Democratic Palestine : 22 (ص 31)
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- Democratic Palestine : 22 (ص 31)
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Democratic Republic of Afghanistan
In the Democratic Republic of
Afghanistan (DRA), 1987 was ushered
in with a bold, new peace initiative.
Comrade Najib, General Secretary of
the People’s Democratic Party of
Afghanistan (PDPA), announced
detailed steps for national reconcilia-
tion. He proposed a ceasefire starting
January 15th and initially lasting six
months, wherein the DRA armed forces
would halt offensive actions and return
to their regular barracks. Along with
this was an offer of amnesty for de-
tained counterrevolutionaries and those
who return to the country and agree to
stop fighting. There would be
guaranteed safe conduct and no
persecution for former political ac-
tivities.
Confirming that «the revolutionary
process is irreversible,» Comrade Najib
expressed the DRA’s readiness to enter
into negotiations with the opposition
that responded to the call to lay down
arms, aimed at the formation of a
broad, coalition-type government of
national unity on the principle of «just
representation for all in the political
structure and economic life.»
Clearly the DRA’s proposals are in
the interests of the Afghani revolution
and people as a whole, and this was
confirmed by the popular response. A
Reuters dispatch from the capital,
Kabul, on January 17th, told of «danc-
ing in the houses of ordinary people at
the prospect of an end to the fighting.»
It also quoted a western diplomat as
saying, «I think even rebel supporters
have been advising them (the rebel
leaders) to take the government at its
word.»
Within a week about 5,000 people
had laid down arms. Negotiations
began with 500 groups, representing
about 40,000 people in border pro-
vinces, who have left the counter-
revolution and are now defending the
revolution. Some of them have been
promoted to officers in the army.
Moreover, 500 people convened for the
first meeting of the National Recon-
cillation Commission on January 3rd.
This commission has been given great
responsibilities by the government in
dispensing aid to the population, solv-
ing local problems, etc. Adoption of a
new constitution has been delayed to
Fighting for Peace
allow oppositional groups to express
their views. If the ceasefire works, all
these efforts will culminate in elections
for the National Assembly, in which the
opposition is welcomed to participate
(excerpts from the account of Comrade
M.H. Mokammil, Charge d’Affairs at
the DRA embassy in London, upon his
return from Kabul, as printed in The
New Worker newspaper, January
30th).
Nonetheless, the brotherly hand ex-
tended by Comrade Najib was rejected
without consideration by most of the
Pakistan-based counterrevolutionary
groups who branded anyone who ac-
cepts the ceasefire as a «Soviet or Kabul
agent» infiltrated into their ranks.
Their lack of concern for their own
people was reconfirmed at a rally in
Peshawar, Pakistan, on January 17th.
In the first display of unity ever
mustered by the counterrevolu-
tionaries, leaders of seven major groups
vowed to continue the war. Though it
was the first time these seven had ap-
peared together in public, they claimed
to have agreed on principles for an in-
terim government after the defeat of
the Soviet and Afghani government
forces. However, with all political and
military realities indicating that their
goal has become an impossibility, this
rejection may not be the last word on
the subject.
There are other wild cards in the
deck. In particular, the position of
Pakistan, host of the counterrevolu-
tion, is not so clear-cut as in the past,
mainly due to domestic opposition. An
equally if not more decisive factor is the
US administration which, as the major
financer of the counterrevolutionaries
and the Pakistani regime, can in the last
analysis impose its position by
blackmail. The Reagan Administration
has no qualms about keeping the
Afghani people divided and war-ridden
as long as this serves its purpose of try-
ing to undermine the DRA and sap
Soviet strength. While the US has tried
to appear as though it is coordinating
its response with Pakistan, Defense
Secretary Weinberger’s arrogant de-
mand that the Soviets must withdraw in
six months, indicates the Reagan Ad-
ministration’s obstructionist stance
towards the DRA’s peace drive.
OBJECTIVE BACKGROUND
FOR PEACE
Although the Pakistan-based chief-
tans ordered an escalation of attacks,
Comrade Najib reaffirmed the DRA’s
national reconciliation policy the day
after the infamous Peshawar rally,
pointing out that many of the refugees
in the camps in Pakistan oppose these
chieftans. The ceasefire had in fact
gone into effect as scheduled, but
unilaterally.
The DRA’s peace initiative will most
probably dominate events in and
around Afghanistan this year, because
it is based on a set of interrelated
political and military realities. Among
these is the PDPA/’s sincere desire to
end the war which drains resources that
could better be used for advancing the
national democratic revolution and
raising the people’s standard of living.
The party is in a good position to enact
national reconciliation because of its
augmented maturity, strength and uni-
ty, as was demonstrated by a number of
events this past year. Comrade Najib’s
replacing Comrade Babrak Karmal as
PDPA General Secretary in May, oc-
curred in a smooth and democratic
manner. Comrade Najib has
dynamically continued the DRA’s
designated course for extending
democracy through elections on all
levels. He has put great emphasis on
upgrading the party’s activities and ties
with the masses, especially work among
the youth, peasants and tribes. At the
same time, he has sharply criticized
corruption, favoritism and _ bureau-
cratism, and called for greater collec-
tive accountability for implementing
decisions, all aiming to increase the
party’s efficiency and broaden its mass
base even further.
It has always been the policy of the
DRA to try and end the war which was
imposed on the new revolutionary
government by imperialist interference
and support to counterrevolutionary
forces. The Soviet troops entered
Afghanistan at the request of the DRA, >
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