Shams-ul-Huda Shams

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Shamsul Huda Shams in early years

Shams-ul-Huda Shams (Pashto: شمس الهدا شمس) was the president of the Afghan Social Democratic Party (also known as Afghan Mellat) from 1987 until his death on October 9, 2005. He was also a journalist, publishing articles in his party's newspaper called 'Afghan Mellat'. Shams had recently returned to his homeland after twenty-seven years in exile and had opened an office for his party in Jalalabad.

[edit] Early years

Shams, an ethnic Pashtun, was born in Nurgal in the Kunar province of Afghanistan. In 1984, the founder of Afghan Social Democratic Party, Ghulam Mohammad Farhad, died. Three years later in 1987, Shams was selected as the new head of the party.

The party then began to split into 3 factions, one led by Shams-ul-Huda Shams, another by Qudratullah Hadad and the third by Mohammad Amin Wakman. Mr. Wakman’s faction is now led by Afghan Finance Minister Anwar Ul Haq Ahady.^[1]

During the early days of the Soviet war in Afghanistan, Shams established a base for his party in Peshawar, Pakistan. He led his party in the face of strong opposition from religious extremist parties on one hand and the incumbent communist regime on the other. Shams had an uncompromising attitude towards communism, that is why he never agreed to strike a deal with the Soviet-backed government of Kabul in spite of repeated attempts by the latter, up to the point of offering him a cabinet position.

Shams was in favor of the establishment of a modern democratic government in the country which could retain its National Islamic character. After the removal of Mohammad Najibullah's Soviet-backed government and Mujahideen take over of Afghanistan, shams continued his opposition with the incumbent regime of religious parties, which he argued, was not representing the majority of Afghan nation. Shams was especially against the Taliban government that was backed by Pakistan.^{[citation needed]}

While in Peshawar, Shams continued to publish his party's newspaper 'Afghan Mellat' which published articles that produced nationalistic sentiments and called for democratic development in the war-ravaged Afghanistan. Besides writing in his party's journal, shams also contributed scholarly articles and essays to other newspapers and journals. A unique feature in his writings was that he described facts regardless of its outcome.

Shams kept a close friendly relationship with Pakhtun Nationalist Parties and Pashto literary organizations of Pakistan, especially Pakhtunkhwa Qawmi Party of Afzal Khan Lala. Shams’s death was widely mourned by Afghans all over the world. After the death of Shamsul Huda Shams, the party congress held an emergency meeting and elected Ajmal Shams as the new president of the Afghan Mellat Party.