Editing Hafizullah Amin (section)

==Early life and career==
Hafizullah Amin was born to a [[Kharoti]] [[Ghilji|Ghilzai]] [[Pashtuns|Pashtun]] family in the Qazi Khel village in [[Paghman]]{{sfn|Arnold|1983|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=cd85ioPsz6cC&pg=PA80 80]}} on 1 August 1929.{{sfn|Jessup|1983|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=hP7jJAkTd9MC&pg=PA20 20]}}<ref>Encyclopedia Iranica - ''[https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/gilzi- ḠILZĪ]''</ref> His father, a civil servant, died in 1937 when he was 8. Thanks to his brother Abdullah, a primary school teacher, Amin was able to attend both primary and secondary school, which in turn allowed him to attend [[Kabul University]] (KU). After studying mathematics there, he also graduated from the Darul Mualimeen Teachers College in Kabul, and became a teacher. Amin later became vice-principal of the Darul Mualimeen College, and then principal of the prestigious Avesina High School, and in 1957 left Afghanistan for [[Columbia University]] in New York City, where he earned [[Master of Arts|MA]] in education.{{sfn|Arnold|1983|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=cd85ioPsz6cC&pg=PA80 80]}} It was at Columbia that Amin became attracted to [[Marxism]], and in 1958 he became a member of the university's Socialist Progressive Club.{{sfn|Misdaq|2006|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Zvm9dxavH-IC&pg=PA110 110]}} When he returned to Afghanistan, Amin became a teacher at Kabul University, and later, for the second time, the principal of Avesina High School.{{sfn|Arnold|1983|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=cd85ioPsz6cC&pg=PA80 80–81]}} During this period Amin became acquainted with [[Nur Muhammad Taraki]], a [[communism|communist]]. Around this time, Amin quit his position as principal of Avesina High School to become principal of the Darul Mualimeen College.{{sfn|Arnold|1983|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=cd85ioPsz6cC&pg=PA81 81]}}

It is alleged that Amin became radicalised during his second stay in the United States in 1962, when he enrolled in a work-study group at the [[University of Wisconsin]]. Amin studied in the doctoral programme at the [[Columbia University Teachers College]], but started to neglect his studies in favour of politics; in 1963 he became head of the Afghan students' association at the college. The association was funded by [[the Asia Foundation]], known to be a CIA pass-through group, or front.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Cockburn |first1=Alexander |title=Whiteout: The CIA, Drugs, and the Press |last2=St. Clair |first2=Jeffrey |publisher=[[Verso Books]] |year=2014 |isbn=9781784782610}}</ref> When he returned to Afghanistan in the mid-1960s, the route flew to Afghanistan by way of Moscow. There, Amin met the Afghan ambassador to the Soviet Union, his old friend Ali Ahmad Popel, a previous Afghan [[Ministry of Education (Afghanistan)|Minister of Education]]. During his short stay, Amin became even more radicalised.{{sfn|Arnold|1983|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=cd85ioPsz6cC&pg=PA81 81]}} Some people, Nabi Misdaq for instance, do not believe he travelled through Moscow, but rather [[West Germany]] and [[Lebanon]].{{sfn|Misdaq|2006|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Zvm9dxavH-IC&pg=PA110 110]}} By the time he had returned to Afghanistan, the Communist [[People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan]] (PDPA) had already held its founding congress, which was in 1965. Amin ran as a candidate for the PDPA in the [[1965 Afghan parliamentary election|1965 parliamentary election]], and lost by a margin of less than fifty votes.{{sfn|Arnold|1983|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=cd85ioPsz6cC&pg=PA81 81]}}
In 1966, when the [[Central Committee of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan|PDPA Central Committee]] was expanded, Amin was elected as a non-voting member, and in the spring of 1967 he gained full membership. Amin's standing in the [[Khalq]] faction of the PDPA increased when he was the only Khalqist elected to parliament in the [[1969 Afghan parliamentary election|1969 parliamentary election]].{{sfn|Arnold|1983|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=cd85ioPsz6cC&pg=PA81 81]}} When the PDPA split along factional lines in 1967, between Khalqists led by Nur and [[Parcham]]ites led by [[Babrak Karmal]], Amin joined the Khalqists. As a member of parliament, Amin tried to win over support from the Pashtun people in the armed forces.{{sfn|Saikal|Farhadi|Nourzhanov|2006|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=MuF55mSIt4EC&pg=PA163 163]}} According to a biography about Amin, he used his position as member of parliament to fight against [[imperialism]], [[feudalism]], and [[Reactionary]] tendencies, and fought against the "rotten" regime, the [[Kingdom of Afghanistan|monarchy]]. Amin himself said that he used his membership in parliament to pursue the [[class struggle]] against the [[bourgeoisie]].{{sfn|Male|1982|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=-cYOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA48 48]}} Relations between Khalqists and Parchamites deteriorated during this period. Amin, the only Khalq member of parliament, and [[Babrak Karmal]], the only Parcham member of parliament, did not cooperate with each other. Amin would later, during his short stint in power, mention these events with bitterness.{{sfn|Male|1982|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=-cYOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA49 49]}} Following the arrest of fellow PDPA members [[Dastagir Panjsheri]] and Saleh Mohammad Zeary in 1969, Amin became one of the party's leading members,{{sfn|Male|1982|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=-cYOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA53 53]}} and was still a pre-eminent party member by the time of their release in 1973.{{sfn|Male|1982|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=-cYOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA53 53–54]}}

===The Daoud era===
From 1973 until the PDPA unification in 1977, Amin was second only to Taraki in the Khalqist PDPA. When the PDPA ruled Afghanistan, their relationship was referred to as a disciple (Amin) following his mentor (Taraki). This official portrayal of the situation was misleading; their relationship was more work-oriented. Taraki needed Amin's "tactical and strategic talents"; Amin's motivations are more uncertain, but it is commonly believed that he associated with Taraki to protect his own position. Amin had attracted many enemies during his career, the most notable being Karmal. According to the official version of events, Taraki protected Amin from party members or others who wanted to hurt the PDPA and the country.{{sfn|Male|1982|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=-cYOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA54 54]}} When [[Mohammad Daoud Khan]] ousted the monarchy, and established the [[Republic of Afghanistan (1973–1978)|Republic of Afghanistan]], the Khalqist PDPA offered its support for the new regime if it established a National Front which presumably included the Khalqist PDPA itself. The Parchamite PDPA had already established an alliance with Daoud at the beginning of his regime, and Karmal called for the dissolution of the Khalqist PDPA. Karmal's call for dissolution only worsened relations between the Khalqist and Parchamite PDPA.{{sfn|Male|1982|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=-cYOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA55 55]}} However, Taraki and Amin were lucky; Karmal's alliance actually hurt the Parchamites' standing in Afghan politics. Some communists in the armed forces became disillusioned with the government of Daoud, and turned to the Khalqist PDPA because of its apparent independence. Parchamite association with the Daoud government indirectly led to the Khalqist-led PDPA coup of 1978, popularly referred to as the [[Saur Revolution]]. From 1973 until the 1978 coup, Amin was responsible for organising party work in the Afghan armed forces.{{sfn|Male|1982|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=-cYOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA56 56]}} According to the official version, Amin "met patriotic liaison officers day or night, in the desert or the mountains, in the fields or the forests, enlightening them on the basis of the principles of the working class ideology." Amin's success in recruiting military officers lay in the fact that Daoud "betrayed the left" soon after taking power.{{sfn|Male|1982|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=-cYOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA57 57]}} When Amin began recruiting military officers for the PDPA, it was not difficult for him to find disgruntled military officers. In the meantime, relations between the Parchamite and Khalqist PDPA deteriorated; in 1973 it was rumoured that Major [[Zia Mohammadzai]], a Parchamite and head of the [[Republican Guard (Afghanistan)|Republican Guard]], planned to assassinate the entire Khalqist leadership. The plan, if true, failed because the Khalqists found out about it.{{sfn|Male|1982|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=-cYOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA58 58]}}
The assassination attempt proved to be a further blow to relations between the Parchamites and Khalqists. The Parchamites deny that they ever planned to assassinate the Khalqist leadership, but historian Beverley Male argues that Karmal's subsequent activities give credence to the Khalqist view of events. Because of the Parchamite assassination attempt, Amin pressed the Khalqist PDPA to seize power in 1976 by ousting Daoud.{{sfn|Male|1982|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=-cYOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA58 58]}} The majority of the PDPA leadership voted against such a move.{{sfn|Male|1982|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=-cYOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA58 58–59]}} The following year, in 1977, the Parchamites and Khalqists officially reconciled, and the PDPA was unified. The Parchamite and Khalqist PDPAs, which had separate general secretaries, politburos, central committees and other organisational structures, were officially unified in the summer of 1977.{{sfn|Arnold|1983|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=cd85ioPsz6cC&pg=PA52 52]}} One reason for unification was that the international communist movement, represented by the [[Communist Party of India]], [[Iraqi Communist Party]] and the [[Communist Party of Australia]], called for party unification.{{sfn|Arnold|1983|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=cd85ioPsz6cC&pg=PA53 53]}}

===Saur Revolution===
{{further|Saur Revolution}}
 
On 18 April 1978 [[Mir Akbar Khyber]], the chief ideologue of the Parcham faction, was killed; he was commonly believed to have been assassinated by the Daoud government. Khyber's assassination initiated a chain of events which led to the PDPA taking power eleven days later, on 27 April.{{sfn|Male|1982|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=-cYOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA62 62]}} The assassin was never caught, but [[Anahita Ratebzad]], a Parchamite, believed that Amin had ordered the assassination.{{sfn|Male|1982|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=-cYOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA58 58]}} Khyber's funeral evolved into a large anti-government demonstration. Daoud, who did not understand the significance of the events, began a mass arrest of PDPA members seven days after Khyber's funeral. Amin, who organised the subsequent revolution against Daoud, was one of the last Central Committee members to be arrested by the authorities. His late arrest can be considered as proof of the regime's lack of information; Amin was the leading revolutionary party organiser. The government's lack of awareness was proven by the arrest of Taraki – Taraki's arrest was the pre-arranged signal for the revolution to commence.{{sfn|Male|1982|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=-cYOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA62 62]}} When Amin found out that Taraki had been arrested, he ordered the revolution to begin at 9&nbsp;am on 27 April. Amin, in contrast to Taraki, was not imprisoned, but instead put under [[house arrest]]. His son, Abdur Rahman, was still allowed freedom of movement. The revolution was successful, thanks to overwhelming support from the Afghan military; for instance, it was supported by Defence Minister [[Ghulam Haidar Rasuli]], [[Aslam Watanjar]] the commander of the ground forces, and the Chief of Staff of the [[Afghan Air Force]], [[Abdul Qadir (Afghan communist)|Abdul Qadir]].{{sfn|Male|1982|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=-cYOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA63 63]}}