Faiz Ahmad

Afghan communist leader (1946–1986)

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Faiz Ahmad

فيض احمد

Leader of the Afghanistan Liberation Organization
In office
1973 – 12 November 1986
Preceded by| Party established
Leader of the Progressive Youth Organization
In office
1965–1973
Personal details
Born| 1946
Kandahar, Kingdom of Afghanistan
Died| 12 November 1986(1986-11-12) (aged 39–40)
Peshawar, Pakistan
Political party| ALO (1973–1986)
Other political
affiliations| Shola-e Javid
Marxist-Leninist Organization of Afghanistan
Spouse| Meena Keshwar Kamal
Children| 3
Military service
Allegiance| Afghanistan Liberation Organization
Battles/wars| 1979 uprisings in Afghanistan

* Bala Hissar uprising

Soviet–Afghan War

Faiz Ahmad (Pashto: فیض احمد; 1946 – 12 November 1986) was an Afghan politician who led the Afghanistan Liberation Organization (ALO), a Marxist–Leninist organization established in Kabul.

## Early life

[edit]

Ahmad was born in Kandahar in 1946 to a ethnic Pashtun family.[1] He attended primary and secondary schools in Kandahar before moving to Kabul to enter Naderia High School, where he became involved in the leftist movement after reading some of the works of Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin.

Akram Yari, a leader of the Maoist movement in Afghanistan, was Ahmad's teacher in Naderia High School and he deeply influenced Ahmad’s political beliefs.[2] Yari was leader of Progressive Youth Organization (PYO), a Maoist organization which was formed on 6 October 1965. Later, Ahmad parted ways with PYO and formed the Revolutionary Group of People of Afghanistan.

After graduating from high school, Ahmad entered the Medical Faculty of Kabul University. During these years he would establish the Revolutionary Group of People of Afghanistan which was later named Afghanistan Liberation Organization (ALO).

## Anti government activity

[edit]

On April 27, 1978, military officers loyal to the PDPA launched a "revolution" on the orders of Hafizullah Amin in what would become known as the Saur Revolution. Despite bringing the communist Khalqists into power many smaller socialist groups rejected the Khalqists rule for various reasons including the Pashtun hegemony of the new government,[3] mistreatment of ethnic minorities,[4] and their Soviet Influence. On August 5, 1979, a united front of anti-Khalqist Marxists and moderate Islamists attempted an uprising in southern Kabul. The uprising lasted 5 hours and was brutally crushed by the Khalqist government's MiG aircraft, artillery and tanks.[5][6]

## Soviet-Afghan War

[edit]

During the onset of the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan, Faiz Ahmad, instrumental in the reorganization of the Afghanistan Liberation Organization, set the slogan "All resources at the service of liberation fronts!" as the interim objective of all "revolutionary struggle". During this time and under Faiz's leadership, the ALO decided to join the Islamist political forces in forming united fronts against the Soviet Union and the PDPA-Parcham government.

He wrote Mash'al-i Rehayi (The Beacon of Emancipation), an ALO political-theoretical publication, where he analyzed the situation and established political and strategic lines for ALO activities.

## Assassination

[edit]

Ahmad was assassinated along with six other ALO members by  Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's Hezb-i-Islami on 12 November 1986 in Peshawar, Pakistan.

## Personal life

[edit]

Ahmad married Meena Keshwar Kamal in 1976.[7] Kamal was assassinated in Quetta, Pakistan on 4 February 1987.[8] Reports vary as to who the assassins were, but are believed to have been agents of the Afghan Intelligence Service KHAD, the Afghan secret police.[9][10] In May 2002, two men were hanged in Pakistan after being convicted of Kamal's murder.[11]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Piovesana, Enrico (2012). Sholayi: The Afghan Maoist Movement (PDF). Italy: Citta del Sole. p. 15.
2. ^ "Biography of Comrade Dr Faiz Ahmad (1946–1986)". a-l-o.maoism.ru.
3. ^ Byrne, Malcolm; Zubok, Vladislav. "The Intervention in Afghanistan and the Fall of Detente, A Chronology" (PDF). nsarchive2.gwu.edu.
4. ^ "Flashback to 1979: A massacre of unarmed civilians in an uprising « RAWA News". www.rawa.org. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
5. ^ Revolution Unending: Afghanistan, 1979 to the Present by Gilles Dorronsoro, 2005.
6. ^ War in Afghanistan by K J Baker, 2011.
7. ^ Brodsky, Anne E. With all our strength : the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan. New York City: Routledge, 2003. p. 54
8. ^ Ramakrishnan, Nitya (May 2013). In Custody: Law, Impunity and Prisoner Abuse in South Asia. SAGE India. p. 118\. ISBN 9788132117513.
9. ^ Jon Boone (30 April 2010). "Afghan feminists fighting from under the burqa". the Guardian. Archived from the original on 20 September 2012. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
10. ^ "Biography of Martyred Meena, RAWA's founding leader". www.rawa.org. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
11. ^ "BBC News - SOUTH ASIA - Afghan activist's killers hanged". 7 May 2002. Archived from the original on 13 March 2007. Retrieved 15 May 2016.

## External links

[edit]

* Web site of Afghanistan Liberation Organization
* Website of Biography (Author:Ferdous)

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Theoretical
works|

* Report on an Investigation of the Peasant
Movement in Hunan (1927)
* On Contradiction (1937)
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* On Guerrilla Warfare (1937)
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* On the Ten Major Relationships (1956)
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Among the People (1957)
* A Critique of Soviet Economics (1960)
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* Settlers: The Mythology of the White Proletariat (1983)

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