human thought, which are considered sharing the same universal belief to certain community.
The psychological approach focuses on the psychological side of human being. Feldmen states one important branch of psychology is developmental
psychology 21-22. It studies consistency and change in people’s behavior and the characteristics that distinguish people. Personality changes also one of the
samples of psychological side.
B. Review of Related Studies
There is a study which discusses the same novel A Thousand Splendid Suns. The title of the study is The Influence of Jalil, Rasheed, and Laila on Mariam’s
Personality Changes in Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns. The study discusses the characters in the novel and personality changes. The previous study
discussed some characters on the novel and the personality changes of one particular character. Meanwhile in this study, I discuss the history of Afghanistan
and the effects of regimes to the characters in the novel. Therefore, this study is significantly different from the previous study and can enrich discussion regarding
the novel.
C. Review of Regime Changes in Afghanistan
1. Soviet Union
According to M. Hasan Kakar, “twice in the 1970s the Afghans were outraged: in 1978 by the communist coup, and in 1979 by the Russian
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invasion” 95. Soviet Union came to Afghanistan on 27
th
April 1978 and the troops and tanks moved into Kabul. President Daoud and his family were
killed in the presidential palace. Then Nur Muhammad Taraki became the President of the Revolutionary Council under controlled of communist
regime.
Meredith wrote in her book, Soviet Union officially invaded Afghanistan since 1979 until 1988 126. In 1978, Soviet Union had not fully invaded in
Afghanistan but there was a Party which under controlled of communist regime. When Soviet Union began the invasion, Hafizullah Amin had a major
role. M. Hasan Kakar 32 states that in the early time of Amin’s rule, Kabul was having a great enthusiastic about Soviet Union and adopted the new
slogan that was friendship with the Soviet Union as an integral part of “Afghan Patriotism”. Afghanistan people wish to get the economic assistance
as well as military aid. The government was wishing to have a good relationship with Moscow. The irony of Soviet Union invasion was that
Afghanistan government who requested Soviet Union to come to Afghanistan
to give the government support against the rebellion.
Kabul is a cosmopolitan city or it can be said as modern city. Many educated women live in Kabul because they were allowed to work side by
side with men. Kabul also had a large number of schools and higher educational institutions. M. Hasan kakar states that in 1959 women were
allowed to unveil 9. The unveiling had a good response because the number of educated women who mostly worked as teachers, nurses and midwives had
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been increasing. Shaista Wahab and Barry Youngerman 162 explain that Soviet Union gave the opportunity for people to have an education because
they wanted to reeducate the young generation in Soviet beliefs and values. The curriculums of the school were written for all levels. The students also
had to attend the political classes and had to learn Russian.
When Soviet Union invades in Afghanistan, the first city that they controlled was Kabul. At that time, Afghanistan named as the People’s
Democratic Party of Afghanistan PDPA. The government was divided along partisan, including the Khalq faction against the Parcham. The Khalq
party implemented the Marxist ideas. They measured the concept of instituting educational requirements for both men and women. The reforms
also included the marriage rules, by banning the forced marriages and
minimum age of marriage.
Even though Kabul had great enthusiasm with Soviet Union regime, but people in rural areas could not accept the changes. That was why Mujahideen
was formed. The Mujahideen also took part in rising up Soviet Union. The Mujahideen acted as local rulers. The success of the Mujahideen meant an
increase in their numbers. A tragic aspect of the situation was the destruction of schools, which were destroyed with no remorse. From this moment, there
was a war between Mujahideen and Soviet Union. Kabul seemed like a war zone. There were many people from both sides killed. The Soviet invasion
disturbed Afghan society greatly.
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2. Mujahideen
The withdrawal of the Soviet Union army was reputed as a victory for Afghanistan. After Soviet Union left Afghanistan, the control of the country
was taken by the Mujahideen. The name of Afghanistan also changed became the Islamic State of Afghanistan. Unfortunately, there was civil war in Kabul
city under the controlled of Mujahideen. The Mujahideen fight each other to get the control of the city. As a result, the fighting among those Mujahideen
itself killing Afghan people and putting the country into a civil war. Jalali and Grau 13 explain “the tactics of mujahideen were not standard, but different
from Valley to Valley and tribe to tribe”. The people in mujahideen were true volunteers’ warrior. They were unpaid and fought in order to protect what
they believed, their community and their nation. Meredith 134 mentions, under the control of Ahmed Shah Masood, the Mujahideen were heavily
armed, well trained and got the full support from United States and Pakistan. “Ahmed Shah Masood was a legendary military commander in Afghanistan
who lived not only to fight the Soviets but also to fight against the Taliban” 134.
During the Soviet invasion, many of Afghan fled the country as refugees. After the Soviet withdrawal, the refugees came back to the country. Meredith
141 mentions at that time, Kabul still full of lawlessness, poverty and destruction all over the city. Because the situation in the city was not stable,
many people had been killed. Women got attacked and raped, even occurred in daylight. Many young Afghan around 16 years old often got kidnapped and
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raped by the Mujahideen forces. The girl also being taken in the night and then the Mujahideen gangs stripped, raped and beaten them. The Mujahideen
rebels needed food and amount of money, so Mujahideen set up some checkpoints along the roadways then impose the travellers to pay. If the
travellers did not have enough money to through all the checkpoints, they would be beaten and killed. In the first year of Mujahideen rule, many
civilians were killed and wounded. By 1994, more than 10.000 people had been killed in Kabul.
According to M. Hasan Kakar 228, the fighting inside of the Mujahideen gave a big destruction to the country, especially Kabul. In many cases, the
fighting began when one group of men incited the men of another. The men were looting property, raping women and kidnapping persons for money. Up
to 70 percent of the buildings in Kabul were destroyed. Under the Mujahidden controlled, the country became the Islamic State of Afghanistan.
At first Sibgatullah was the leader of the country for short time, after that Burhanuddin Rabbani replaced him. The country began to adopt Islamic law
or it called Shari’a. Cinemas were closed, alcoholic drinks were banned and all officials and workers should pray at fixed time. All the women also had to
use veil again, women could not work in the office and all schools for girls were closed.
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3. Taliban
The last regime that is discussed in this study is Taliban regime. Since Taliban took over Afghanistan from Mujahideen, Women felt suffer a lot.
Everything was difficult for women. In this review, I will dicuss the events when Taliban rule the country. When the Mujahideen ruled the country, there
was a civil war and the chaos between Mujahideen itself then Taliban was formed. Meredith l. Runion 141 explains that Taliban means student or
seekers of knowledge. They were formed as a Sunni Muslim who had strong believed of Islam and composed of Pashtun students. Most of them were
students from madrassas or religious school. In 1996, the Taliban controlled in Afghanistan and in 1997 renamed the
country the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. The leader of Taliban was Mullah Mohammad Omar. Gilles Dorronsoro mentions that Mullah was the
political key leaders in the society. In September 1996, the Taliban succeeded rule Kabul. Robert D. Crews and Amin Tarzi 18 describe “the Taliban
simultaneously launched a theatrical and bloody campaign to impose their vision of Islamic discipline on Kabul’s residents”.
Robert D. Crews and Amin Tarzi 20 also explain the Taliban “travelling by Toyota trucks and wielding guns and whips made of radio antennas, the
Taliban strung television sets as well as audio and videotapes, along with the bodies of their political opponents, on lampposts and trees in a spectacular
assault on the modern world”. They also changed the soccer stadium into killing fields and a place for men to throw stones at women. In March 2001,
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Taliban also destroyed many heritages; one of them was the monumental statues of Buddha in Bamiyan.
During the Taliban regime, most of the population suffered a lot. They lost their independence and their human rights especially women. Taliban
implemented strict Islamic law or Shari’a. Shaista Wahab and Barry Youngerman mention some of the Taliban rules. All of the rules were the
same as mentioned in the novel. Women lost their rights to work and receive an education. Women were not allowed to work. Since many women worked
as nurse, teacher, or work in government, then they were banned for work, it made many services at those field were decreased.
Taliban also banned education for girls. Shaista and Barry states “starting in the 1960s, the number of female students at universities and institutes of
higher education was on the rise. With the support of the government, women were once more sent to foreign countries for further studies.” Since Taliban
came, the educational system had changed. Taliban closed girls’ schools. Education was just for men. Shaista Wahab and Barry Youngerman mention
“a ban on most education for girls, even in private homes and a near total ban on women working outside the home” 231.
Women had to be secluded from the society. When they want to go outside their homes, they had to wear burqa and accompanied by their male relatives.
Meredith L. Runion describes “the burqa is a head-to-toe garment that must cover every inch of a woman’s skin and is different than the Pakistan or
Iranian form of the burqa, in which the face and eyes are exposed”. The
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Taliban practiced some extreme rules for women. For example, when a woman exposed her hand to reveal the nail polish or her fingertips in the road,
she would get punishment from Taliban. Since she broke the law of the Taliban and insulted against Islam, several Taliban men held her down and
cut off the tips of her fingers. Women would get beaten and covered in acid, if they were caught wearing nail polish, makeup and white socks under their
burqas. Shaista Wahab and Barry youngerman wrote, “a requirement that women be covered from head to toe in public; a ban on white socks,
perceived as an insult to the white Taliban banned; a ban on makeup and nail polish”.
Women also had difficulty to receive medical treatment in the hospital. Female doctors had been chased out of the hospitals because women were
forbid to work. Meanwhile, male doctors were banned from treating women. Women hospital was lacking medical facilities, severely limited and the
female doctors often unable to help women in giving a birth. The hospital’s condition was also very pitiful. The building was without running water and
sometime no enough electricity to turn on the light. Sometime, the Taliban allowed female doctors to work but they had to wear the burqa during
operations and medical procedures. Television, video players and stereos were banned then the Taliban
transformed the Radio Kabul into Radio Voice of Sharia. Robert D. Crews and Amin Tarzi explained “they used radio broadcasts to incite violence
against Shias and to announce repressive decrees”.
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During the Taliban regime, most civil were suffering. There were many people killed and poverty around the city. The Taliban regime could be said
as the darkest era of Afghanistan.
D. Review of Afghanistan History
Afghanistan is an Islamic country. Afghanistan is a vast country and as a result has a rich mix of ethnicities and tribes. There are some ethnics namely, e.g.
Pashtun, Tajiks, Hazarras, Uzbeks, Turkomen, and Baluchis. In the book of Afghanistan: The Soviet Invansion and the Afghan Response, 1979-1982, it is
stated that the land of Afghanistan links Central Asia with South Asia and, to some extent, with West Asia or the Middle East. Afghanistan people have thirty
languages and dialects belonging to four main linguistic groups: Indo-Aryan, Turkic-Mongolian, Semitic, and Dravidian. The Indo-Aryan languages Pashto and
Dari Afghan Persian serve as lingua franca, hence the significance of their speakers, that is, Pashtuns and Tajiks. These two groups constitute the
overwhelming majority of Afghanistan’s inhabitants. For centuries the Pashtuns have played the dominant role in politics 3.
Afghanistan is also an ancient land that has a long and eventful history. There are some regimes which empower in Afghanistan. The regimes give many
impacts to the society. According to Amin and William 10 “a society is a collection of individual and organizational actors within which key relations
between actors are defined by certain shared norms, and the behavior of actors in to a degree patterned and predictable.” There is one characteristic of Afghan
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people which is strong societies. A strong society is defined by Migdal as one in which ‘the overall level of social control is high’. He mentions such kind of
society is ‘web-like societies’, where ‘social control is spread through various fairly autonomous social organizations’ Amin and William 10-11. Afghanistan
is web-like societies because there are multiple, largely autonomous, social units, most importantly tribes and their subdivisions, have retained their identity within
a political unit in the face of bureaucratic-administrative accretions within their territories Amin and William 13.
Afghanistan has a long story. I discuss the history of Afghanistan from Soviet Union invasion in this country to Taliban regime. The history is taken from the
book Afghanistan and Central Asia, A Modern History by Martin McCauley and The History of Afghanistan by Meredith L. Runion. The Soviet Union invasion
began with the deployment of the 40
th
Army into Kabul Airport on December 25, 1979 and withdrawal on May 15, 1988 with the last of the Soviet forces leaving in
February 1989. Communism was a perfect way to people whose looking for a way out from
under development, poverty, and backwardness. The Soviet Union was a country which adopted communism as the principal of life. The Soviet had an enthusiastic
audience for their version of the good life among Afghan students and military in the Soviet Union. Many young men and women in Afghanistan were also eager to
embrace Marxism. The People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan PDPA – the communist party – was founded on 1 January 1965 in Kabul. The first meeting
took place in the home of Nur Mohammed Taraki and, appropriately, he was
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elected secretary general. PDPA wanted to deeply implemented Marxist in Afghanistan through the policies.
There was a personal feud between Taraki and Karmal which led to the splitting of PDPA, in June 1967. Taraki became leader of the Khalq masses and
Karmal was the leader of the Parcham flag factions. Unfortunately, Babrak Karmal had banishment and many of Parcchami supporters arrested and then
executed. The Khalq grew stronger and signed a partnership with Soviet Union. PDPA believed on soviet assistance and depended on the military support and
advisers. The Khalq changed many policies in the country but Afghan people felt that Khalq’s policies were against Islam. People began revolting against the
monopolistic rule of the PDPA. Since the revolt began rising, the Soviet Union began to invade in Afghanistan. By the 1
st
January 1980, there were more than 50.000 Soviet troops and 1.000 military vehicles in Afghanistan.
Many groups were formed to backlash against communist regime such as, Mujahideen. Mujahideen was made up from Islamic warrior who fought against
Soviet invasion. Most of Afghanistan topography is mountainous so Soviet detonating the villages and towns in order to drive the people into the cities that
made them easier to monitor the people. The mujahidin became very skilled guerrilla fighters and Soviet Union got difficulty to overcome it. Finally, Soviet
Union withdraws the troops from Afghanistan in 1988 and the final troops leaving on February 15, 1989. They had poured over 350,000 troops into the country and
had lost about 15,000 dead. The Afghans lost about 1.3 million dead and the same number maimed. Now, after the Soviet left from Afghanistan, it was also the
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beginning of Afghan Civil War from 1989 to 1996. The Government was under the control of Mohammad Najibullah. President Najibullah declared a state of
emergency in Afghanistan because the Afghan Civil War still continued. At first, Najibullah was succeeding to defend from Mujahideen attacked for three years
from 1989 to 1992. Finally in 1992, Najibullah was defeated when Russia refused to sell oil products to Afghanistan and block the need of food and fuel. He was
tortured, castrated, shot and hanged. The government at Kabul surrendered to the Mujahideen forces led by Dostam and Massoud then on April 18, 1992, they
declared the Islamic State of Afghanistan.. Burhanuddin Rabbani, a Tajik, then became President in 1992. For the first
time in 300 years the Tajik took over the city, Kabul. The Pasthun felt angry and wanted to attack Kabul in order to regain control of the capital. For the next two
years Afghanistan fell in to chaos. The failure of peace that Mujahideen brought made open the way for a movement or organization. The chaos that happened
inside the country caused the rise of Taliban. Taliban consisted of young and idealistic people who have wanted to build a strict Islamic Law. Their ambition
was serving to Allah and their fellow man. Taliban intervened in 1994 and they could take over the city in 1996. Many of the members of Taliban had received
the education when they became refugee in Pakistan. Taliban was headed by a charismatic leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar. By the end of 1994, about 12,000
young Afghan and Pakistani students had joined the Taliban. Taliban began to conduct the strict law of the Sharia in Afghanistan. They determined some rules
for people based on the Islamic way of life. For men, they had to wear turbans and
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grow their beards. For women, they were required to wear burqa in public. If the women wanted to go outside their houses, their male blood relative had to
accompany them. Women were not allowed to work. These rules made many schools were closed because women were the primary teachers. Since then
Taliban took over the country and controlled the country until 2001. The era of Taliban regime could be said as the darkest era in the history of Afghanistan.
Many people in Afghanistan lost their human right especially women.
E. Theoretical Framework
