Weekh Zalmian

[Admin Khan]

Darweskhel, feel free to post the response to my question here.

[afghan]

(Weesh Zalmiyaan)

The third major policy focus of the immediate postwar period in Afghanistan was the experiment in political liberalization implemented by Shah Mahmud. Encouraged by young, Western-educated members of the political elite, the prime minister allowed national assembly elections that were distinctly less controlled than ever before, resulting in the “liberal parliament” of 1949. He also relaxed strict press censorship and allowed opposition political groups to come to life. The most important of these groups was Weekh–Zalmayan (Awakened Youth), a movement made up of diverse dissident groups founded in Kandahar in 1947. As the new liberal parliament began taking its duties seriously and questioning the king’s ministers, students at Kabul University also began to debate political questions. A newly formed student union provided not only a forum for political debate but also produced plays critical of Islam and the monarchy. Newspapers criticized the government, and many groups and individuals began to demand a more open political system.

The liberalization clearly went further than the prime minister had intended. His first reaction was to ride the tide by creating a government party, but when this failed, the government began to crack down on political activity. The Kabul University student union was dissolved in 1951, the newspapers that had criticized the government were closed down, and many of the leaders of the opposition were jailed. The parliament elected in 1952 was a large step backward from the one elected in 1949; the experiment in open politics was over.

The liberal experiment had an important effect on the nation’s political future. It provided the breeding ground for the revolutionary movement that would come to power in 1978. Nor Muhammad Taraki, who became president following the 1978 coup d’etat claimed in his official biography to have been the founder of the Wikh-i-Zalmayan and the dissident newspaper, Angar (Burning Embers). Writer Beverley Male notes, however, that the claim appears exaggerated. Babrak Karmal, who became president after the Soviet invasion of December 1979, was active in the Kabul University student union during the liberal period and was imprisoned in 1953 for his political activities. Hafizullah Amin later claimed to have also played a role in the student movement, although his activities were apparently not so noteworthy as to bring about his imprisonment by the government.

The government crackdown in 1951 and 1952 suddenly ended liberalization and alienated many young, reformist Afghans who may have originally hoped only to reform the existing structure rather than radically transform it. As Male suggests, “the disillusionment which accompanied the abrupt termination of the experiment in liberalism was an important factor in the radicalisation of the men who later established the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan.”

Hi, I am the source.

admin khana wrora are you sure wekh zalmyan was founded in kandahar 1947? because the formation of political parties was legalized in 1964. accordint to my information Ghulam Mohammad Farhad founded Afghan millat and wekh zalmyan after 1964.

[Admin Khan]

Afghan wrora,

I did not write that article but it does make sense to me because that is when the scholars of Kandahar were at their prime. So the scholars of Kandahar must have got together around that time to form it.

[Darweshkhel]

admin khana wrora are you sure wekh zalmyan was founded in kandahar 1947? because the formation of political parties was legalized in 1964. accordint to my information Ghulam Mohammad Farhad founded Afghan millat and wekh zalmyan after 1964.

Wrora Wesh Zalmyan was officially not a political party but a literature club.

[Darweshkhel]

admin khan so that means your kandahari since your great grandfather was one of the wesh zulman?

darweshkhel oh my god that is such a strong scholar line you.


Habibi, Benawa wow. Darweshkhel do you know that Kandahar still has those kind of scholars? Can you read Pashto darweshkhel? I can upload books of local kandahari scholars but I need help cause they are physical books.


how do I upload them?

you can use a digicam taking photographs of page. then save it as .jpg and upload.
which kinda books do you own?

[afghan]

Weesh Zalmyan wasnt a political party. It was a club made by the scholars of Kandahar who wanted to contribute to Pashto.

Political Parties
The environment has not always been conducive for establishing political parties, something which was directly or indirectly influenced by various governments. However, in 1905, a group composed of intellectuals, mullahs, and Indian and Turkish advisors appointed Professor Ghulam Mohammed Maimanagi as envoy to submit an application to Amir Habibulah Khan for establishing the Ikhwan Afghan (Afghan Brothers) political party.

In addition, throughout the history of Afghanistan, various intellectuals, writers and elites have demanded the establishment of a democratic society. One example is the Mashrota Ghooshtoonkoo Ghoorzang (Constitutional Monarchy Movement). As a result of this movement a constitutional monarchy, which allowed the creation of political parities and freedom of the press, was announced. This paved the way for a number of parties, including Wekh Zalmyan (Awakened Youths) in 1947 and Nuhzat Jawanan Muslman (the Muslim Youth Movement).

Today there are over 73 registered political parties operating under the new constitution of Afghanistan.

the above is taken from

The Historical Perspective on the Role of Civil Society in Afghanistan

A Speech by Mohammed Halim Fidai
Media and Communications Program Coordinator
Counterpart International/Creative Associates
Delivered at the Intercontinental Hotel, Kabul
On the occasion of the Media and Civil Society Forum, March 28-29, 2007
unfortunately not much information is available.

[Mayana]

we kandaharis will continue developing such Pashtun scholars do not worry. We produced Mullah Omar just to show the world we can go both ways and not to mess with us.

As for the topic, interesting movement. I hope they grow and are able to expand.

[afghan]

we kandaharis will continue developing such Pashtun scholars do not worry. We produced Mullah Omar just to show the world we can go both ways and not to mess with us.

i thought ISI gave us mulla omar.