Abdul Khaliq Hazara (assassin)

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia

Abdul Khaliq Hazara
عبدالخالق هزاره
Abdul Khaliq c. 1932
Born1916
Died18 December 1933(1933-12-18) (aged 16–17)
Cause of deathTortured and dismembered by the Royal Afghan Army
Other namesKhaliqo
خالقو
OccupationStudent
Known forAssassination of King Mohammad Nadir Shah

Abdul Khaliq Hazara (Persian: عبدالخالق هزاره), (1916 — December 18, 1933) was an Afghan Hazara student who assassinated the King of Afghanistan, Mohammad Nadir Shah, on 8 November 1933, during an award distribution ceremony. He was quickly arrested, tortured and later executed by quartering along with most of his relatives.

The assassination of Nadir Shah may have been done in revenge for the taxes and execution of Hazaras,[1] and for actions of Ghulam Nabi Charkhi who was a former Afghanistan ambassador to Moscow who took part in the Afghan civil war of 1928-29 as a supporter of the previous ruler of Afghanistan, the reform-minded Amanullah Khan.[2]

Life[edit]

Khaliq was born in 1916 in the Chindawol area of Kabul, Afghanistan.[citation needed] He was a student at Nejat High School.[citation needed]

Khaliq witnessed the rise of King Nadir Khan from 1929 and the assassinations of Afghanistan's intellectuals and politicians. Nadir, who was a general of King Amanullah Khan, was summoned by Amanullah to fight against Habibullah Kalakani and restore the monarchy, but instead Nadir proclaimed himself king.[citation needed] He systematically hand-picked supporters of Amanullah Khan and imprisoned them. For years he plucked any person who he would think would someday stand against his reign were eliminated. [citation needed] The wrath of Nadir was over anyone not of the Mohammadzai tribe, his targets included the former king and his Pashtun clans, the Tajiks of the north and the Hazaras of central Afghanistan.[citation needed]

In 1933, Khaliq's uncle, brothers and father were arrested by Nadir Khan's regime after the execution of Ghulam Nabi Charkhi, an Amanullah supporter.[citation needed]

Assassination of the King[edit]

Abdul Khaliq plotted to assassinate Nadir Shah. The first attempt was at the Independence Day gathering at the Id Gah Mosque, but Abdul Khaliq did not attend. A few months later, opportunity arose when Nadir Shah invited athletes of his high school to the palace to distribute medals for their achievements. Abdul Khaliq was one of the attendees and saw no security units at the gates. Abdul Khaliq rode his bike back to the Pamir Cinema area and brought with him a gun that belonged to his friend Is'haq Sherdel.[citation needed]

M1895, the same type of revolver which Khaliq used to assassinate the King

Abdul Khaliq returned with a Nagant M1895 loaded with 6 bullets of 7.62×38mmR wrapped in a handkerchief hidden in his pocket. He stood behind Ishaq Sherdel and Mahmood. The national flag was lowered and Nadir Shah entered the rose garden. He examined the medals table and walked over towards the students. Abdul Khaliq reached into his pocket and pulled out the gun, aimed at Nadir Shah and pulled the trigger. The first bullet hit Nadir in his mouth, the second shot pierced Nadir's heart, and the third shot cut through Nadir's lung. The guards rushed towards Abdul Khaliq and a fourth bullet hit a guard. Abdul Khaliq then threw the gun as the guards chased him.[citation needed]

Shah Mahmood ordered the arrest of over 400 "Nejat High school" students and by executive decree ordered all students to be put to death. A soldier in the national guard convinced Mahmood that the students were innocent, and they were then released.[citation needed]

Execution[edit]

Abdul Khaliq Hazara with family taken as prisoners

Abdul Khaliq was imprisoned and under torture gave up the names of his accomplices. Abdul Khaliq was given a trial in which he named all his friends and family members as accomplices. The strength of these claims has since been questioned by the lone surviving member of Abdul Khaliq's family. He was eventually sentenced to death along with 16 others. The majority of Abdul Khaliq's family were taken to the Deh Mazang prison.[citation needed]

Sixteen nooses were prepared at the execution site. Abdul Khaliq was brought over and was asked with which one of his fingers he squeezed the trigger. He lifted his index finger, and immediately that finger was cut off. He was then questioned which eye he used to aim, upon which they immediately gouged out that eye with a dagger. The authorities eventually tortured Abdul Khaliq to death instead of hanging him.[3] Security officers tortured Abdul Khaliq by cutting his tongue and gouging his eyes and soldiers killed him with bayonets while his family and friends were forced to watch.[4][5]

Abdul Khaliq Hazara is considered to be a martyr by Hazaras and the Solidarity Party of Afghanistan.[6]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Louis Dupree (14 July 2014). Afghanistan. Princeton University Press. pp. 476–. ISBN 978-1-4008-5891-0.
  2. ^ Istorii︠a︡ Vostoka : v shesti tomakh. Rybakov, R. B., Kapit︠s︡a, Mikhail Stepanovich., Рыбаков, Р. Б., Капица, Михаил Степанович., Institut vostokovedenii︠a︡ (Rossiĭskai︠a︡ akademii︠a︡ nauk), Институт востоковедения (Rossiĭskai︠a︡ akademii︠a︡ nauk). Moskva: Izdatelʹskai︠a︡ firma "Vostochnai︠a︡ lit-ra" RAN. 1995–2008. ISBN 5020181021. OCLC 38520460.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  3. ^ http://www.afghanland.com/history/biography/Khaliq.html%7Caccessdate=November
  4. ^ Hafizullah, Emadi (2005). Culture and customs of Afghanistan. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 35. ISBN 0-313-33089-1. Retrieved October 23, 2011.
  5. ^ Runion, Meredith (October 2007). The History of Afghanistan. Greenwood. p. 93. ISBN 978-0-313-33798-7.
  6. ^ افغانستان, حزب همبستگی. "شهید عبدالخالق قهرمان راستین وطن ماست" (in Persian). Archived from the original on 2016-01-01.