Home > Sultan Ali Keshtmand

Keshtmand was born in Kabul. He is a member of the minority Hazara ethnic group. He studied economics at Kabul University, and became involved in the Communist People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan. He joined the Parcham Faction of that party, which was led by Babrak Karmal.

Immediately after the April 1978 coup in which the People's Democratic Party came to power, forming the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, Keshtmand became minister of planning. He lost that post in August 1978 when he was arrested for an alleged plot against President Nur Mohammad Taraki, a member of the rival Kalk faction of the party. He remained in prison until December 1979 when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, bringing Babrak Karmal and the Parcham faction to power.

Keshtmand soon became one of the most important leaders of the Communist regime. He served as Prime Minister from 1981 to 1988 and 19891989 is a common year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar). Events January January 7 Akihito becomes Emperor of Japan following the death of Hirohito. The Heisei period begins January 8 the Kegworth Air Disaster A British Midland Boeing 737 cra to 1990Events January January 3 Former leader of Panama Manuel Noriega surrenders to American forces. January 7 The Leaning Tower of Pisa is closed to the public due to safety concerns. January 9 Lt Gen Bazilio Olara Okello The man who led the coup aginst Dr Apo, and as vice-President from 1990Events January January 3 Former leader of Panama Manuel Noriega surrenders to American forces. January 7 The Leaning Tower of Pisa is closed to the public due to safety concerns. January 9 Lt Gen Bazilio Olara Okello The man who led the coup aginst Dr Apo until 19911991 like 2002, is a palindromic year. It also has the same calendar as 2002, including Easter on March 31. It is a common year starting on Tuesday. Events January January 2 Sharon Pratt Dixon is sworn in as mayor of Washington, DC becoming the first blac, when he was dismissed shortly before the fall of the Communist government. He then left Afghanistan, first moving to RussiaThe Russian Federation ( Russian: , transliteration: Rossiyskaya Federatsiya or Rossijskaja Federacija , or Russia (Russian: , transliteration: Rossiya or Rossija , is a country that stretches over a vast expanse of eastern Europe and northern Asia. With and then to EnglandEngland is the largest, the most populous, and the most densely populated of the four " Home Nations" which make up the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK). Occupying the south-eastern portion of the island of Great Britain, England. There he became an outspoken defender of the rights of Hazaras, claiming that the PashtunThe Pashtun (also Pushtun Pakhtun or ethnic Afghan in referring to the period of the British Raj or earlier, sometimes Pathan are an ethnic/religious group of people, living primarily in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India and following Pashtunwali. The Pash majority in Afghanistan had had too much power in all of Afghanistan's regimes.