Mohammed Daoud Khan

Mohammed Daoud Khan ( Pashtun محمد داود خان Mohammad Dawud Chan , born July 18, 1909 in Kabul ; † April 28, 1978 ibid) was the President of the Republic of Afghanistan from July 17, 1973 until his death .

Early years

His father was Mohammad Aziz Khan , his grandfather Mohammed Yusuf Khan . Mohammed Daoud Khan was a member of the Baraksai dynasty and a nephew of the Afghan King Mohammed Nadir Shah .

After attending school, including in France , and completing military training, he was provincial governor in eastern Afghanistan from 1934 to 1935 and 1938 to 1939, and governor of Kandahar from 1935 to 1938 . After that he worked on his military career. In 1939 he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and as such commanded the Kabul army corps until 1946 . From 1946 to 1948 he was Minister of Defense , in 1948 Ambassador to France and from 1949 Minister of the Interior . In 1951 he was promoted to general and served as commander of the Central Armed Forces around Kabul.

Prime Minister

As part of a family-internal division of responsibilities, he was appointed Prime Minister in 1953 . Daoud Khan was a proponent of the annexation of the areas in northwestern Pakistan with their predominantly Pashto- speaking population to Afghanistan. His appearance as a speaker in the early days of Pakistan and the demand for the integration of northwestern Pakistan, the abolition of the Durand Line , led to a conflict with Great Britain as the protective power of the newly created Pakistan and Pakistan itself.

In 1961, Pakistan responded to Khan's policy by closing the border with Afghanistan. This led to a massive economic slump in landlocked Afghanistan and subsequently brought the country closer to the Soviet Union economically . It became Afghanistan's most important trading partner and also the most important military ally.

Threatened by Pakistan's military strength, Afghanistan bought over the next years aircraft , tanks and artillery in value of 25 million US dollars from the Soviet Union. In 1962, Daoud Khan sent Afghan troops across the border into Pakistan several times to provoke an uprising by the Pashtun majority in the north of the country, but this was unsuccessful.

Daoud was deposed by his cousin, King Mohammed Sahir Shah , in 1963 in order to defuse the crisis with Pakistan. This led to the opening of the border by Pakistan in May 1963. Also in 1963, the king issued a new constitution stating that members of the royal family were no longer allowed to serve in government. This meant that Daoud Khan had to resign from his remaining offices and to a deterioration in the relationship with the king.

Coup

Despite rapprochement since 1968, Daoud Khan overthrew the monarchy under Mohammed Sahir Shah on July 17, 1973 and made Afghanistan a republic. At this time the king was in Italy for a cure and the takeover of power was bloodless. Daoud Khan proclaimed the republic, called himself president and counted on the support of the Communist Democratic People's Party of Afghanistan (DVPA).

Initially building on the support of the Soviet Union, until 1978 he turned more and more to Egypt , India , Saudi Arabia and Iran . He was also able to settle the dispute with Pakistan thanks to the help of the USA and Iran, which led to better relations between the states.

In 1976 Daoud Khan founded his own party with the National Revolutionary Party and directed his activities towards it. At the same time he moved more and more away from the leaders of the DVPA, Nur Muhammad Taraki , Babrak Karmal and Hafizullah Amin .

In 1977 he convened the Loja Jirga (Grand Assembly) with the aim of transforming Afghanistan into a one-party state according to the constitution. This led to the ban on the DVPA.

Acid Revolution and Death

At the funeral of the murdered Pashtun ideologue Mir Akbar Khyber on April 19, 1978, riots broke out against the government led by Daoud Khan. Between 10,000 and 30,000 people answered the call by Nur Muhammad Taraki , Hafizullah Amin and Babrak Karmal to demonstrate against the government.

Surprised by the communist show of force, Daoud Khan ordered that the leaders of the DVPA should be arrested. Nevertheless, Karmal was able to flee to the Soviet Union, Taraki was arrested only after a week, while Amin was placed under house arrest.

The army, which had already been infiltrated by the DVPA, was placed in combat readiness on April 26th. In this critical situation, Amin, who was able to communicate with his supporters despite house arrest, managed to get the army on his side. On April 27, the later than began Saur Revolution named coup , as part of the Afghan army openly opposed Daoud and from their base at Kabul airport went towards government headquarters in the city center. However, as there were still units on Daoud Khan's side, there was heavy fighting in the city during the day. The Afghan Air Force, equipped with Su-7 and MiG-21 fighter jets, was put in readiness by General Mohammad Mussa, then Chief of Air Force, to control the airspace in Kabul. In the end she succeeded in repelling the insurgent troops.

MiG-27 fighter-bombers launched from Teschkehen ( Tajikistan ) supported the insurgents. They bombed the Arg Palace , the former royal palace and seat of government, continuously until evening . On April 28, Daoud Khan and most of his family were shot dead . An official statement said he had resigned because of "health problems".

Afterlife

On June 28, 2008, the bodies of Daoud Khan and his family were discovered in two mass graves near Pul-e-Charchi prison in District 12 of Kabul. He was identified by his dental print and a golden Koran that he received from the King of Saudi Arabia. He was buried with a state funeral on March 17, 2009.

Awards

• Large Decoration of Honor in Gold on Ribbon for Services to the Republic of Austria (1957)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Carlotta Gall: An Afghan Secret Revealed Brings End of an Era. In: The New York Times. January 31, 2009, accessed January 6, 2020 . 
2. ^ Abdul Waheed Wafa, Carlotta Gall: State Funeral for Afghan Leader Slain in '78 Coup. In: The New York Times. March 17, 2009, accessed January 6, 2020 . 
3. ↑ List of all decorations awarded by the Federal President for services to the Republic of Austria from 1952 (PDF; 6.6 MB)