Abdul Hamid Muhtat

Panjshir in the Mirror of Civilization

(Part 16)

Translated by: Abdul Ali Faiq

Abdul Hamid Muhtat, son of Mohamad Akram was born in Bazarak district of Panjshir Province in 1944. He attended elementary school in 1951, the Army School in 1957, and subsequently travelled to the Soviet Union for further education. He completed his Master’s Degree in the Military Academy of Kiev in the field of military command and radio-telecommunication engineering. He returned to Afghanistan in 1969, and was appointed as instructor in Aviation University in the same year. In 1970 Mr. Muhtat was changed to the Air Force Central Command and Air Force Defensive Department. He held various high-ranking positions.

He played decisive role in the overthrow of the Afghanistan’s Monarchy and the establishment of the first Republic on July 17 1973. As a result, Mahamad Daud came to power as the first president of the Republic of Afghanistan. He was appointed as Minister of Post and Tele-Communications. As a result of the differences on the political issues with the president, he was dismissed from his position in April 1974. He was kept in house arrest for 4 years and many of his colleagues were imprisoned. After the collapsed of Dauad Khan’s regime in 1978, he was appointed as ambassador of Afghanistan to Japan, and he continued his job until spring of 1987. By the spring of 1987, he was appointed as a Deputy Prime Minister in 1987 and as Vice-President of Afghanistan from 1988 to 1992.

After the transfer of power to Mujahiddin in 1992, Mr. Muhtat left Afghanistan to India. In 1993 and 1994, he was invited to work as researcher in the Japan National Institute for International affairs. Currently, he is honorary professor in the Kiev International University (www.kymu.edu.ua), and conducts lectures on the history of central Asia and Afghanistan.

Mr.Muhtat widely travelled to different countries across the world for research purpose, and actively participated in many seminars and conferences. Mr. Abdul Hamid Muhtat speaks fluent Persian (Dari), Pashto, English, Russian and Japanese. He has one daughter and two sons.