Nur Muhammad Taraki
Nur Muhammad Taraki (Pashto: نور محمد ترکی; 14 July 1917 – 9 October 1979) was an Afghan revolutionary communist politician, journalist and writer. He was a founding member of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) who served as its General Secretary from 1965 to 1979 and Chairman of the Revolutionary Council from 1978 to 1979.
Nur Muhammad Taraki
Position established
Hafizullah Amin
Position established
Mohammad Musa Shafiq (as Prime Minister, 1973)
Hafizullah Amin
14 July 1917
Nawa, Ghazni Province, Emirate of Afghanistan
9 October 1979 (aged 62)
Kabul, Democratic Republic of Afghanistan
Nur Bibi
Politician, journalist, writer
Taraki was born in Nawa, Ghazni Province, and he got his primary and secondary education from district pishin currently in Balochistan Pakistan graduated from Kabul University, after which he started his political career as a journalist. From the 1940s onward Taraki also wrote novels and short stories in the socialist realism style.[1] Forming the PDPA at his residence in Kabul along with Babrak Karmal, he was elected as the party's General Secretary at its first congress. He ran as a candidate in the 1965 Afghan parliamentary election but failed to win a seat. In 1966 he published the Khalq, a party newspaper advocating for class struggle, but the government closed it down shortly afterward. In 1978 he, Hafizullah Amin and Babrak Karmal initiated the Saur Revolution and established the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan.
Taraki's leadership was short-lived and marked by controversies. The government was divided between two PDPA factions: the Khalqists (led by Taraki), the majority, and the Parchamites, the minority. Taraki along with his "protégé" Amin started a purge of the government and party that led to several high-ranking Parchamite members being sent into de facto exile by being assigned to serve overseas as ambassadors, and later started jailing domestic Parchamites. His regime locked up dissidents and oversaw massacres of villagers, citing the necessity of Red Terror by the Bolsheviks in Soviet Russia, that opponents of the Saur Revolution had to be eliminated.[2] These factors, among others, led to a popular backlash that initiated a rebellion. Despite repeated attempts, Taraki was unable to persuade the Soviet Union to intervene in support of the restoration of civil order. Amin initiated most of these policies behind the scenes.[3]
Taraki's reign was marked by a cult of personality centered around him that Amin had cultivated. The state press and subsequent propaganda started to refer to him as the "Great Leader" and "Great Teacher", and his portrait became a common sight throughout the country.[4] His relationship with Amin turned sour during his rule, ultimately resulting in Taraki's overthrow on 14 September 1979 and subsequent murder on 8 October,[5] on Amin's orders, with Kabul press reporting that he died of illness. His death was a factor that led to the Soviet intervention in December 1979.
Assassination[edit]
On 11 September 1979, Chairman Taraki was greeted by Amin at the airport on his return to Kabul from Moscow. The flight was scheduled to land at 2:30, but Amin forced the delay of the landing by an hour as a demonstration to Taraki of his control over the government.[39] Shortly afterward, Taraki, instead of reporting to the cabinet about the Havana Summit, indirectly tried to dismiss Amin from his position as per the plot of the Soviets. He sought to neutralise Amin's power and influence by requesting that he serve overseas as an ambassador, but Amin turned down the proposal, shouting "You are the one who should quit! Because of drink and old age you have taken leave of your senses." The following day, Taraki invited Amin to the Arg (the Presidential palace) for lunch with him and the Gang of Four. Amin turned down the offer, stating he would prefer their resignation rather than lunching with them. Soviet Ambassador Puzanov managed to persuade Amin to make the visit to the palace along with Sayed Daoud Tarun, the Chief of Police, and Nawab Ali (an intelligence officer). Inside the palace on 14 September, bodyguards within the building opened fire on the visitors. Tarun was killed but Amin only sustained injuries and escaped to his car, driving to the Ministry of Defence. Shortly afterwards, Amin placed the Army on high alert, ordered the detainment of Taraki, and telephoned Puzanov about the incident. That evening at 6:30, tanks from the 4th Armoured Corps entered the city and stood at government positions. Amin returned to the Arg with a contingent of Army officers and placed Taraki under arrest. The Gang of Four, however, had "disappeared", taking refuge at the Soviet embassy.[45]
The Soviets tried to dissuade Amin from expelling Taraki and his associates from their positions, but Amin refused. On 15 September, a Soviet battalion at Bagram Air Base and the embassy were put in position in an attempt to rescue Taraki, but they were never ordered to make a move as they felt that Amin's forces had the edge.[46] At 8pm on 16 September, Radio Kabul announced that Taraki had informed the PDPA Politburo that he was no longer able to continue his duties, and that the Politburo subsequently elected Amin as the new General Secretary. After Taraki's arrest, Amin reportedly discussed the incident with Leonid Brezhnev in which he said, "Taraki is still around. What should I do with him?"[45] Brezhnev replied that it was his choice. Amin, who now believed he had the full support of the Soviets, ordered the death of Taraki. Taraki's death occurred on 8 October 1979, when he was (according to most accounts) suffocated with pillows by three men under Amin's orders. Taraki did not resist nor did he say anything as he was instructed by the men to lie down on a bed to be suffocated.[47] His body was secretly buried by the men at night. The news shocked Brezhnev, who had vowed to protect Taraki. It was also one of the factors of the Soviet intervention two months later. The Afghan media reported two days later that the ailing Taraki had died of a "serious illness", omitting any mention of his murder.[45][48]
Post-death[edit]
On the day that Taraki was assassinated, 28 men and women from Taraki's extended family (including his wife and brother) were brutally beaten and arrested by the security police and then starved, tortured and interrogated at Pul-e-Charkhi prison.[49] After Karmal came into power, family members including Taraki's widow were released.[50]
On 2 January 1980 edition of the Kabul New Times (the day of the PDPA's 15th anniversary), the education minister Anahita Ratebzad called Taraki "the martyred son of the country", and denounced Hafizullah Amin as "this savage despot, beastly, lunatic, and recognised spy of the imperialism of America".[51]
