Sultan Ali Keshtmand (; born May 22, 1935, in

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 ...

), sometimes transliterated Kishtmand, was an Hazara communist politician, belonging to the

Parcham Parcham (Pashto/ Dari: پرچم, ) was the more moderate socialist faction of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) led by Afghan communist politician Babrak Karmal. It was later turned into the Watan (Homeland) Party with a mor ...

faction of the

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). He served twice as

Chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

of the

Council of Ministers Council of Ministers is a traditional name given to the supreme Executive (government), executive organ in some governments. It is usually equivalent to the term Cabinet (government), cabinet. The term Council of State is a similar name that also m ...

during the 1980s, from 1981 to 1988 and from 1989 to 1990 in the

Democratic Republic of Afghanistan The Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, later known as the Republic of Afghanistan, was the Afghan state between History of Afghanistan (1978–1992), 1978 and 1992. It was bordered by Pakistan to the east and south, by Iran to the west, by the ...

Early years

Keshtmand was born in Kabul. He is a member of the Hazara ethnic group. He studied

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

at Kabul University and became involved in the PDPA. He joined the Parcham faction of that party, which was led by Babrak Karmal. He sought and received political asylum from British

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

John Major Sir John Major (born 29 March 1943) is a British retired politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997. Following his defeat to Ton ...

. He lives in the UK.

Role in politics

Immediately after the April 1978

coup d'état A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup , is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...

in which the PDPA came to power, Keshtmand became the minister of planning in the newly formed

. He lost that post in August 1978 when he was arrested for an alleged plot against President Nur Mohammad Taraki, a member of the rival Khalq faction of the party. The PDPA Politburo ordered the arrest of Keshtmand and Public Works Minister Muhammad Rafi'i for their part in the possible anti-regime conspiracy. He and the other inmates went through severe torture and long imprisonment. He remained in prison and was sentenced to death, but this decision was revoked and he was resentenced to 15 years in prison. In December 1979, the

Soviet Union 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 ...

invaded Afghanistan, bringing Babrak Karmal and the Parcham faction to power. Keshtmand was released from jail, and once again joined the Politburo. Friction among the People's Party members rose in 1980 when Karmal removed Assadullah Sarwari from his position as

First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers The first deputy premier of the Soviet Union was the deputy head of government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Despite the title, the office was not always held by a single individual. The office bore three different titles thr ...

and replaced him with Sultan Ali Keshtmand. Keshtmand, a

i, soon became one of the most important leaders of the regime. In June 1981, Karmal retained his other offices, but resigned as Council of Ministers chairman and was succeeded by Keshtmand. A 21-member Supreme Defense Council headed by

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' ...

effectively assumed power. The rise in the deficit greatly concerned the government, and as Council of Ministers chairman Keshtmand noted in April 1983, the tax collections were inadequate in view of the increased state spending. The security situation in the country, however, prevented the government from improving its tax collections. In September 1987, the Kabul government sponsored a large convocation of Hazaras from various parts of the country and offered them

autonomy In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy is the capacity to make an informed, uncoerced decision. Autonomous organizations or institutions are independent or self-governing. Autonomy can also be ...

. In his speech to the group, Keshtmand said that the government was going to set up several new provinces in the

Hazarajat Hazarajat (), also known as Hazaristan () is a mostly mountainous region in the central Afghan highlands, central highlands of Afghanistan, among the Kuh-e Baba mountains in the western extremities of the Hindu Kush. It is the homeland of the H ...

that would be administered by the local inhabitants.

Rise and fall of power

He served as

of the

from 1981 to 1988 and 1989 to 1990, and as one of the vice presidents from May 1990 until April 1991, when he was dismissed shortly before the fall of the government. A mujaheddin radio station reports intra-Parcham (a faction of the PDPA) (P) clashes in Kabul between supporters of Najibullah and Keshtmand, chairman of the executive committee of the Council of Ministers. Non-PDPA member Mohammad Hassan Sharq was selected by President Najibullah to be the new Council of Ministers chairman, replacing Keshtmand. This move was made in order to free spaces in the new government for nonparty candidates. He then left Afghanistan, first moving to

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and then to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. There he became an outspoken defender of the rights of Hazaras and other minorities, claiming that the Pashtun majority in Afghanistan had had too much power in all of Afghanistan's regimes, past and present. After the communist

Saur Revolution The Saur Revolution (; ), also known as the April Revolution or the April Coup, was a violent coup d'état and uprising staged on 27–28 April 1978 (, ) by the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA), which overthrew President of Afghan ...

, which toppled Daud Khan's first Afghan Republic, he reportedly said, "Brothers, today the five long centuries of Pashtun political domination has come to an end."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keshtmand, Sultan Ali 1935 births Living people Afghan Muslims Vice presidents of Afghanistan Prime ministers of Afghanistan Deputy prime ministers of Afghanistan Government ministers of Afghanistan Interior ministers of Afghanistan Mining ministers of Afghanistan People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan politicians Hazara politicians Afghan exiles Afghan emigrants to England Afghan expatriates in Russia