Massoud wanted to negotiate with the Russians, but this process was destroyed by Najib.
Author: Dr. Farid Younes, former professor of Islamic anthropology and philosophy at California State University (USA), member of the Sangar advisory board.
On the day I was going to Australia (October 1, 2023, at the invitation of Noor Cultural Center and Nabi Akram Mosque in Sydney), one of my dear friends from Germany gifted me an interesting book - “Half a Century of Struggle and Politics: Samia Ramesh Interview with Abdulhamid Muhtat". Since the flight from San Francisco to Australian Sydney is approximately seventeen hours, I was able to read this five-hundred-page book in its entirety during the round-trip flight.
Mr. Muhtat was one of the leftists and Parchamis who collaborated with Sardar Mohammad Dawood in overthrowing the monarchy. At that time, he became the Minister of Communications, and then, during the Taraki-Amin government, he was the Afghan Ambassador to Japan. 9 years passed and during Dr. Najib's republic, he became vice president.
Well, history is one of the humanities, like religion and political science, journalism, and fine arts, and anyone can write history or express opinions on politics. You don't have to be a historian or have a Ph.D. in political science. These areas just require work and study. In the autobiography, which is the main part of this book, everything can be true or false, we do not know and have no right to judge, because the author at that moment in history was alone and there were no witnesses, or there were witnesses who are not alive.
For example, Muhtat says about Dr. Najib, “I told Dr. Najib, “I will be with you as long as you work for people’s freedom and justice, otherwise I will not be with you” (page 355 of the book). Shahnawaz Tanay, who was present at the meeting and could confirm the veracity of his words, is no longer alive. Therefore, the reader may doubt the truth of this statement from a scientific point of view, since at this point there is no witness except the speaker himself, but we know this and have evidence that Najib's period was not a period of justice and the narrator, who praises himself, cooperated with an unfair system. From the beginning of the Davudkhana Republic to the end. That's the problem with writing history in memoir form. But some issues that are known to people can be judged.
Part of the book mentions Ahmad Shah Massoud's relationship with Dr. Najib. Najib did not want Massoud to negotiate with the Russians and wanted Massoud to sit down first at the negotiating table with Najib himself. Even on the basis of this book, Najib wanted to appoint Massoud as the Minister of Defense, but Massoud did not accept his proposal and was not willing to negotiate with Dr. Najib. Massoud wanted to negotiate with the Russians, but this process was destroyed by Najib. The Taliban also did not want to negotiate with the Ghani government, but only wanted to negotiate with America, which overthrew it. Muhtat tried to create peace between Ahmad Shah Massoud and Najib (see memorable photo on page 526), but this wish was not fulfilled. Massoud's opponents always accuse Massoud of compromising with the Russians, while Massoud wanted to personally get the Russians to commit to leaving the country and for the Russians to personally admit defeat and leave Afghanistan.
The book talks about one objective reality of Afghan society. Najib had ethnic prejudices, and the reason for the disagreement was that Najib did not want to see a Tajik in power.
The main problem of Afghanistan in this book is seen as nationalism and ethnocentrism, which has caused national discord (if there is such a national thing). The book does not admit why the Russians did not rely on the Parchamis, but on Sardar Daud to destroy the monarchy. Because the Russians wanted their appointees like Muhtat to destroy the system from within the family and then open the way for themselves.
The Russians and their appointees, like Mr. Mukhtat, did not find that the idea or theory of the proletariat and socialism did not work in an ethno-tribal system that had existed for more than a hundred years. Interestingly, Muhtat believes that all Western systems are socialist [ridiculous] and even says that the current Vice President of the United States is a socialist. This is while the current Western systems in Europe are based on capitalism with one cover - solving social issues in favor of public welfare, but they are not socialist. With the help of the United States, the West fought for victory over socialism on a global level, and that’s all, but they tore the Soviet system into pieces, and it was sent to the dustbin of history.
