Communist rule

Communist rule in Afghanistan, inaugurated by the Saur Revolution of April 1978 and lasting until the fall of Najibullah in April 1992, was a period of radical social transformation, violent repression, and ultimately devastating civil war. For the women of A Thousand Splendid Suns, this era brought contradictory experiences: unprecedented legal rights and educational opportunities under the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA), coupled with the brutal summary executions, political purges, and the escalating conflict that would shatter their lives. The regime's collapse into factional Mujahideen warfare directly precipitated the destruction of Laila's family and the descent of Kabul into chaos.

Origins and the Saur Revolution

The communist era began with a bloodless coup on April 27, 1978, an event that Laila's teacher, Shanzai, insisted on calling an inqilab, a revolution, rather than a coup. The uprising was preceded by the murder of Mir Akbar Khyber, a prominent communist, on April 17, which sparked mass demonstrations in Kabul. On the day of the revolution, Mariam witnessed military planes zooming overhead and heard loud booms as rebel MiGs attacked the Presidential Palace. Air Force Colonel Abdul Qader announced over the radio that Kabul was in the hands of the people, that a revolutionary council had been established, and that the country would now be known as the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. He declared the era of aristocracy, nepotism, and inequality over, promising a glorious new era for the masses. Days later, the summary executions of those connected with President Daoud Khan's regime began, with rumors circulating of eyes gouged and genitals electrocuted at Pol-e-Charkhi Prison. Daoud Khan himself was killed, along with some twenty members of his family, including women and grandchildren.

Contradictory Policies for Women

Under communist rule, women in Afghanistan experienced a paradoxical mix of liberation and danger. The government sponsored literacy classes for all women, and nearly two-thirds of the students at Kabul University were women studying law, medicine, and engineering. Hakim, Laila's father, noted that women had more rights under the communists than ever before, though he acknowledged that this freedom was also one of the reasons people in the tribal areas took up arms. The regime decreed the abolition of forced marriage and raised the minimum marriage age to sixteen for girls. In Kabul, women taught at the university, ran schools, and held office in the government. However, this progressive facade was undercut by the regime's brutality. The same revolutionary council that promised freedom also carried out the slaughter of Daoud's family. The regime's secret police, the KHAD, headed by the future president Najibullah, was a dreaded instrument of state terror. For women like Mariam, who had been raised in a rural kolba outside Herat, the freedoms of the communist era were largely theoretical; her life was defined by the patriarchal control of her husband, Rasheed, who enforced a strict code of nang and namoos (honor and pride), forbidding her from leaving the house without a burqa and a male relative.

The Soviet Invasion and the Rise of the Mujahideen

The communist regime's grip on power was tenuous, and in December 1979, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan to prop up its faltering ally. This invasion triggered a decade-long jihad, a holy war, that pitted the Soviet-backed communist government against the Mujahideen, a collection of Islamist resistance factions. For Laila's mother, Fariba, the jihad was a sacred cause. Her two sons, Ahmad and Noor, left Kabul to join Commander Ahmad Shah Massoud's forces in the Panjshir Valley. Fariba's life became consumed by waiting for news of her sons, and her home became a shrine to their memory, its walls covered with their pictures. The war brought immense suffering to the Afghan people, with Soviet land mines, bombardments, and the brutal tactics of both sides causing widespread death and displacement. The conflict also drew in foreign fighters and funding, including Stinger missiles from the United States, which helped turn the tide against the Soviets.

The Fall of the Regime and the Descent into Civil War

The Soviet Union began its withdrawal from Afghanistan in 1988, completing it by February 1989. The communist regime, now led by Najibullah, clung to power for three more years, but its collapse was inevitable. In April 1992, Najibullah surrendered and was given sanctuary in a UN compound. The Mujahideen, having defeated their common enemy, entered Kabul in triumph. For Fariba, this was the day she had longed for, the day her sons' sacrifice would be vindicated. She rose from her bed a new woman, put on a blue dress, and threw a party. But the victory was short-lived. The Mujahideen factions, lacking a common enemy, turned on each other. Hekmatyar, excluded from the new leadership council, was incensed. The Hazaras seethed with grievances. Within weeks, rockets began to rain down on Kabul, and the city descended into a brutal civil war that would prove even more destructive than the Soviet occupation. For Laila, the fall of the communist regime was not a liberation but a prelude to the catastrophe that would kill her parents and shatter her world. The era of communist rule, with its promises of equality and its practice of terror, had given way to the anarchy of the warlords.