Hikmat: interview on the death of his brother

This is a partial transcript of hikmat’s audio interview, in which he describes surviving a suicide bombing that killed his younger brother, naveed

T378_1.WAV

INTERVIEW WITH HIKMAT

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN

INTERVIEW: SABOOR ARGHANDIWAL

SOUND: JAMES LONGLEY

18:47:41:21

we were riding in a car

and the driver was going so fast

my father told him to slow down

18:47:49:07

so we don’t have an accident

and the driver said “okay”

18:47:52:10

18:47:55;22

when we got next to the gate of the Ministry of Defense,

there was a gigantic boom

18:48:02:02

18:48:03:13

I passed out

18:48:05:03

18:48:05:21

half the people were lying on the street

18:48:08:15

half the people were lying on the street

18:48:11;19

others were running

others were covered in blood

18:48:16:04

they were lying on the street

they couldn’t stand

their arms and legs were blown off

18:48:20:19

..

their arms and legs were blown off

18:48:24:04

they were lying on the ground, looking around

18:48:27:04

there was nobody to help them

18:48:30:11

to take them away

18:48:31:19

the ambulance came after 5 minutes

18:48:34;17

they took everyone away

18:48:36:19

18:48:39:11

my father and I walked away

my head was wrapped in a neckerchief

18:48:44:17

18:48:46:19

we were looking for Naveed

18:48:48:12

to take my brother

18:48:50:15

my father took my brother out of the car

18:48:55:06

when we went back those soldiers pointed their guns at us

18:48:59:12

18:49:00:22

we lay on the ground [because of the guns]

18:49:02:15

some of the people knelt on the pavement

18:49:05:09

some of the people were standing

18:49:06:19

they [the soldiers] told us “don’t move”

18:49:08:09

18:49:10:21

we raised our hands and my father told them

“we have a wounded person there - can’t you see we are also wounded?”

18:49:19:08

when we took my brother out [of the car] so many ambulances had arrived

18:49:23:14

so many [ambulances] came and they took the people and also us

18:49:28:06

then the firefighters came and cleaned up all the blood and everything

18:49:31:21

the ambulance was driving very fast

18:49:35:14

18:49:38:18

when they took us

18:49:40:16

to the hospital

18:49:42:00

there were beds and doctors and everything

18:49:46:03

they put us on the beds

18:49;48:14

they inspected us and then took the martyrs to the

room for martyrs [morgue]

18:49:52;07

and the wounded were written in the list of wounded

18:49:58:13

they took me there [the room for wounded] and they stitched me up

18:50:03:09

there was another man whose arm and leg had been blown off

when they were sewing him the poor guy was screaming like anything

18:50:12:07

he was yelling out “don’t do it, Mr. Doctor”

18:50:15:18

he [the doctor] was answering him “Just endure it if you want to survive”

18:50:20:14

while they were sewing up his arm and leg

they were stitching up this place [points to right side of own face] because it was all torn up

18:50:29:10

when it started hurting a lot I grabbed onto the railing of the bed until they finished

18:50:37:20

they finished and my uncles came in after a few minutes

18:50:42:11

18:50:47:08

they looked at the listed of wounded

and he [Naveed] wasn’t there

18:50:51:07

he wasn’t in the list of wounded so

they went to check the rooms for martyrs [morgue]

18:50:59:05

18:51:02:23

my uncle went to the [martyr room] morgue

and they saw my brother as soon as they opened the door

18:51:09:03

they started crying and yelling

18:51:12:07

and I didn’t know because I was unconscious

18:51:15:18

after they stitched me up

18:51:17:11

18:51:21:12

doctors were coming by every minute

18:51:23:10

they said “are you okay”

and I replied “I’m fine, thank God”

18:51:26:02

“how is my brother, Naveed?”

I was thinking about him constantly

18:51:29:17

I loved his life more than my own

18:51:31:22

I was asking - “where is he?”

and they were saying “He’s fine - you’re in worse shape than he is”

18:51:36:19

“God willing you’ll both be fine”

18:51:39:06

18:51:42:11

when they took him [Hikmat’s father] to his cousin’s house

18:51;44:20

after he changed clothes

18:51:47:08

he changed into white clothes

18:51:49:19

his uncle embraced him

18:51:54:06

18:51:57:18

“make your heart strong, your son has passed away”

my father cried out

18:52:01:21

they cried, and then

18:52:03:20

they brought in [to the courtyard] the body

18:52:05:22

for a few minutes my mother, grandfather and grandmother and the others

looked at him

18:52:11:03

when they saw him like that

18:52:14:09

they fell senseless in the yard

18:52:17:04

they took him away and buried him

18:52:19:13

18:52:39:09

I barely heard the sound of the explosion

18:52:43:02

it exploded with huge sound

18:52:45:21

the car jumped high in the air

and when it landed

18:52:48:05

I was injured and fell senseless

18:52:51:15

some of the people were running

some remained [injured]

18:52:55:13

at the moment the explosion happened

18:52:58:06

18:53:34:13

the car was stuck in traffic

18:53:37:02

it was in traffic

18:53:39:00

suddenly the car jumped high in the air

18:53:41:17

it jumped up high and landed hard

18:53:45:00

all the windows shattered

18:53:46:11

it was wintertime

so our windows were all rolled up

18:53:49:12

the windows were shattered and the fragments flew at us along with gravel

18:53:53:05

a piece of glass hit my brother in his vein (jugular?)

and he collapsed

18:53:57:19

my face was also covered in glass and gravel

18:54:01:06

my face was injured, and so was my father’s

18:54:03:17

and the driver - everyone was collapsed on the ground

18:54:05:21

at the same time, people were running away toward Murad Khani and 40 Meter Road

18:54:11:00

many people were lying on the pavement and the median

18:54;17:09

they were lying inured from pieces of glass and gravel

and the policemen were coming at a run

18:54:23:20

the policemen were looking out for other suicide bombers trying to explode themselves

18:54:29:01

there was a lot of shooting

and everyone scattered

it was deserted

18:54;32:11

there wasn’t a single soul

18:54:34:10

just two or three passersby on the sidewalks

18:54:37:06

those people were running

my father gave them a handkerchief to bind up my head

18:54:43:14

18:54:44:19

when they bound it up

18:54:46;06

I felt hemmed in [claustrophobic]

and I pulled the kerchief down to my neck

18:54;50;15

when I pulled it down to my neck it was covered in blood

18:54:53:09

my father was jumping in front of cars [trying to stop them]

18:54:56;13

there was no ambulance - and they were begging to be taken to the hospital or home

but nobody paid attention

18:55:03:05

they were driving as fast as they could in their cars

18:55:05:16

they were speeding past us

18:55:08:21

my father held out his arms to them

but no car stopped

18:55;12:13

they just drove past

18:55:14:01

after five minutes

the ambulances arrived

18:55:16:22

18:55:38:01

those who are suicide bombers or others

18:55;41:06

they will go to Hell

they have no bright future or anything

18:55:47:11

they are killing the Muslims and their families

18:55:50:03

no house has been untouched by this fire

18:55:55:03

18:55:57:23

no house is left untouched

18:56:00:07

by sorrow

18:56:02:05

all the Muslim children

18:56:04:17

and all those who come out to earn a living

18:56:07:22

their mothers worry for them at home

that they might be caught in a bomb blast

18:56:12:23

for the sake of bread [earning a living]

18:56:14;05

when he brings it [money] to his father and mother

18:56:16:19

many of their fathers are disabled and can’t work

18:56:20:18

13 of 35

or maybe they died and passed on from this world

18:56:23:14

and when their sons are working

their mothers will always be worrying after their sons

18:56:29:11

that they come safely home in the evening

18:56:31;14

in health and happiness

18:56:34:00

18:58:15:11

those who are doing suicide bombings and such

maybe their leader

18:58:21:06

is injecting them with something

18:58:23:18

or they give their families money

18:58:26;12

they say “go and be a suicide bomber - you’ll go to heaven”

18:58:30:17

they go off

and when they get arrested

18:58:36:01

they ask him “why are you doing this suicide bombing? do you want to go from this

world unclean?”

18:58:42:11

“you will kill the children of the poor and bring sadness to their houses?”

they’ll say

18:58:49:09

“They told us we will go straight to heaven when we blow ourselves up”

18:58:53:16

18:59:21:00

they tell them “blow yourself up and you’ll go to Heaven”

18:59:24:00

they gave money to their families

18:59:26:05

they gave money - a lot of money - to their families

18:59:29:00

19:00:58:14

all these things that are happening - these explosions -

this is all because of our own president

19:01:07:03

for example

after our president arrested the suicide bombers

19:01:11:01

if he were to hang them up in every avenue

19:01:13:06

the suicide bombers and the others

would vanish

19:01:16:00

we will have a clean, neat Afghanistan

19:01:18:01

when a person comes and blows himself up

and the government comes and arrests him

19:01:23:20

17 of 35

for example they make him a prisoner

but after a few days they release him

19:01:27:10

and he will continue his work

19:01:29:19

if they would take those bombers [exploders]

and hang them along every avenue

19:01:34:05

we will have a clean and neat Afghanistan like in the past

19:01:37:12

the jobs will come back

19:01:39:19

the people will not be worried

19:01:41:23

they won’t worry about their son being martyred if he goes out, for example

19:01:45;21

now when a son leaves the house his mother prays over him, saying “don’t go into

places where the explosions happen”

19:01:54:01

“may he return safely home”

19:01:58:19

19:04:04:18

at the moment of the explosion

19:04:07:04

a piece of shrapnel went right into his [Naveed’s] brain and he died on the spot

without even a whisper

19:04:13:07

he couldn’t even speak

19:04:14:17

even when they took him to the hospital

19:04:16:20

they said “we’ve lost him now”

19:04:19:15

those doctors said

and so they took him to the morgue

19:04:23:05

my father also didn’t know about it for a couple of hours

19:04:27:03

19:04:38:15

in that place

his [my father’s] uncle told him:

“my son, this is all God’s will”

19:04:43:08

the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away

19:04:47:03

God calls to Himself what is His

19:04:49:09

worry not

God has given

and He has taken away

19:04:52:17

he told him

“if you are patient, he will bring your reward on the Last Day”

19:04:57:02

19:05:22:04

I felt so bad [about the death of his brother, Naveed]

19:05:25:01

it would have been better had I died instead of him

19:05:27:01

19:06:02:02

in that time

I was in the hospital for four days

19:06:04:23

and when they took me home ...

19:06:07:17

19:06:15:12

they were just deceiving me

19:06:17:09

“your brother is injured and he’s in the same hospital”

and others told me

“your uncle has taken him to be cured in a foreign country”

19:06:28:17

“they’ll cure his legs”

19:06:30:13

when I saw a crowd of people around [his house]

19:06:34:10

when I saw the crowd of people I thought to myself

“maybe my brother was killed”

19:06:41:03

I had different thoughts

19:06:45:01

my cousin came and opened the door quickly

I was sleeping in a room and all the people gathered around me

19:06:53:20

someone came and they said

“come, she is here because of Naveed”

19:06:57:14

the neighbor came because of Naveed

“maybe Naveed has been killed since everyone is coming because of him”

19:07:05:04

she came because of Naveed

my uncle told me - “no - she’s just confused”

19:07:11:15

19:07:59:14

I was sitting like that with my uncle’s mobile in my hand

19:08:04:03

my grandfather told my father

“let’s tell the boy”

19:08:08:19

so my father said

“come close to me”

and when I did

19:08:11:15

19:08:13:05

my father told me there

he said

“By the will of God your brother was martyred and left this world”

19:08:18:11

“my son, be patient

19:08:20:05

you loved your brother a lot”

19:08:22:09

and there I cried out loudly

19:08:27:18

I couldn’t contain myself

I said “let’s go to his grave”

and we went there

19:08:32:22

19:08:43:21

we went to his grave

19:08:45;21

we prayed there

19:08:48:11

we recited the Holy Qur’an over him

19:08:50:18

my father bought 14 kilos of oranges

19:08:54:17

and when the children and all the people came by

19:08:58:00

he gave them out as charity

19:08:59:20

when we visited his grave on Fridays

we prepared sweets

19:09:06:21

we went to his grave and handed out the sweets as charity on Fridays

19:09:13:16

19:09:20:04

sometimes when I remember him

my thoughts transport me

19:09:26:04

19:09:34:02

we were [always] together

19:09:35:19

we had a strong friendship

19:09:38:12

everywhere I went he was with me

19:09:40:21

everywhere we went, home or anywhere

19:09:43:09

all my meals - everything was with him

19:09:45:22

19:10:37:09

we were all sad - my father’s sisters

my mother’s sisters

19:10:41;10

but my father’s sister and mother’s sister were crying the most

19:10:46;11

with my father and mother

19:10:49:13

when we went to his grave

my father’s sister beat the earth with her hands

19:10:56:00

she put a handful of dust from the grave into her pocket

19:10:58:20

because she loved him a lot

19:11:01:17

19:11:14;12

I get very sad

and I wish he could also be with us

19:11;19:20

19:11:36:11

I missed the funeral and the reception because I was in the hospital

19:11;40;20

19:12:00:19

when my father tells me about it

19:12:02:19

he says

“many people came to his funeral”

19:12:07:18

19:12:13;11

there were so many people

19:12:15:22

19:12;41:07 [talking about his brother Naveed]

his heart was always with the poor

19:12:46;03

19:13:23:03 [day before of bombing]

that day it was a Friday

19:13;26;01

he was very happy

19:13;27;11

he was happy and walking together with all of his friends

19:13:33;12

he went to his father’s sister’s house

to his mother’s sister’s house

and his grandfather and grandmother’s house

19:13:38:00

he went everywhere and fetched water for everyone

then went strolling

19:13:42:15

with his friends

and the next day he was killed

19:13:46;22

19:13:56;05

on the day of the attack

we were on our way to work

19:14:00:14

to bring home some food

19:14:04;02

19:14:05:12

we were going to work when it happened

19:14;08:01

19:14;24:08

every time I see a boy his age with his face

19:14:30:11

I can feel [remember] him

19:14:32:11

19:15:27:22

when I’m alone in the shop

19:15;30:17

my heart grows heavy

and I wish he were with me in the shop

19:15:36:19

for example - when my father’s customers come

19:15:39:10

when there’s a crowd

I can’t fill their orders

19:15:43:00

19:15:47:00

29 of 35

when he was alive it was good

he would help me with the scales and bring the sacks

19:15:52:09

and he would take the peoples’ orders to them on a cart

19:15:56:11

sometimes when my father’s customers come and my father is in the mosque

he goes to pray five times in the mosque

and when they see he’s not there they say “okay, we’ll come tomorrow”

19:16;10:15

19:18:18:23

my brother was Naveed

19:18:21;14

he was my brother

19:18:23:03

he understood everything

he was ranked second in his class

19:18:26:06

he was intelligent

and kept second position until fourth grade

19:18:30:09

19:18:54;21

he was clever in English and the Holy Qur’an

19:18:57;12

he was clever in all of this school subjects

19:19:01:00

he understood and he studied

19:19:02:13

—

19:23:45:03

my name is Hikmatullah

19:23:47:04

I have a friend named Nabiullah

19:23:50:08

they’re next to our shop [Nabiullah’s father’s liver stand]

19:23;53;11

they are selling liver

31 of 35

and we sell groceries like flour and oil

19:24:00:02

their school is near Lahore Gate

and our school is in Ashakan-e-Arafan

19:24:03:23

when we became friends

I went to his house and he came to our house during Eid

19:24;11;14

we have given each other the hand of brotherhood

19:24:14:04

we’re always together

19:24:16:07

every minute of the day

19:24:17:23

19:24:43;16

my name is Hikmat

19:24:45;11

and his name is Nabiullah

19:24:47;16

their shop is right in front of ours

19:24;52:03

our shop is next to their stand/cart

19:24;54;21

we are good friends now

he’s a very nice boy

19:24:59:07

he’s very polite

19:25:01:03

so we put our hands together in brotherhood

19:25:04:20

so now we’re good friends and pals [two words for friend]

19:25:07:11

19:25:18:09

little by little I got to be friends with him

19:25:23;15

because I didn’t want to tell him straight away

maybe he would wonder what my reason was

19:25:30:08

19:25:31:09

little by little we became friends

19;25:34;05

friendship is good it’s enough

19:25:36:19

fighting with people - and such

19:25:39:11

we have seen so much pain and suffering

enough

19:25;43:01

now I want to have friendship

19:25:45:00

to bring peace to Afghanistan

19:25:47:20l

19:26:03:00

I saw Nabiullah at his stand (liver stand)

19:26:06;14

on the first or second day I came to the shop

19:26:09:16

I saw that he was smiling at everyone

19:26:13:15

he came and greeted me

I liked him

19:26;17:20

I thought - he’s a nice boy - so I said hello

19:26:21:04

so I sat with him and our friendship slowly grew

19:26:25:06

COMPLETE FILE

T379_1.WAV

INTERVIEW WITH HIKMAT - PART 2

2014_12_04

INTERVIEW: SABOOR ARGHANDIWAL

SOUND: JAMES LONGLEY

19:31:32:07

I saw my brother in a dream

19:31:34:17

19:31:49:09

I was sleeping at home and I dreamed about him in the night

19:31:53:17

I was sleeping and I saw

19:31:56;23

light was pouring down

and he was dressed all in white

19:32:02:18

he was clean and spotless

19:32:05:09

when I saw him

19:32:08:13

I said

“Naveed, what are you doing here - you were killed”

19:32:13:04

he said “I was martyred, but I have come to see you once again”

19:32:17:14

he said “I come to see you every night”

19:32:22:06

“but you can’t see me”

19:32;25:07

I spoke with him for several minutes

19:32:28:16

he said “You can’t see me, but I can see you”

19:32:32:21

he was wearing clean white clothes

19:32:34:20

he was standing in the garden

and an old man came

19:32:39:09

he said “Naveed, my child”

19:32:41:10

“let’s go - it’s time to eat”

19:32:43:23

when he went away I awoke

19:32:46;19

I woke up during the morning call to prayer

19:32:49:08

19:34:24:00

it had been a long time

19:34:25:07

I had even forgotten his face

19:34:27:23

and I hadn’t seen him

19:34:29:18

and I missed him so much

so I asked God to send him to my dreams

19:34:34:12

19:35;17:10

he came to my mother’s dream every hour

19:35:20:22

my mother saw him often in her dreams

19:35:23:04

19:35:25:04

he would come into my mother’s dreams

and my father wept

19:35:29:01

but he didn’t come to my father in his dreams

19:35:30:18

19:35:59:02

he was wearing a white cap on his head

19:36:02:17

and his clothes were shining white

19:36:05;21

COMPLETE FILE