Thirty years ago today, on the outskirts of Peshawar (Pakistan), desperate, starved and abused Soviet and Afghan prisoners of war undertook what turned out to be a heroic and defiant uprising. However, the barricaded prisoners demand for access to the Red Cross, or the Soviet Ambassador, was denied.
Instead, the revolt was brutally suppressed by Burhanuddin Rabbani's* Jamiat-i-Islami (Tajik) militia/muj and the Pakistan military. A handful of Soviet prisoners who survived were executed on the spot in violation of the Geneva Convention.
This seemingly insignificant footnote, during the ten year Soviet invasion/occupation of Afghanistan, encapsulates the duplicity of General Zia-ul-Haq and his generals.
Disclosure of the Badaber uprising of Soviet and Afghan prisoners held illegally in a presumably "neutral" state threatened vested interests. There was the real prospect of the Cold War turning into a Hot War given Pakistan's various double/triple games as Zia sought to exploit the situation (Soviet occupation of Afghanistan), damn the long term implications for the country and its people, not to mention the entire region. As long as the military junta could make a killing, every thing was on the table or fair game.
Pakistan's involvement in Afghanistan during the 1980s was never altruistic but mercenary in nature. Afghans, however, were under no illusions and viewed Zia's (and American) support of Afghan Islamists such as Hikmatyar, Rabbani, Sayyaf, Haqqani etc as a betrayal.
Why discuss this particular uprising? Because the worst aspects of history (genocide, religious war, civil war, coup d'etats, assassinations) tend to be replicated unless there is a certain degree of awareness, and respect, for the historical record; followed by active policy measures enacted/implemented by the state(s) designed to prevent or mitigate such horrors.
The real possibility that this illegal prisoner confinement, and subsequent murder, of Soviet citizens would constitute the straw that would break the camel's back was overlooked/under-appreciated by the Pakistani regime. Worse, Zia's somewhat cavalier response (and his regime's initial denials) roused the Russian bear.
So there'd be a reckoning.
The Pakistani generals, who've always overestimated their own cunning and smarts, thought they could get away with their brazen duplicity, which wasn't limited to the Soviets but included the Afghan people (not to mention fellow Pakistanis).
After the Badaber massacre, there was widespread speculation that the numerous terrorist attacks in Peshawar and elsewhere in Pakistan, to include the spectacular Ojhri Camp "fireworks" (an act of sabotage) in April of 1988, were retributive in nature.
Furthermore, one popular conspiracy theory in Pakistan links the Badaber prisoner massacre to Zia's own demise in mysterious circumstances at Bahawalpur, when one of the world's most reliable aircraft, a C-130 Hercules, crashed soon after takeoff on August 17,1988, killing most of Pakistan's senior Army generals.
In stark contrast to the Soviets' response, the Americans have tolerated Pakistan's double dealings, notwithstanding Pakistan being caught red handed "hosting" (read: house arrest) Bin Laden in one of their military cantonments.
To date, there's been no American "reckoning" for a rogue state that "sponsored" the masterminds of 9/11.Worse, Pakistan continues to be generously "rewarded" with billions of US tax payer's dollars despite its military's track record at home (East Pakistan, Baluchistan and NWFP/Khyber Pukhtunkhwa) and abroad. A perplexing reality that should raise legitimate questions vis-a-vis all the "players"/participants at great cost to Americans (lives, limbs, and treasure).
A sick cycle of dysfunctional dependency between a former Superpower and an artificial state with an embarassing name ("Land of the Pure") that has been faltering, and now failing. A state distrusted by most (to include "friendly" brotherly Muslim states) countries that has no respect for Washington (or anyone else for that matter) notwithstanding the generous "aid."
Although a forgotten footnote of history, the Badaber uprising offers lessons/insights on state behavior and "diplomacy."
* Burhanuddin Rabbani, (September 20, 1940-September 20, 2011), was hated for his brutal track record by a majority of Afghans (Pushtuns, Hazaras and Uzbeks) notwithstanding the official narrative. On June 28, 1992, he wrestled control of Kabul from the other mujahidin factions and declared himself President. He then instituted draconian social measures which made many urban Afghans nostalgic for Soviet rule. Under his dictatorship, urban females and other ethnic groups risked rape and murder for being "modern" and/or belonging to another ethnic group. Rabbani refused to step down from the Presidency once his "term" was up, and thus helped fuel the civil war that all but ensured the emergence of Mullah Omar's Taliban who restored law and order at a great long term cost to the populace.
Since the narrative within Afghanistan currently/officially being bandied about on Rabbani is that of a "war hero" and religious patriot, one is encouraged to dig deeper. Rabbani (a Badakhshani Tajik), along with Gulbuddin Hikmatyar (Kharoti Ghilzai Pushtun) and Abdul Rasul Sayyaf (Kharoti Ghilzai Pushtun) was instrumental in the destruction of Afghan society, with the help of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia (Iran's role/track record is a murky one).
Like Sayyaf, Rabbani was a graduate of the Al-Azhar University in Cairo in the late 1960s where he established a close and long term relationship with the Muslim Brotherhood (MB). Sayyaf went one step further and widened his ties to include the Wahhabis for generous remuneration.
Given the ties between Tehran and the MB, Rabbani also established a friendly close relationship with the Khomeinists and had just returned from a conference with the mullahs in Tehran when he was assassinated. Rabbani introduced Sayyid Qutb's banned (in Egypt and elsewhere) works to Afghanistan when he translated Qutb's Milestones and other writings into Persian sowing seeds of intolerance and violence of which the Badaber massacre is just one footnote.
