Akram Yari () was a Hazara

Maoist Maoism, officially Mao Zedong Thought, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed while trying to realize a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic o ...

political organizer in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

. He was the leader and founder of the Progressive Youth Organization (PYO), a Marxist–Leninist organization which was formed on October 6, 1965.

Early years

Akram Yari was born in Jaghori,

Ghazni Province Ghazni (; ) is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in southeastern Afghanistan. The province contains 19 Districts of Afghanistan, districts, encompassing over a thousand villages and roughly 1.3 million people, making it the 5th most ...

, Afghanistan and belonged to Hazara ethnic group. He was the son of a monarchist landowner. Later he moved to

Kabul Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...

where he studied

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

and

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

. After graduating, he became a teacher at Naderya School in Kabul, where he engaged in a political

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded l ...

campaign among his students. As a result, he was fired from his job and he returned to Jaghori. Upon returning to Jaghori, Yari decided to hand over his family's possessions to the peasants.

Political activism

Akram Yari was the founder and leader of Progressive Youth Organization (PYO), a

organization, founded on October 6, 1965. PYO published a magazine called '' Shola-e-Jawid'' (Eternal Flame) which was circulated among students and youth. Akram Yari opposed the

monarchy A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, reigns as head of state for the rest of their life, or until abdication. The extent of the authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic (constitutio ...

of King Zahir Shah, the Islamic fundamentalists, and the pro-

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan The People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA), known as the Homeland Party ( Dari: , ) from June 1990, was a Marxist–Leninist political party in Afghanistan established on 1 January 1965. Four members of the party won seats in the 1965 ...

(PDPA). PYO adhered to Marxism–Leninism–Mao Zedong thought, and rallied for the overthrow of the incumbent order in Afghanistan by means of

civil war A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

. Yari was additionally an

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

, reportedly once saying “they say God created man, but who created God?” during a religious studies class he hosted while being a teacher.https://bannedthought.net/Afghanistan/ALO/Sholayi-AfghanMaoistMovement-Piovesana-2012-OCR-sm.pdf

Influence

Under Akram Yari's leadership, PYO had strong support among the masses of workers and students in the cities of Afghanistan. Among the people of Afghanistan, the movement that PYO led is famous by the name of ''Shola-e-Jawid'' and its members were commonly known as the ''Sholayis'' (Flamists), after the name of their journal. Akram Yari was a teacher and propagator of Marxism and introduced Marxism to a large number of intellectuals and political activists in Afghanistan, among them Dr. Faiz Ahmad, founder of Afghanistan Liberation Organization (ALO).

Arrest and assassination

In 1978 the pro-Soviet PDPA came to power through a military coup. The PDPA government began a crackdown on PYO cadres. Akram Yari was arrested at his home in Jaghori, transferred to

and later killed by the PDPA government. The exact circumstances surrounding his death are not known.

References

External links