The Road to Afghanistan - George Washington University

A discussion regarding the languages to be used during the meetings was held, andit was decided that the leading Soviet experts in Dari, diplomats Dmitry Rurikov andStanislav Gavrilov, would handle interpretation during the meeting of the leaders. Theprotocol staff agreed on the ceremony for greeting the Afghan delegation at the airport anddiscussed what ties and sports jackets the leaders should wear.On November 27, a plenary session of the Central Committee of the PDPA was heldthat was supposed to mark the end of intra-party turmoil. The following day, the KabulTimes published an article about the event. The article contained the customary set ofideological clichés: “The plenary session is a historical step forward in the workers’movement”; “The plenary session demonstrated the PDPA’s commitment to proletarianinternationalism and the defense of global peace”; “The plenary was the expression of thebrilliant leadership of the party and of the people by Comrade Taraki.”Decree Number Eight of the Revolutionary Council of the DRA, “Regarding the Issueof Land Reform,” was discussed and approved. The most important goal of the meeting—todeliver a final blow to the Parchamis—was achieved. Seven members of the CentralCommittee and two members of the Revolutionary Council (Babrak Karmal, Nur AhmadNur, Keshtmand, Anahita Ratebzad, Baryalai, Vakil, Najib, Qadir, and Raffi) were officiallyexpelled from the PDPA, “for their participation in a traitorous plot against the Great AprilRevolution, the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, and our glorious party.” Four moremembers of the Central Committee were subjected to softer punishment; they werereduced in the rank from members to candidates, “in order to be re-educated based oncriticism and self-criticism.”253