13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Man Behind the Epic: Mir Gholam Mohammad Ghobar, June 8, 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: Afghanistan in the Course of History, Volume Two (Paperback)
Excerpts from Lemar-Aftaab Magazine's Review
PLEASE VISIT: <http://www.afghanmagazine.com/july2000/articles/ghobar/index.html>:
The one major difference between the two was that Baihaqi was a historian whose writing served the court of the Ghaznavids kings. Ghobar was imprisoned by the government for writing truths and voicing his opinions. Whereas Baihaqi received golden treasures and prestige for writing history in favor of the royal court, Ghobar's unbiased writings prompted the ruling governing body to marginalize him and his family to live in fear of their lives from day-to-day. Ghobar has become a capstone for most historians who specialized on Afghanistan. Many Afghans came to realize his greatness after his death. Now, thousands of Afghans rely on Ghobar's writing style and content to learn important historical facts. Habibi (1984) puts Ghobar's contribution into perspective: "Ghobar's seal is cast on Afghan movements in the second half of the 20th century."
Since his writings were earth shattering, some envious and intransigents tried defaming and slandering him by mislabeling him into a certain way of thinking. The truth of the matter is that he was neither a right-wing fanatic nor a left-wing revolutionary. He was a progressive intellectual whose primary objective was to peacefully reform the system.
Ghobar had the patriotic ambition of reconciling Afghanistan's past, present, and future. He wrote: "Until the onslaught of Gengiz Khan, Afghanistan was the shining star of the Islamic world. Neither in cultural level nor in the stage of civilization had she any equal among the Muslim countries" (Gregorian, 1969, Page 22). Ghobar was a strong advocate of justice, civil liberties, and reforming the strict censorship policies. Afghanistan dar Masir-e Tarikh has been widely associated with the movement for a free press and none censorship. Just as activist intellectuals such King, Gandhi, Mandela, and even passivist intellectuals were being punished for exercising their civil rights, Ghobar also became a victim during the regime's informal intellectual apartheid, genocide, and exile campaign. Ghobar along with his brothers, his cousins were imprisoned in the jails of Saira-e Mothi in Kabul. Among the 16,000 captives, they were political prisoners from 1933 to 1935. From 1935 to 1942, they were sent to exile in Bala Baluk, Farah.
In 1952-1956, Ghobar again ended up as a political prison of the regime. Because he participated in a peaceful public protest urging democratic parliamentary elections. This time in prison he conceived the idea of writing the epic. Ghobar's book unveiled a whole world of state oppression, corruption, and criticized the extreme and sometimes brutal measures taken by the government.
During P.M. Maiwandwal in 1967, Ghobar's book was approved for publication. Since the monarchy did not permit private publication houses, the book was to be published in the government-publishing house located in Kabul. According to Wala (2000), Deparment Head for, Minister Benawa designated him to publish the book at the government-printing house. Major figures of Afghan literature oversaw his work and approved of it such as Ahmad Ali Kohzad, Ahmad Naimi, and Muhammad Gul-ab Nangahari. When the ruling elite replaced P.M. Maiwandwal, the book was officially announced banned during a meeting. The banning of the book without any legal or court process did not fair well with intellectuals.
Ghobar has been noted to say, "Legally, the history book I have written must be released. The government can then use its power to commission writers who can distort the facts and history of the past in response of my book."
Although initially printed by the government press, the ruling elite banned it. George Bernard Shaw put it best: "Censorship ends in logical completeness when nobody is allowed to read any books except the books nobody reads."
The government's biases against pedagogy resulted from fears that people will become socially literate, heighten their sense of social consciousness, and transform their situation and society. However, the government ignored that positive results cannot be expected from political repression, which fail to respect the particular view of the world held by the people. The rulers made empty promises ensuring justice and democracy, but behind the scene was law breaking and corruption. Conspiracy and plotting became common and innocent intellectuals were sent off to fill prison cells. They were individuals who only exercised their rights to speak and write and had not committed any crime. However, even without a case nor judgment against them, these intellectuals and their relatives spent years in the prison cells where they were subjected to all methods of torture. Ironically, it so happened that the place of patriotic and heroic intellectual was in prison and not in the governing bodies of the country. It was these infringements of civil liberties and censorship that were the main causes of the decay of the regime.
Early in 1978, after unsuccessful treatments resulted in his parting of this world in West Germany on February 18, 1978. Ghobar laid to rest in Shohada-e Saliheen. On his burial tablet it is written: Do not tell me to hold my tongue! Oh fate, there are still 1,000 unsaid passages running through my head.
Unlike other questionable intellectuals who have become entrepreneurs that give a slanted historical interpretation based on their ethnic, religious, regional incentives, Ghobar praises and criticizes all the players of the game.
Ghobar was a very learned person, whose research about the period prior to his lifetime was not only based on his knowledge but on vast archives. His book is first of its kind in that it is the most scholarly and scientific in format and content. After forty years, his book is still a popular reference piece among Afghans no matter wherever they lie along the political spectrum: "Books won't stay banned. They won't burn. Ideas won't go to jail. In the long run of history, the censor and the inquisitor have always lost. The only sure weapon against bad ideas is better ideas," Whitney Griswold.
Although Ghobar had to endure constant struggle and courage in the face of dire situations, today his eternal radiance shines like a heavenly star onto Afghanistan's literary and political society.
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7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An astonishing account of Afghan History, May 15, 2001
This review is from: Afghanistan in the Course of History, Volume Two (Paperback)
I have read many books about Afghan History, written by notable Afghans and foreign writers, but none have equaled Ghobar's Book. Afghanistan in the Course of History captures the fear, helplessness, and despair that the people of Afghanistan had to endure under the Monarchy system. Ghober's vivid and chilling description of the prison cells, torture chambers, Nadir Shah's and his brother assassination, Execution of Abdul Khaleq, and the elimination of the famed Charkhi family is Spellbinding.
One has to marvel at the thoroughness with which Ghobar discusses not only the brutal Monarchy System, the British involvement, the campaign against the Monarchy and the British from within and abroad but the entire political and economic situation in Afghanistan. Ghobar's vivid descriptions of the brutal regime of Nadir and his brothers', the British interference and the Indian connection offered insights that I have read nowhere else.
This is the one book you need to read if you want to know what it was like to be an Afghan and live under the Monarchy system in Afghanistan. The description scenes are gripping and often heartbreaking. Once you have read this book, you'll understand why Afghanistan is in such a state of chaos today!
Afghanistan in the Course of History is a fascinating portrait of the Afghan History. I have read no other account of the Afghan history equal to this. Ghobar's groundbreaking revelation is a masterpiece. This is literature.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Personal feelings about Ghobar, November 15, 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: Afghanistan in the Course of History, Volume Two (Paperback)
Excerpts take from an email letter started by Afghans Solidarity
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MGM Ghobar's first book "Afghanistan dar massir e tarikh" is very informative, and it is widely considered a valuable history book written by an Afghan. His second book, however, is mostly based on his personal views.
As a political activist, he strongly opposed the government of Nadir shah, Hashim khan, Shah Mahmood Khan, and Daud Khan. His intentions, in his 2nd book, was to weaken and possibly topple those governments by generating a mass resentment towards the government. He was imprisoned for few year and sent to exile in southern part of Afghanistan. It is easy to sense throughout his book a feeling of revenge. He continuously concentrates on negative aspects of the government policies and actions.
This is an example of how a government used force to do injustice to its opposition and how an individual make use of pen to take revenge.
It important that we avoid getting caught in the fire and as a result form extreme opinions.
There is a good critique (in Farsi) by Negargar on MGM Ghobar's
second book. Negargar points out major differenced between Ghobar's 1st and 2nd book. He tries to prove that the 2nd book is not 100% Ghobar's writings. He thinks a lot has been added to his original writings.
Khalid Shalizi
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About the MGM Ghobar's book, I urge caution. Ghobar's first book "Afghanistan Daar Maseer'e Tarikh Vol 1", is one of the best history books available on Afghanistan. While I read the second volume with great interest (over a weekend) and found it deeply moving, I would like to point out that this volume is more of a personal journal, rather than a scholarly researched
history book. The story about "Charkhi" family is true, but as far as I know, noone has any stories that either supports or rejects any of the other ones, and since Afghanistan doesn't have many solid historians, this is as good as it will have to get for now. If EC members' disagree, I can take criticism OK, so I would love to hear other members' perspectives on this book. I should point out that Donya jaan Ghobar, MGM's daughter, is a (silent) member of AS. She is a physician, poet, writer, painter and sculptor, a pretty amazing woman. I have met Hashamt, the publisher and MGM's son, on a number of occasions and been to their house in VA. They are fantastic Afghans!
Farhad Ahad
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