The Road to Afghanistan - George Washington University
The Road to Afghanistan - George Washington University The Road to Afghanistan - George Washington University
“What’s wrong? Should I call a doctor?” asked Valery.“No, it’s okay. Go rest. If I need the doctor I’ll call him myself. I’ll spend the wholenight in the office if I have to.”***On the night of April 25, the doorbell of Babrak Karmal’s residence rang. He hadn’tbeen expecting any guests. His intuition told the professional revolutionary that someonewas coming to arrest him. He trusted his intuition—it was never wrong. His experience as arevolutionary was vast. He had been pursued, threatened, arrested, and experienced all ofthe natural elements of the life of a rebel. His intuition proved right this time as well. WhenBabrak opened the door, two police officers dressed in brand new uniforms entered thehouse. Other policemen remained outside. The officers introduced themselves politely,displayed their badges, and asked for the name of the owner of the residence.“You don’t know who I am?” replied Babrak sarcastically.“We do know,” a handsome young officer with thoughtful, light-colored eyesresponded. “We do know, but that’s the order. You’re a lawyer; we shouldn’t have toexplain to you how arrests are conducted.”“I am Babrak, son of Mohammad Hussein,” responded the second-ranking memberof the PDPA, his left arm held behind his back and his chin raised proudly.The officers showed Babrak a warrant issued by the attorney general authorizinghis arrest and informed him that the basis for his arrest was the organization of anunlawful mass demonstration and a meeting.Such polite behavior on the part of the officers of the Afghan police could beexplained by the fact that one day prior to the arrests, the interior minister, Abdul Qadir62
Nuristani, personally instructed the participants of the forthcoming operation todemonstrate lawful and ethical behavior. He ordered all of the conversations during thearrests to be tape-recorded so that the minister could monitor the actions of hissubordinates. Later, all of the recordings were obtained by the leaders of the new Afghanregime.Babrak did not protest or express any concern in regards to his arrest. The politicalstruggle he had led for almost thirty years had developed in him a readiness to perseverethrough the most severe trials and challenges. His revolutionary experience hadtransformed him into a particular sort of person with standards drastically different thanother, ordinary people. Babrak was a professional warrior, a man dedicated to an idea forwhich he would sacrifice everything: material wealth, physical well being, even life itself.He had experienced imprisonment. In the 1950s, as a student at Kabul University, he hadspent four years in prison for participating in anti-government demonstrations. Whilethere he changed his name to “Karmal,” which meant “a worker” in Pashto. He was notafraid of prison. He was not afraid of being shot or executed. There was only one thing thathe was afraid of: being broken by modern, refined torture devices or psychotropic drugs.Sitting on the concrete floor of a solitary confinement cell in the investigation unit ofthe Ministry of Internal Affairs, Babrak considered the possible allegations that thegovernment could level against him and the sorts of questions that might arise for which heshould prepare himself. The Hazara guard, with a silly and almost guilty smile on his face,brought him tea, then lunch and dinner. The guard did not respond to Babrak’s attempts tospeak with him. Time passed, but Babrak was not summoned to any questioning. Hethought, “They arrested me and now they don’t know what to do with me. They are63
- Page 12 and 13: that Orlov-Morozov wrote to the Cen
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- Page 18 and 19: World War II, Prince Daoud Khan, th
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- Page 50 and 51: in the lead tank, which was compris
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- Page 60 and 61: complained to him, “Your trade re
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- Page 66 and 67: well-prepared speech that touched u
- Page 68 and 69: Youth”) in the 1940s. Babrak also
- Page 70 and 71: eally need to act a year ago, becau
- Page 72 and 73: After Daoud’s visit to Moscow, th
- Page 74 and 75: that could be leveled against me or
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- Page 80 and 81: sent the commander of the President
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- Page 92 and 93: deputy resident gave Valery an indi
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- Page 96 and 97: Alexander Victorovich puffed his pi
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“What’s wrong? Should I call a doc<strong>to</strong>r?” asked Valery.“No, it’s okay. Go rest. If I need the doc<strong>to</strong>r I’ll call him myself. I’ll spend the wholenight in the office if I have <strong>to</strong>.”***On the night of April 25, the doorbell of Babrak Karmal’s residence rang. He hadn’tbeen expecting any guests. His intuition <strong>to</strong>ld the professional revolutionary that someonewas coming <strong>to</strong> arrest him. He trusted his intuition—it was never wrong. His experience as arevolutionary was vast. He had been pursued, threatened, arrested, and experienced all ofthe natural elements of the life of a rebel. His intuition proved right this time as well. WhenBabrak opened the door, two police officers dressed in brand new uniforms entered thehouse. Other policemen remained outside. <strong>The</strong> officers introduced themselves politely,displayed their badges, and asked for the name of the owner of the residence.“You don’t know who I am?” replied Babrak sarcastically.“We do know,” a handsome young officer with thoughtful, light-colored eyesresponded. “We do know, but that’s the order. You’re a lawyer; we shouldn’t have <strong>to</strong>explain <strong>to</strong> you how arrests are conducted.”“I am Babrak, son of Mohammad Hussein,” responded the second-ranking memberof the PDPA, his left arm held behind his back and his chin raised proudly.<strong>The</strong> officers showed Babrak a warrant issued by the at<strong>to</strong>rney general authorizinghis arrest and informed him that the basis for his arrest was the organization of anunlawful mass demonstration and a meeting.Such polite behavior on the part of the officers of the Afghan police could beexplained by the fact that one day prior <strong>to</strong> the arrests, the interior minister, Abdul Qadir62
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