The biography of the famous politician Babrak Karmal is inextricably linked with the history of his country. By all means, he wanted the national, religious and clan rivalries to end in Afghanistan. The head of the National Democratic Party of Afghanistan contributed to building difficult relations with the Soviet Union and Western countries. His broken fate is similar to the tragic stories of other leaders of the Afghan revolution.
early years
Babrak Karmal was born in 1929 in the city of Kamari. He could not boast of worker-peasant roots, because he was born in a wealthy family close to the king. His ancestors came from Indian Kashmir, his father did his best to hide his origin and spoke exclusively in Pashto. He made an excellent career - he rose to the rank of colonel general and became governor of the province of Paktia. Mother was a Persian-speaking Pashtun. At the birth of the boy, they named Sultan Hussein, later he replaced him with a typical Afghan name.
In the 50s, while studying at the university, the young man became interested in the ideas of communism, and was arrested for anti-government activities. In 1960, Karmal received a law degree and joined the Ministry of Education, and then the Ministry of Planning.
Guard the revolution
In parallel with the civil service, Babrak was engaged in revolutionary activities. In 1965, he joined the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan. The struggle went on inside the party itself, it was divided into “Halk”, which translates as “people” and “Parcham” - “banner”. Karmal led the Parcham faction. His supporters considered the victory of the revolution to be their main task and worked actively to achieve their goal. They staged rallies and strikes, issued print media and distributed to the public. The party gained popularity, which led to the nomination of its leaders in the country's parliament. For 8 years, Karmal was a deputy of the highest legislative body of the state.
April revolution
After the Saur revolution in 1978, the socialist pro-Soviet government came to power. As a result of the military coup, the Daud government was overthrown and the leadership of the country passed into the hands of local communists.
The uprising was inevitable, the pre-revolutionary situation was manifested in a sharp drop in living standards and a decrease in confidence in existing authorities. The masses were ready for the coup, which was carried out by officers of the Afghan army. It all started with the murder of one of the leaders of "Parcham". A wave of political unrest swept through Kabul, at which point President Daud made a mistake that later cost him his life. He ordered the arrest of faction leaders, among whom was Karmal. A few hours later tanks appeared on the streets of the Afghan capital, and a bomb was dropped near the presidential palace. The rebels broke into the palace and killed the president and members of his family. Karmal and his comrades were at large and stood at the head of the uprising. As a result of the Saur revolution, a new state appeared on the map - the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan.
At first, Karmal served as deputy chairman of the Revolutionary Council of the country, but was soon sent as ambassador to Czechoslovakia. The reason for this was the internal disagreement in the party ranks, they arose due to the diversity of religions, nationalities and clan disputes. The April revolution was communist in nature, formally in Afghanistan established a socialist system. The strategy of the new government was not clear and was largely copied from the Soviet Union. A new emblem appeared, decrees were issued to strengthen the new government, but all of them were broken about the traditions and foundations of Afghan society. The country has chosen the international non-alignment course. At that moment, the opposition raised its head, to combat which in 1979 a limited contingent of Soviet troops was introduced, which was in the country until 1989. According to official statistics, over 10 years Afghanistan claimed the lives of 14, 000 Soviet soldiers and officers.
While Karmal was in Europe, his comrade-in-arms Amin irresistibly strove for power, so a decision was made to physically eliminate the high-handed Afghan using special forces. According to historians, the April military coup stopped the development of democratic processes in the country for several decades.
Emigration
However, Babrak did not have to stay long as ambassador. A few months later he was accused of organizing an anti-government conspiracy and removed from his post. After eliminating Amin, he returned to his homeland and stood at the head of the Revolutionary Council. The new leader took into account previous mistakes, he introduced national equality and tried to establish relations with various representatives of religious society. All decisive actions of Karmal faded against the backdrop of the internal party struggle, even among members of the same party it was impossible to destroy centuries-old foundations.
When Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in the USSR in 1986, the PDPA in the homeland lost popularity. In the same year, Karmal was removed from the post of Secretary General of the Central Committee, referring to his poor health, and then he resigned as head of the Revolutionary Council. Soon Babark and his family were forced to emigrate to the Soviet Union. He lived in exile for 10 years and died in December 1996 in a Moscow hospital. The cause of his departure was an oncological disease.
