Victim’s Name: Nawroz Ali Hassanzada
Date of Incident: July 23, 2016
Place of Incident: Dehmazang Square, Kabul
We were living in Malistan District of the Province of Ghazni. Nawroz once visited Kabul with his aunt and after returning he had insisted on us moving to Kabul. Even though I didn’t agree since our farms, home and all possessions were in Malistan, he persisted that the quality of education, schools and other facilities were better in Kabul. We eventually moved to Kabul in 2010 so that my children would have access to better education facilities.
Here in Kabul, we first admitted him to Sayed Shuhada High School in Safa Town of District 13. Later when we moved to Omid-e-Sabz Township of District 6, he continued his studies at the Omid-e-Sabz High School. Even though he was young, he was socially sensitive and extravert. He was only 17 when he joined the Tabassum Movement. In the Enlightenment Movement, too, he was very proactive and participated in all events and gatherings.
Before July 23, he behaved very strangely as if he knew everything. He had asked my sister’s grandson about graves and had told an engineer in the family that if he died, she should fully charge his phone and the reserve battery he had purchased, and install a long wire in his grave because he feared darkness. Even though she had told him that his idea is unusual, he had insisted on what he wanted to do.
On the day of the incident, I called him three times but he never answered. The fourth time was even worse; the call didn’t connect. When I called his elder brother, he said he was close to the incident area but the police wouldn’t let him in the area. If the police weren’t there when the suicide bomber attacked the protesters, what is the point of them being there after the attack too? When his brother failed to find him so we rushed to hospitals and identified his body in a hospital morgue. We only recognized him by his blood-soaked clothes because his face had completely burned.
