The years 1960 � 1970 came to pass under circumstances not foreseen by the general public. Not that the Afghans did not feel the need for some new developments, some change toward further improvement. The nation had long ago accepted the snail�s pace offered by the authorities toward development in various fields of life. And as long as there was overall peace, there were no hues and cries from the masses for faster and more conspicuous measures toward development. If there were dissatisfaction with this pace, it remained quiet, or rather, inside secret circles.

The changes that did occur came from the top. The main one, a new constitution for Afghanistan.

The urge for a new constitution was felt within the higher echelons of the Royal family. Some kind of rivalry existed among the progeny of the Musaahebeen brothers for a long time. Hashem Khan, the King�s uncle was replaced by his brother Shah Mahmood Khan and he was replaced by Sardar Mohammad Dawood, a cousin of the King. Once the influence of the Royal uncles waned, the King found it was time to take the matter of his kingdom in hand. This was not done solely on his initiative. He had discovered that there was a feeling of rivalry in governing the country within the Musaahebeen family, especially Sardar Mohammad Dawood the Prime Minister. Some thing drastic had to be done to separate the throne from the rest of the Mohammadzai clan. Revision of the Constitution seemed the best solution. It would give the King the assurance of keeping his throne, as well as, offering the nation a view of a government in which most significant jobs would not be automatically given to members of the Royal Family.

Afghans of all tribal and regional backgrounds would also have a chance to have a say in the running of the government, through an elected National Assembly and as Cabinet Members, Ambassadors and heads of departments.

Sardar Mohammad Dawood, had plans of his own with regard to a new constitution. The existing constitution provided for the crown to be passed to the descendants of Mohammad Nadir Shah. Dawood wanted to rule Afghanistan as a President, a long term President, somewhat like Sukarno of Indonesia and Joseph Tito of Yugoslavia, who had secured the presidency for themselves for life.

I feel the urge to state here, that Dawood really meant well where his wishes for the good of the country and its people were concerned. But he wanted to go about it alone, so to speak.

Whatever happened in the inner circle in the latter half of 1962 and the first quarter of �63, was never divulged to the public. Dawood resigned (March 9, 1963), presenting the King with his ideas about government and administration in the future together with a draft of his ideas for a new constitution. A strongman in the Royal family stepped down and a King, who had been content with just the name of King, finally did take the reign of his kingdom in hand and began to rule as head of a democratic form of government where the elected peoples' representatives would have a say in the affairs of the country and government.

Dr. Mohammad Youssuf a non-Mohammadzai, took on the role of the Head of an interim government on March 28, 1963. His government would take up the matter of drafting a new constitution for Afghanistan, as well as, run the affairs of the country.

The draft of the constitution was completed in February 1964. There was one article that dealt with the involvement of the members of the Royal family in Afghan political activities. An advisory committee went over each article and passed each after due deliberation. A Loya Jirgah (grand assembly) was then convened to further deliberate upon and pass the draft. Article 24 of the draft received considerable discussion and was finally passed. In part, it stated that �members of the Royal House shall not participate in political parties, and shall not hold the following offices: Prime Minister or Minister, Member of Parliament, or a Justice of the Supreme Court.

This fundamental new element in the new Constitution of Afghanistan, also laid the foundation for a new resolve by Sardar Mohammad Dawood to undertake a grander scheme: Take over power. He began to set up his goal and the means to achieve it.

The nation heard of the new Constitution via a proclamation by the King. The intelligentsia and student bodies showed a good deal of enthusiasm. But soon there appeared demonstrations for change. Chief among these demonstrators were communists who were still underground but restive and who now began to disrupt the calm atmosphere of schools and the Kabul University. As the days and months went by, class disruptions, stage talks, University theatrical productions were seen and heard, all with shades of criticism of the government and even some allusions with negative implications toward the King. The street demonstrators were composed of thousands of students, inclusive of elementary and high school students, a majority of whom were bullied and forced out of the schools by the leftist elements. A number of Kabul University students were willing to take part in the demonstrations. Some of the rest either joined in for the fun of avoiding classes or considered the whole thing unworthy of their participation and spent the time in their dormitories revising their books and notes. To the body of demonstrators such groups as street laborers (who were given some money for their time with the demonstrators) were coaxed to join. loiterers and those who had nothing to do also joined them. By the time the mass of demonstrators reached the heart of the city-- Zar Negar Park-- it numbered in the twenty to fifty thousands.

I remember having heard a joke (or a real story) about one of these demonstrations. A Hazara � people from the heart of Afghanistan, who mostly come to Kabul in search of daily labor--, was held up on the shoulders of a demonstrator and was told to say �Long Live the Workers� movement.� It is said that this man reiterated with his Hazara accent that he did not know anything about workers or their movements, but he was happy to be riding on the shoulders of an Awghoo --Afghan-- this, in contrast to hauling loads of household commodities from the city markets to private homes of Afghans (Pushtuns in the minds of ordinary Hazaras). By the way, this is a fallacious concept as all natives of Afghanistan are Afghans. And Pushtuns, like the Tajiks and Uzbeks and Hazaras, and all other citizens, are as much Afghans as are the Hazaras themselves. There are also a good number of Hazaras living in Kabul and other cities who have jobs in government offices, are merchants selling all kinds of commodities, or officers in the military up to positions of generals. None of them have ever been known to consider themselves any thing other than Afghans.

Dr. Mohammed Youssuf, the first non-Pushtoon Prime Minister, only lasted two and half days and resigned for ill health. It was later rumored that he found working under the new system would be impossible for him. There were also rumors that another cousin of the King was somehow involved in his resignation.

Mr. Mohammad Hashem Maiwandwal, another non-Mohammadzai, was then appointed by the King whose Government received parliamentary approval. The reaction of the Kabul Univrsity students was negative at first, but he went to talk with them and assured them that their grievances would be looked into. The visit brought some elements of calm among the student body. This, however, did not come about and the demonstrations started again. The new Constitution had stated that peaceful demonstrations would be allowed in accordance with the law pertaining to them. It was said that the draft of the law was ready but it was not sent to the Parliament for passage.. The King allowed the demonstrations to be conducted in Kabul treating them as the public�s experiment in democracy.

By 1965 the new Press law also came into being. Private papers again appeared in Kabul.

The still secret communist elements established several papers and filled their columns with communist propaganda and with criticism of the government for not moving faster in bringing their brand of democratization of Afghanistan. One of the papers, belonging to a leftist faction, was banned because of its expressed views favoring communist ideals.

This inflamed the leftists who could do nothing and there was no law allowing and regulating political parties. Demonstrations in Kabul continued sporadically. Elsewhere in the country life went on as before. People were content that there was peace.

The Prime Minister suffered ill health toward the end of his second year in office and had to resign. A new Prime Minister, Noor Ahmad Etemadi, took over. It was during his government that a new series of leftist demonstrations started in Kabul against the government. The government found it necessary to put a stop to the demonstrations by ordering forced entry into a school and the university and taking some responsible elements as prisoners. This created a huge outcry, again through leftist elements' incitement. The government allowed a new leftist element paper to be published. The new paper started, once again, to publish articles on communist ideology and later, on Lenin's anniversary, made statements about him that amounted to blasphemy.

Parliamentary action resulted in the confiscation of that paper. However, the Muslim population and the Islamic leaders were inflamed by the whole thing and a large delegation of the religious learned mulas came to the capital from many parts of the country and entering a main mosque, proclaimed that they would not go back until the government puts a stop to atheist propaganda by communists. The government interfered again and forcefully returned the mulas to their provincial areas. Public reaction to this act was extremely strong and eventually brought the downfall of the third Prime Minister under the new constitution. Mr. Etemadi, later became seriously ill, was treated in France, but was no longer able to remain as Prime Minister. Dr. Abdul Zahir�s Government also was unable to improve the Situation and he had to resign from his post of Prime Minister.

Yet another government under a new Prime Minister, Moosa Shafiq, took over. The mulas finally calmed down as the new man was the son of a famous religious person and was educated at Egypt's Al-Azhar University.

The new government undertook to improve relations with neighboring Pakistan and Iran.

Not long afterwards, and the problem of water distribution had finally been solved between the two neighboring countries The new government undertook to improve relations with neighboring Iran. Over a short period of quiet diplomacy, a degree of success was achieved with Iran and the longstanding dispute between the two countries over Iran's demand for more water from the Helmand river for Iran's southwestern region bordering Afghanistan appeared to see the light of a solution. A government news report stated that a quota had been established between Iran and Afghanistan to share the Helmand river water (originating in Afghanistan). The announcement came as a surprise on the Afghan side. Some were relieved and there were some who thought the water that Iran received from the Helmand was substantial already. A good deal of it went into the Seistan Hamoon, which was like a lake created from the overflow of the Helmand.

Relations with Pakistan continued to remain strained although there was a marked decrease in propaganda in the mass communication media between Afghanistan and Pakistan. This was held by the populace to mean that soon the question of Pushtunistan would be solved amicably between the two countries. Unfortunately for Afghanistan, this did not come about, as the Dawood Coup d'Etat cut short the government of Moosa Shafiq after only seven months and President Dawood again took the matter of Pushtunistan as seriously as he had done when he was Prime Minister.

Sardar Mohammad Dawood's resignation from the government and the drafting, and passing of the 1964 Constitution of Afghanistan which proclaimed that no member of the royal family can become Prime Minister or a Cabinet Minister, was truly a hard pill to swallow for the King's cousin. Unbeknown to any one in the closed Royal circle, a plan began to take shape for a day when the Sardar would take the reign of government in his own hands and carry out a speedy and energizing development of all aspects of life in the country. The plan took almost ten years to mature. . Dawood�s secret plan had finally reached the moment of fruition when sometime in the night of Saratan 26, 1352(equivalent to July 17, 1973) he embarked on his Coup d�Etat and by next morning he was in control of Afghanistan.

The Coup d'Etat of 1973 officially ended forty years of King Mohammad Zahir's rule when Dawood decreed that, henceforth, he would be the first President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. The publication of the newspaper Jamhooriat (Republic), replacing Islah-Anis (originally established years earlier as two separate daily newspapers) under the motto: "Resolve is the first condition of success," also made it clear to all citizens that he had made the determination, all those years ago, to take over the rule in the country. King Mohammad Zahir, who was in Rome for the treatment of an ailment of his eyes, remained in exile and, not long after the Coup, sent his resignation to his cousin Mohammad Dawood.

Dawood abrogated the relatively new constitution and created a new one for the Republic of Afghanistan. He ruled as its first President for almost six years. A new seven-year plan was undertaken for the development of various aspects of life in the country. Relations with the Soviet Union remained as amicable as before. The West recognized the change in regime but nothing outstanding came about from the US and other major western countries in providing Afghanistan with financial assistance for the developmental projects in the country. The new government speared ahead with the meager resources at its disposal and attempted to do what it could do.

Education was among the top priorities(as per excerpts from a book published many years later by Dr. Hasan Sharq, himself the Deputy Prime Minister of the Dawoodi regime). Elementary schools were expected to go up from 789,000 students to1,280,000 by the end of the first seven year plan.. Secondary schools would rise to 148,000 students from 89,700. Vocational schools students were to get substantial boost from a mere 4000 to 40,400 in their students. University students would go up to 11,000 from a total of 8,000. For a country of some 18 million people, this sounded like a faster growth than during earlier "no-Plan" periods.

Asphalt work on better secondary roads branching off of the grand circular all season highway that was already in existence, was to cover towns and cities such as Gardez, Khost, Sheberghan, Badghis, Deshoo and Charburjak. The survey work had already been completed for a Kabul - Herat highway through the heart of Afghanistan, via Maidan, Bamian and Ghorat. It was also decided to complete the survey of the projected railway from Islam Qala at Iran-Afghan border in Herat, through Farah, Lashkargah, Kandahar, to Speenboldak at the Afghan-Pakistan border, and from Kandahar through Qalat, Muqur, Ghazni, Logar to Kabul within the plan years. Iran was to play a major role in financing the railway project in Afghanistan. Overall the Plan envisaged asphalted roads to reach 3,700 kilometres by the end of the first Seven-year Plan.

Plans were underway to increase agricultural land by building new dams on Kokcha River to the north and on Harirud River in Herat, and diverting some water from the Oxus (Amoo) River to Balkh. Landless farmers and Kochis (nomads) were to be aided to settle in the newly reclaimed lands.

Electricity output was to be tripled by the Plan's end (1979). Hospitals and health centers were to be increased, malaria control would reach another 1.5 million people. Drinking water would be more than tripled.

Sadly not much of these measures were realized when the government of Sardar Mohammad Dawood was toppled by the Afghan communists with full knowledge, consent and covert assistance of the Kremlin authorities.

The communists, a good number of whom were absorbed by the Dawood Government, began agitation against the man whom they called Baba in the beginning of his take-over in 1973. (Baba was an honorary title given to the Afghan King Ahmad Shah Abdaali back in 1747, when he broke the temporary yoke of the Persian ruler, Nader of Afshar, and established the first independent state of Afghanistan of modern times). But Dawood was no longer the same Baba of 1973. Most of the same communists in the armed forces that were led to support him had by then formed a secret plot to overthrow him The nation was generally displeased with the election of the Loya Jirga of Dawood era, and his choice of the Cabinet, some of whom were secretly leftists, who actually wanted him out of the picture in Afghanistan. He was a Mohammadzai. As such, he was still another ruler in the country and was belonging to the clan that had ruled the country for over two hundred years. The leftists were trained to believe that the time was ripe for the culmination of the Mohammadzai rule and they encouraged everyone they could reach to think the same way. They were told that upon the downfall of the Mohammadzai clan, real democracy would prevail and members of the nation would have governments that would serve them and them only. Dawood knew a thing or two about the intentions of the leftist elements, but was sure that the army would stand behind him in time of need and he was sure he could take care of them when the need for action against them arose.

So when Coup d'Etat of '78 was about to be implemented, Dawood immediately ordered the imprisonment of the Coup leaders. He probably thought that would be the end of all opposition to him and his rule. He would in time deal with them and carry on his rule and his plans. But that was not to happen. I remember the hours early in the morning of the Coup when numerous calls to various centers of the army went out to leading army personnel, in words like "Come in, answer the phone, Baba needs you!" there was no sound of a reply to his calls in distress. Maybe the Coup leaders had already taken control of the telephone system and no calls could go out. But then where were the communications units of the various army headquarters which were supposed not to be bound by the national system of mass telephone services? Direct intense confrontation inside the Presidential compound, and the incessant aerial bombardments directed against any armed units in the Palace and elsewhere finally took care of Dawood, most members of his family and loyal members of his Cabinet toward the end of the day. By nightfall it was all over. Dawood was no more. With him died all his hopes and aspirations for a peaceful, progressive Afghanistan.

The communists had taken over. Their rule had been established. The army was in their hand. The country would not be permitted to resist them as the new regime's motto to its loyal forces was not to take any prisoners or bring anyone to the capital for some judicial pronouncement against him..

I was an observer of events that reached me via the television and radio from within my walled residence. Only a few calls came in and went out, mostly from the other family members and a few close personal friends. The subject matter was mainly an inquiry that everybody was still in their homes and had not been dragged out for some inquisition or to some prison yet. No one came to see me and I went to no one. One other thing that could be noticed was the numerous helicopter gunships that left Kabul to destinations away from the city and returned to report jobs done, or to take off again in some direction to pursue the communists' orders for handling pockets of opposition.

Days and weeks passed. Proclamations were made over the radio and television by the new leaders about the new state of affairs. The Soviet Union was the first government that officially recognized the new regime and congratulated it for its achievement along with promises of any help needed. The Western bloc, including the United States, delayed recognition for a longer period before they proclaimed their acceptance of the new government.

But so far as the nation was concerned, time proved that the new regime was not wanted and was not accepted. The first reaction came from the Kunar province where a teacher openly denied the existence of God and the demonstrations that followed were severely dealt with by the government in Kabul. But public awakening about the nature of the government had occurred and began to appear in various parts, even in areas around the capital. Kabul reacted by sending troops and bombarding areas of unrest with every thing it had. A young officer related to me told me that his superiors in the army had told them not to take any prisoners. This really meant to kill anyone they came up against in their retaliatory expeditions. Thus it was that shortly after the fall of the regime by the Russians, barely two years later, the Afghan nation had lost 1.5 million Muslim martyrs.

Along with that some six millions had escaped to Pakistan and Iran and a few thousands had found shelter elsewhere in the world. Babrak Karmal, the first Vice President of the communist regime had said at one time that his regime will be all right with as few as four million population in Afghanistan. He later denied it, but the imprisonment and killings and mass burials continued even in the capital.

The fact that the Afghan communists were not a unified party was evident from the start.

Babrak Karmal belonged to the Parcham group and pursued an independent policy while openly praising the Soviet system , Noor Ahmad Taraki was Khalqi, affiliated closely with the Russian communism and yet a third group, calling itself Shu�layee, pursued the Chinese communist line. The three disliked one another and only paid lip service to the current leader in government. But they were all alike in their attitude toward Islam and Afghan Muslims and Islamic practices. This fact created and maintained the Afghan nation�s opposition to them all. The Muslim nation fought them everywhere and when the ruling party�s cruelty became unbearable, mass exodus occurred into neighboring Pakistan and Iran and elsewhere in the world. Those who could not and did not leave the country, continued their struggle against the communist enemy within. A great nationalist among the fighting Afghans was a young man originating in Panjsher and belonging to the Mujahedeen party of Rabbani, a one-time temporary President of the country. He was Ahmad Shah Masood, one time Rabbani�s Defense Minister, who bravely fought the Russian army, attacked its convoys of armaments along the Salang pass, especially south of the Salang tunnel up to a time when the Russians were forced to give up any attempt of getting Panjsher. His struggle against foreign elements did not stop even after the Russian Army retreated from Afghanistan and when the Pakistani-inspired Taliban came on the scene and eventually gained of Kabul. Masood was forced to retreat to Panjsher and distant Taluqan and Faizabad with the Jami�at -e- Islami group where he was killed by foreign intrigue. With his death, Afghanistan lost yet another true patriot.

Taliban, who were purported to be behind Masood�s death, ruled from from 1996 to2001, when they were forced to leave Kabul and disperse elsewhere in the country and in Pakistan and the Independent Tribal Zone between Afghanistan and India�named so by the British India Government for scores of years prior to the creation of Pakistan. Their rule started with attempts to stop the highway banditry in southwest Afghanistan and the opening of the western highways for the passage of commercial Pakistani goods through to Uzbekistan and the return of convoys of lorries bringing huge quantities of cotton for the textile mills of Pakistan. Their next measure was clearing the Kandahar�Kabul highway from other groups of highway robbers and eventually forcing the government of Rabbani to vacate the capital of Afghanistan. This action of theirs also took care of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and his entourage who were really responsible for most of the destruction of the beautiful Afghan capital and its infrastructure. Hekmatyar escaped to Iran and stayed there for some years.

Once established in Kabul, Taliban used everything in their power to take over the rest of the country and bring about the implementation of the tenets of Islam as it was not practiced in any of the Muslim countries of the world with such ferocity. Among the worst measures were the imprisonment of women within the confines of their homes, their inability to go out and teach in women�s schools, their ban on girls� education in schools and in the universities, the banning of female doctors to practice in their fields of specialty even in hospitals, their permanent removal from jobs in offices, factories and the like. They closed all girls� schools and allowed only the elementary education of girls in subjects such as the reading of the Qur�an and the general principles of Islam. In their attempts at unifying the country under the central government rule, they faced resistance which they crushed where they could. Where they were defeated, they suffered heavy losses and when they regrouped and attacked the opposition, they inflicted heavy, and at times inhuman losses to the population�who were Afghans and who were fighting any kind of foreign influence in the affairs of the Afghans. Stories of mass murders of men, women, boys and girls abound but statistical information is not available and may never be known.

Osama Ben Laden and his group of Alqa�eda were found to be perpetrators of many deaths and property loss elsewhere in the world. They were known to be continuing their destructive work from bases in Afghanistan. The United States government demanded that Taliban hand Osama over to them and throw elements of Alqa�eda out of Afghanistan. Taliban refused. U. S. attacked, and in the process, destroyed what was left intact of the infrastructure. All commercial planes, all the country�s air power, military and civilian airports , quite a few government buildings and offices were thus destroyed.

As for the loss of manpower, people� homes, villages and small towns, nothing in the way of figures and numbers are available. But some mistakes by the U.S. army have been admitted. Killing by aerial bombardments of scores of merry-making people during a wedding ceremony, and truckloads of people who were driving to Kabul to welcome Karzai as the new head of the new Government after the demise of Taliban maybe mentioned as instances of such mistakes.

Things that transpired in Afghanistan after 1980 are presented here from what I have discovered, read about in the news columns of papers and magazines, or seen in TV presentations of events within the United States. Verification of such happenings is outside my means and abilities. The readers of these insertions can judge for themselves the truth and extent of human and material losses that Afghanistan has sustained during these times of hardship.