Shamsul Huda Shams
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Shams-ul-Huda Shams (; 1938 – 9 October 2005) was the president of the Afghan Millat Party (Afghan Social Democratic Party) from 1987 until his death on October 9, 2005. He was also a journalist, publishing articles in his party's newspaper called 'Afghan Millat'. Shams had recently returned to his homeland after twenty-seven years in exile and had opened an office for his party in
Jalalabad Jalalabad (; Help:IPA/Persian, ͡ʒä.lɑː.lɑː.bɑːd̪ is the list of cities in Afghanistan, fifth-largest city of Afghanistan. It has a population of about 200,331, and serves as the capital of Nangarhar Province in the eastern part ...
.


Early years

Shams, an ethnic
Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ;), also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are an Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically also referred to as Afghans until 1964 after the ...
, was born in Nurgal in the
Kunar province Kunar (Pashto: ; Dari: ) is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the northeastern part of the country. Its capital is Asadabad. Its population is estimated to be 508,224. Kunar's major political groups include Wahhabis or Ahl-e- ...
of
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 ...
. In 1984, the founder of Afghan Social Democratic Party,
Ghulam Mohammad Farhad Ghulam Mohammad Farhad (1901–1984) was an Afghanistan, Afghan engineer He lived in Germany on a royal scholarship from 1921 to 1928, training as an electrician at the Technical University of Munich. During his studies in Germany, he came in con ...
, died. Three years later in 1987, Shams was elected as the new head of the party. The party then began to split into 3 factions, one led by Shams-ul-Huda Shams, another by Qudratullah Hadad and the third by Mohammad Amin Wakman. Wakman's faction is now led by Afghan Finance Minister Anwar Ul Haq Ahady. During the early days of the
Soviet–Afghan War The Soviet–Afghan War took place in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan from December 1979 to February 1989. Marking the beginning of the 46-year-long Afghan conflict, it saw the Soviet Union and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic o ...
, Shams established a base for his party in
Peshawar Peshawar is the capital and List of cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population, largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is the sixth most populous city of Pakistan, with a district p ...
,
Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
. He led his party in the face of strong opposition from religious extremist parties on one hand and the incumbent
communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...
regime on the other. Shams had an uncompromising attitude towards communism, that is why he never agreed to strike a deal with the Soviet-backed government of
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 ...
in spite of repeated attempts by the latter, up to the point of offering him a cabinet position. Shams was in favor of the establishment of a modern democratic government in the country which could retain its National Islamic character. After the removal of
Mohammad Najibullah Mohammad Najibullah Ahmadzai (6 August 1947 – 27 September 1996) was an Afghan military officer and politician who served as the second president of Afghanistan from 1987 until his resignation in April 1992, shortly after the Afghan mujahideen' ...
's Soviet-backed government and
Mujahideen ''Mujahideen'', or ''Mujahidin'' (), is the plural form of ''mujahid'' (), an Arabic term that broadly refers to people who engage in ''jihad'' (), interpreted in a jurisprudence of Islam as the fight on behalf of God, religion or the commun ...
take over of Afghanistan, shams continued his opposition with the incumbent regime of religious parties, which he argued, was not representing the majority of Afghan nation. Shams was especially against the
Taliban , leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders , leader1_name = {{indented plainlist, * Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013) * Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016) * Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...
government that was backed by Pakistan. While in
Peshawar Peshawar is the capital and List of cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population, largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is the sixth most populous city of Pakistan, with a district p ...
, Shams continued to publish his party's newspaper ''Afghan Mellat'' which published articles that produced nationalistic sentiments and called for democratic development in the war-ravaged Afghanistan. Besides writing in his party's journal, Shams also contributed scholarly articles and essays to other newspapers and journals. A unique feature in his writings was that he described facts regardless of its outcome. Shams kept a close friendly relationship with Pakhtun Nationalist Parties and
Pashto Pashto ( , ; , ) is an eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family, natively spoken in northwestern Pakistan and southern and eastern Afghanistan. It has official status in Afghanistan and the Pakistani province of Khyb ...
literary organizations of Pakistan, especially Pakhtunkhwa Qawmi Party of Afzal Khan Lala. Shams's death was widely mourned by Afghans all over the world. After the death of Shamsul Huda Shams, the party congress held an emergency meeting and elected
Ajmal Shams Ajmal Shams is an Afghan politician and former civil engineer. Shams has been president of the Afghan Social Democratic Party since October 2005. He served as Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Urban Development and Housing in the Afghan Governm ...
as the new president of the Afghan Mellat Party.


References


External links


Official website of Afghan Millat
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shams, Shamsulhuda Pashtun people Pashtun nationalists 2005 deaths Afghan Millat Party politicians 1938 births