Sulaiman Layeq ( ps, سليمان لايق, sometimes also

Romanised Romanization or romanisation, in linguistics, is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and ...

as Laeq or Laiq) (12 October 1930 - 31 July 2020) was an

Afghan Afghan may refer to: *Something of or related to Afghanistan, a country in Southern-Central Asia *Afghans, people or citizens of Afghanistan, typically of any ethnicity ** Afghan (ethnonym), the historic term applied strictly to people of the Pas ...

politician,

ideologue An ideology is a set of beliefs or philosophies attributed to a person or group of persons, especially those held for reasons that are not purely epistemic, in which "practical elements are as prominent as theoretical ones." Formerly applied pri ...

and

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

who held the positions of President of the Academy of Sciences, full member of the Afghan Politburo, and Minister of Nationalities and Tribal Affairs.

Biography

Initially a student of the College of Theology, he graduated from the College of Literature in 1958. Laeq was a poet and writer in

Pashtu Pashto (,; , ) is an Eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family. It is known in historical Persian literature as Afghani (). Spoken as a native language mostly by ethnic Pashtuns, it is one of the two official languages ...

and

Dari Dari (, , ), also known as Dari Persian (, ), is the variety of the Persian language spoken in Afghanistan. Dari is the term officially recognised and promoted since 1964 by the Afghan government for the Persian language,Lazard, G.Darī � ...

. During 1957–68, Laeq held different posts in the national controlled media. One of his sisters was married to

Mir Akbar Khyber Mir Akbar Khyber (January 11, 1925 – April 17, 1978) was an Afghan left-wing intellectual and a leader of the Parcham faction of People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA). His assassination by an unidentified person or people led to the ...

(a leading leftist ideologue whose murder in 1978 started the

Saur Revolution The Saur Revolution or Sowr Revolution ( ps, د ثور انقلاب; prs, إنقلاب ثور), also known as the April Revolution or the April Coup, was staged on 27–28 April 1978 (, ) by the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) ...

); another sister was married to

Sibghatullah Mojaddedi Sibghatullah Mojaddedi ( ps, صبغت الله مجددي; prs, صبغت‌الله مجددی; 27 September 1926 – 11 February 2019) was an Afghan politician, who served as Acting President after the fall of Mohammad Najibullah's government ...

(who would later become

President of Afghanistan The president of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan was constitutionally the head of state and head of government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (2004–2021) and Commander-in-Chief of the Afghan Armed Forces. On 15 August 2021, as t ...

). Laeq was a founder of the newspaper ''

Parcham Parcham (Pashto and prs, پرچم, ) was the name of one of the factions of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan, formed in 1967 following its split and led for most of its history by Babrak Karmal and Mohammed Najibullah. The basic id ...

'' in 1968. Together with

Babrak Karmal Babrak Karmal (Farsi/Pashto: , born Sultan Hussein; 6 January 1929 – 1 or 3 December 1996) was an Afghan revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Afghanistan, serving in the post of General Secretary of the People's Democratic Part ...

he represented the moderate faction of the

People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan The People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA), ''Hezb-e dimūkrātĩk-e khalq-e Afghānistān'' was a Marxist–Leninist political party in Afghanistan established on 1 January 1965. Four members of the party won seats in the 1965 Afgha ...

(PDPA). At the same time, he became a permanent member of the

Central Committee Central committee is the common designation of a standing administrative body of Communist party, communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, of both ruling and nonruling parties of former and existing socialist states. In such party org ...

of the Parcham parliamentary group. After the Saur Revolution, Laeq became Minister for Radio and Television in 1978 and for a time was admitted to membership in the

Politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the executive committee for communist parties. It is present in most former and existing communist states. Names The term "politburo" in English comes from the Russian ''Politbyuro'' (), itself a contraction ...

after the government had expelled the Parchamis. Sulaiman also wrote lyrics of National anthem of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. After the

Khalq Khalq ( ps, خلق, ) was a faction of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA). Its historical ''de facto'' leaders were Nur Muhammad Taraki (1967–1979), Hafizullah Amin (1979) and Sayed Mohammad Gulabzoy (1979–1990). It was also ...

Government had removed most Parchamis, Laeq served as a temporary candidate member of the Politburo. Though he was imprisoned for being pro-Karmal the authorities treated him mildly. By 1980, following the intervention of the

Soviet Army uk, Радянська армія , image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg , alt = , caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army , start_date ...

in Afghanistan, Laeq held several posts. By this time he had become a member of the Central Committee of the Parcham faction of the PDPA. In 1981 he was promoted to President of the Academy of Sciences, full member of the Afghan Politburo, and Minister of Nationalities and Tribal Affairs.

Books

* ''Chunghar'' چونغر * ''De Abaseen Spaiday'' د اباسين سپېدې * ''Kaygday'' کېږدۍ * ''Qeesay Aw Afsanay'' قصې او افسانې

References

External links

* http://www.spinta.de/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Layeq, Sulaiman 1930 births Afghan secularists Afghan socialists Afghan democracy activists 20th-century Afghan poets People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan politicians 2020 deaths Government ministers of Afghanistan Pashto-language poets 21st-century Afghan poets