reform and repression, 1901–19
Ghani’s other enemy was even more powerful. Mirza Muhammad
Husain Khan Safi, the Amir’s Mustufi al-Mulk, or Auditor General, was
also kotwal of Kabul, head of Internal Security of the Eastern Provinces,
and chief of the Safi tribe of Qal‘a Murad Beg near Jabal Saraj, which
was later renamed Husain Kot in his honour. 18 The mustufi commanded
a substantial militia and was ideologically aligned to the Sunni party
with strong links to the Hazrat of Shor Bazaar, while his family’s spiritual
guide, Maulana ‘Abd al-Hai Panjshiri, was a graduate of the Darul Uloom
at Deoband. Jewett, the American engineer employed to supervise the
hydroelectric project at Jabal Saraj, described the mustufi as ‘intriguing
and unscrupulous’, 19 while the Kabul wakil noted that he was ‘extremely
bigoted and conservative’ with a ‘natural aversion’ to the Amir’s ‘west-
ern ways’. The mustufi developed a personal dislike for Dr Ghani and his
educational policies, while Ghani accused Muhammad Husain Khan of
being behind the cold-blooded murder of his twelve-year-old son a few
years after he was imprisoned.
The mustufi’s sons, who were pupils at Habibiyya College, no doubt
kept their father informed about Dr Ghani’s proceedings, the public mock-
ing of government officials, and the fact that some teachers and students
had joined a secret political party. In order to purge these critics of the
ruling family, Husain Khan Safi produced, and possibly even forged, the
shab nama, purporting to come from the Hizb-i Mashruta, knowing that
he would be entrusted with the task of hunting down the culprits. Indeed,
according to Ghani, it was the mustufi who convinced the Amir that he
and his brothers were the ringleaders of the conspiracy. So Husain Khan,
with royal approval, was able to purge Habibiyya of its Indian teachers
and arrest leading members of the reform movement, including religious
scholars and literary figures known for their progressive views. At the
same time, the mustufi undermined the Amir’s faith in the liberalization
of education, halted moves to reform the legal and social framework of
the country, and disposed of personal rivals.
When it came to Nazir Muhammad Safir, he and the mustufi were
long-standing rivals, for the mustufi had replaced him as kotwal of Kabul
and head of security and was probably responsible for his imprisonment.
The mustufi now accused his rival of being head of the Hizb-i Mashruta
and Nazir Muhammad Safir was put to death, even though he had no
ideological ties to any reform movement. According to Jewett’s somewhat
garbled account of the conspiracy, the mustufi concocted the plot partly
out of envy and partly so he could gain control of the revenues of Kabul’s
Custom House. 20
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(Nandana)
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