My Son Was Completely Burned and Killed in The First Explosion
Narrator: Khadim Ali (father)
Victim: Bostan Ali Haidari
Date of the incident: 23 July 2016
Location of the incident: Dehmazang, Kabul City
Martyr Bostan was born in Sorkh Parsa district of Parwan province. He was martyred at the age of 23. He finished school in Sorkh Parsa, graduating from Shahid Mortaza High School. He was a decent, friendly and sociable boy. It has been almost seven years since we moved to Kabul. We live in Barchi, Golai Mahtab Qala. Because there were no work opportunities in Parwan Province, he engaged in carpentry after graduating from school. Since the work did not turn out well, we then moved to Kabul. He was still single. Whenever I suggested that it was good to put his life in order and select a spouse, he said he was not ready to get married. He had a calm personality but had good relations with everyone.
His closest friends were martyr Mehr Ali and martyr Rahim, who were also martyred in the same incident. Before martyrdom, they worked in a market; our families used to visit each other. In addition to carpentry, he used to wrestle, and was very interested in athletics. He had been engaged in wrestling for several years. For a month prior to his death, he had participated in the meetings of the Movement. He always went to Mosala. The night before the incident, he cried when he returned home. I asked him why he was sad and crying. He said, “Our activities and efforts failed.” That night, my son and the martyr Mehr Ali went door-to-door to campaign for the July 23rd protest.
They distributed leaflets so people would go to Dehmazang on Saturday and stand up for their rights. The night before, he told us he would participate in the next day’s demonstration. I jokingly said he would do better not to participate, but he firmly stated that he had to be there.
On the day of the incident, he left the house early in the morning, and I followed him at 7 o'clock. He was near Mosala with a small number of people, 15 or 20. Dawood Naji was also there. Noticing me, he said, "Bostan’s dad, you are an elderly man. Please gather a few people to build a larger crowd.” I was holding a flag. By the time we arrived in Pol-e-Sokhta, more people had joined us. We all walked together to Dehmazang. Around noon prayer time, some people and I went to pray at Mohseni mosque, and it was then that the suicide attack happened. I was praying when an intense explosion rocked the seminary building. When I called him, Bostan’s phone was switched off. I believed something terrible must have happened.
One of his sisters lives in Barchi. She called me and said that Bostan was not answering her phone calls. When I returned home at night, I hid it from my family. I told them some protestors were arrested and taken away by security personnel. When I returned to Dehmazang, all the martyrs and wounded were picked up. My son was burned entirely and martyred in the first explosion.
There were a lot of wounded and martyrs. First we went to Esteqlal Hospital, but he was not there. We searched all the hospitals throughout the night but still did not find him. The next day, we went to Sardar Mohammad Dawood Khan Hospital. Two of his friends were there. They knew he was martyred, but they did not tell me anything. They were handing over the martyrs; two boys went in and said my son was there. I received his body at 9 o'clock. The government provided an ambulance. Many of our relatives were there, and with their help we took his body to the mosque. When we brought the martyr's body to the mosque, we showed it to his mother and sisters. I will follow the path and goal of the martyrs until the last drop of my blood. We will participate every time there is a demonstration. His brothers, too, believe that if we remain silent, the martyr’s blood will have been spilled in vain.
Unfortunately, I lost another son in the early days of Karzai's rule. It happened because my son had bought a Mazda vehicle from Herat. On his way to Kabul, robbers blocked his way in Helmand and killed him. After several days of searching, we found his body in a ruined building. Bostan, who was martyred, was my second son. My first son was married, and a year had passed since his wedding. Unfortunately, these days our leaders do not act to support their people; they have remained silent. They did not work on the Martyrs' Hill or pave it. The leaders of the Movement made these promises to the families of the martyrs. They have not done anything so far. Our only request to the Independent Human Rights Commission and the United Nations is to investigate this crime and not to ignore it. We have no expectations of the government because it placed suicide bombers among the demonstrators and killed our youth in order to scare our people and stop the protests. I went to take a lunch break and perform prayer, but did not tell him to take a break as well. Later, two doctors from our hometown said that my son and Mehr Ali had lost their lives in the blast wave, and their bodies were completely burned. He was wearing a camouflage pattern jacket. Only a tiny part was left unburnt. His face and stomach were severely burned.