a house divided, 1933–73When he refused, Da’ud sent in the auditors, who discovered that Zabuli
had failed to account for millions of dollars of foreign exchange, much of
which had been diverted into his own, private offshore accounts. Faced
with public disgrace and imprisonment Zabuli chose to go into volun-
tary exile; after a period in Moscow he settled in New York, where he
eventually became an American citizen. He died in 1998 at the ripe old
age of 102 and left 70 per cent of his immense fortune, estimated at more
than $200 million in today’s money, to a Trust for promoting education
in Afghanistan.
The ‘Liberal Parliament’ and the suppression of dissentThe conflict between Zabuli and Shah Mahmud was symptomatic of a wider
political and ideological struggle that was taking place. After the death of
Hashim Khan, Prime Minister Shah Mahmud had set out to reduce the
power of Nur al-Mashayekh and other Islamists and remove some of the
restrictions imposed by Islamic law. Girls’ schools were reopened, political
prisoners pardoned, and restrictions on political activity and press free-
dom eased. It was against the background of this tentative liberalization
that movements such as Wish Zalmiyan and Afghanistan’s first Students’
Union emerged.
Shortly after becoming prime minister, Shah Mahmud ordered new
elections that allowed a far greater degree of public participation. When
the results were announced, forty of the 120 members of the Wolusi Jirga
represented a variety of independent, reformist groups who formed a coali-
tion known as Jabha-yi Mardum, the People’s Front. Its members were
committed to breaking what they called ‘the wall of silence’, curbing the
power of the Executive, and making ministers and the king accountable
to Parliament. Known as the Liberal Parliament of 1950–51, the Legislature
passed two laws that allowed greater press freedom. This led to a brief flurry
of quasi-political broadsheets, all of which were critical of the government
and the king, as well as attacking corruption and religious obscurant-
ism. Most of the editors of these publications were affiliates of the Wish
Zalmiyan. 28
The new freedoms led to public demonstrations demanding reform,
which more often than not led to clashes with security forces. Editors of
the newspapers also ran into trouble with embedded dynastic and religious
interests. Muhammad Ghulam Hasan Safi, a prominent member of Wish
Zalmiyan, wrote an article accusing Nur al-Mashayekh of illegally diverting
construction material designated for schools to repair the shrine of Mui