AHRDO

When Homes Turn into Graveyards

Narrator: Safia

Victim: Shirin Gul

Date of the incident: 1993-1996

Location of the incident: Kabul city, Dash-e Barchi

Shirin Gul is not the only woman whose house was destroyed over the past three decades of war in Afghanistan though all houses destroyed in Kabul resemble that of Shirin Gul. The injuries visible to the walls of the houses mirror the injuries inflicted onto the bodies of its residents.

During the various conflicts, in particular the one between the different Mujahidin factions, the houses in Kabul were no longer people’s shelters but rather their graves prepared in advance -albeit on the surface. There was always the possibility of a rocket or artillery shelling destroying people’s homes. None of the houses were beyond the reach of violence and neither were they durable enough to protect their inhabitants against the persistent attacks. These ruined houses became a refuge for death, making his home among the many people buried in the rubble of their own homes. The whole of Kabul was turned into a gigantic graveyard.

Shirin Gul was one of those people whose house was bombed and took her life during the civil war in the 1990s. It happened on an evening where she attempted to defy the terror of war, by holding a small reception to bring back the happiness of former times to what had by then become a city of ghosts. She did not expect that her home would one day become a slaughterhouse and that her reception would end in terrible tragedy. Shirin Gul had invited her son-in-law and brother-in-law to an evening reception. They had just begun their supper when a stray rocket fired by the Taliban hit the exact room where the reception was taking place, immediately killing Shirin Gul and her two guests. The death of Shirin Gul marked the end of happiness for her children. Her husband did not marry again and dedicated himself to take care of his mother-less children.

The Story of Shirin Gul

My name is Safia and I am 42 years old. I am living in Dugh Abad area of Dasht-e- Barchi. During the war, I lost three members of my family: My mother, my cousin and my brotherin-law. My whole family including my son-in-law and my cousins were in our home when a rocket hit our house and killed them. I was not personally present when the incident happened.

According to my family members, their bodies were ripped to pieces and it was almost impossible to identify them. My cousin had a two-month old child who died soon after his father’ untimely death. His wife had no option but to return to her father’s home. My mother left behind six children, 2 sons and four girls. Today, my father is old and my sisters are mentally unstable. One of my sisters left her husband and children because of these mental problems.

Now she does not recognize anyone anymore. I am not mentally stable either. I was desperate after the death of my mother. She loved me a lot.

The worst moment in my life was when I heard about the death of my mother. After she died, no one ever properly welcomed me in my father’s home anymore and this made me so disappointed.