Afghanistan Mujahedin Freedom Fighters Front

Summarize Timeline Fact Check

During the mid-1960s and the mid-1980s, Maoism in Afghanistan developed into a political movement that emerged from the 1964 middle class intellectuals during reformist movements. This was made possible by the introduction of the new constitution in 1964 that leaned more towards political liberalization. The constitution established a constitutional monarchy with elected representation and separation of power. The king would become "protector of the basic principles of the sacred religion of Islam".^[2]Parliament was separated into the Shura (Parliament) and the Wolsei Jiraga (the house of people) that were elected by citizens. This heavily mirrored Western governments, contributing to the growth of new ideologies like Maoism forming.^[2]  During this time, Marxist literature was being introduced to university students. These books mostly came from Iran and were smuggled into Afghanistan through the border.^[1]

The main provinces who were strongly Maoist beliefs were Herat, Farah, and Nimuruz; this can be attributed to their close proximity to Iran. The main goal of Maoists in Afghanistan was to change the current order and overthrow the existing constitutional monarchy and establish socialism. Inspired by the teachings of Mao Zedong, Maoist in Afghanistan were inspired by a peasant-based revolution where they would overtake cities by numbers. Afghanistan lacked a large industrial class and Maoist believed that revolution started in the countryside in order to be successful.^[1]

The first major Maoist organization to emerge in Afghanistan was the PYO or eternal flame. The organization rejected Soviet-style communism which was promoted by the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA).^[3] The way they rejected this government was denouncing the PDPA ideologies like state control of the economy and rigid class structures, by dividing the rural and urban population. However, the different Maoist groups became fractured because of opposing views from strictly following Maoism to other factions wanting to work with the current government.

Following the 1978 Saur Revolution, which overthrew the previous president Mohammed Daoud Khan, and established the PDPA, violently repressed Maoist factions and many groups had to flee into rural areas. The Mujahedin Freedom Fighters Front attempted their own coup in 1978 in Bala Hessar (a historic fortress in Kabul) but was violently oppressed. The plan was to alert civilians throughout certain districts to attack government buildings, but the PDPA were alerted of this plan after a Maoist representative was captured.^[4] By the 1980s Maoist in Afghanistan were fractured and collapsed because of government repression and rival factions backed by global powers like the Soviet Union. Many Maoist leaders were killed because of political conflict and lost influence because China moved away from Maoism after the death of Mao Zedong in 1976. Furthermore, after the Soviet-Afghan war, China reduced their numbers near the border of Xinjiang and stopped training rebel fighters, which further fragmented Maoist in Afghanistan and other rebels against the communist regime.^[5] These events reflected Cold War tensions because the PDPA was backed by the Soviet Union and other AMFF (Afghanistan Mujahdein Freedom Fighters) groups were supported by the U.S through providing weaponry to fight against the government. This would further isolate Maoist, politically leading to further fragmentation representing the political instability in the country because of foreign intervention.