connecting central and south Asia.

The armed Taliban insurgents have made it clear they would never give up on their struggle to establish a 'pure Islamic' system in Afghanistan.

"The 7th and 8th of 'Saur' (corresponding to 27 and 28 of April) are the days in the history of our country, one of which makes us weeps over the oppression, misery and misfortune of our country (Communist coup of April 27) and our people, and the other (Mujahedeen victory of April 28) is a symbol of pride, freedom and independence", the Taliban said in a new statement on Tuesday.

In views of Kabul-based historian Syed Iqbal, the contrasting opinions among Afghans of the past events and prevailing culture of impunity for the powerful have been blurring the lines between right and wrong. "I, like many young Afghans, am still battling with my past. My father was killed during the Communist rule (1978–1992), and I still do not know who killed him and why", he told Anadolu Agency.

Afghanistan, particularly its restive southern provinces, has recently been witnessing flare-up violence since US President Joe Biden unveiled the departure plan for American troops with September 2021 as the exit date.

Afghans such as historian Iqbal and analyst Shah fear the failure to reach peaceful settlement would most certainly repeat the vicious cycle of the past.

"The Islamic Emirate (Taliban) as established to restore the independence of its country, to eradicate chaos and to enforce the Islamic system, still inherits the protection of these sacred ideals, and will not allow anyone to do so again", reads the defiant message of the insurgents on the Mujahedeen's victory day.