He Was Admitted to the Journalism Faculty at Kabul University

Narrator: Sayed Karim (Cousin [auntie’s son])

Victim: Sayed Mahdi Masoumzada

Date of the incident: 23 July 2016

Location of the incident: Dehmazang, Kabul City

Sayed Mahdi Masoumzada turned 20 this year [2016]. He was born in Varas District in Bamyan Province. He attended first to twelfth grade in Varas, and in 2012, graduated from twelfth grade. He sat the public university entrance exam, but did not wait for the results. Instead, he secretly came to Kabul with some friends. One of his cousins (uncle’s son) called me and said, “Your auntie’s son has come to Kabul and is planning to go to Iran.” I quickly went to Kampany [in Kabul] and looked for him in all the vehicles there, but could not find him. I called his number, but his phone was turned off.

He called me at 10 o'clock, and I told him not to go to Iran, but he refused. Since he was not listening to me, I followed him and brought him home. The next day, he travelled to Iran, but the border police harassed him. With difficulty, he reached the city of Kerman but because workers’ conditions were not good there, he soon returned to Afghanistan. Later, he wanted to go to Iran for a second time, but we did not allow him to go. After some time, the entrance exam results were announced and he learned that he had been successful. He was admitted to the journalism faculty of Kabul University. He was in Bamyan and returned to Kabul after hearing the good news.

After enrolling at the university, he moved out from home to live in a dormitory. He visited our house once a month and at other times, he stayed in the dormitory. In the month of Ramadan, his father called him and told him to come home as it had been a long time since he had visited. His father said it would be good for him to spend some time with the family during the days of Eid. Mahdi was not interested in going to Bamiyan, but he told me he wanted to go home because of his father's call. On the nights of Qadr, he would stay in the dormitory and rarely visited our house. I called him and asked him why he would not come to the house. He said, "I don't like to bother relatives while I'm away from home for my educational programs. I would rather stay in the dorm." He travelled to Bamiyan Province for just three days and then returned to Kabul. When he came, he took all his belongings back to the dormitory. A few days later, I called him, but his phone was switched off. I called him the next day and asked him to come back to our house. He said, “I will come to your house tomorrow night.” The day he came to our house, I was unfortunately not home. Then the incident happened on July 23rd.

Before the incident, he had organized all his belongings in the dormitory and put them in his bag. He had bought white clothes and a white scarf specially for the July 23rd demonstration. The night before the rally, he told his friends that this clothing was his shroud. He called me the night before the incident and wanted me to participate in the demonstration the next day. I called him in the morning and he said he would be coming by at 11 o’clock in the morning. But on the day of the protest, some of us who were planning to go eventually turned back at Qala-e Naw to go visit a sick family member.

It was only at 3:30 in the afternoon that we were informed there had been an explosion in Dehmazang. I called my cousin but he didn't answer. I called his friends, and they said my cousin’s brother had already called Mahdi three times that day asking him not to take part in the demonstration. To put his brother's mind at rest, Mahdi had told him that he wouldn't be joining in the march. When I called his brother, he didn't answer his phone either. Our own house is about 10 minutes from Qala-e Naw. But on that day, it took me half an hour to arrive home. It felt like ages. By the time I got home, I noticed my father and brother were not there. I asked about them and was told Mahdi was wounded, and they had gone to visit him in hospital.

When my father learned that Mahdi was injured, he walked on foot from Qala-e Maw to Dar al-Aman. Meanwhile, the wounded and martyrs had been transferred to various different hospitals. His friends searched several hospitals and could not find him. At 6:00 pm, his friends called to say that Mahdi was in Esteqlal Hospital, but they had not been allowed to go in and see him. We pretended not to know anything because my mother was so restless. At 7:00 p.m., Mahdi's brother went to the hospital. When they allowed my brother to enter, he recognized Mahdi. According to my brother, when he entered the hospital, all the rooms, the corridor, and the morgue were full of corpses and of the wounded. Part of Mahdi’s forehead had been cleaned, and that was how his brother recognized him. Several pieces of shrapnel had hit his body and he had died before our family was able to arrive. They didn't hand over Mahdi's body that night. Instead, at 8:00 a.m. the next day, because of the hot weather, we took the body and transferred it to Bamyan the same day and we buried him. Unfortunately, I don’t know the details since I was still in Kabul.