Relatives visit mass graves of communist-era martyrs

KABUL /PARAKH(Pajhwok): Participants of a ceremony observing the Martyrs Week on Thursday asked the government to rename Polygon locality near Pul-i-Charkhi prison on the eastern outskirts of Kabul as “Graveyard of Martyrs.”

Political and war prisoners were killed in Polygon area near the notorious prison  during the communist regime between 1978 and 1986  and mass graves containing the remains of thousands of Mujahideen have been found in the area.

More than 100 family members of those martyrs on Thursday gathered near the mass graves to remember their dead relatives in Pul-i-Charkhi area.

Advisor to CEO Abdullah Abdullah on Martyrs Affairs Murtaza Nikzad addressed the gathering, saying the area should be officially named as the “graveyard of martyrs”. He said the martyrs gave the supreme sacrifice to defend the country’s dignity and honour.

Abbas Hassanzada, the head of Quraani High Council of Afghanistan, said a surrounding wall should be constructed in the area and flowers should be grown.

He said the communist regime seized the martyred people from mosques, houses and bazaars and killed them and buried them in mass graves.

Those involved in mass killings and war crimes from the communist era to the civil war, the Taliban government and the US attacks should be punished, Najibullah Faizi, who lost his father during Dr. Najibullah regime, said.

He said those involved in the past crimes were still on high government positions and they should be terminated and brought to justice.

Mohammad Rafi Rostami, who lost his five family members during Hafizullah Amin’s rule, said his family members were taken from home on the charge they were intellectuals.

“We demand punishment for war criminals,” said Sharifa Ahmadi, whose father and brother were killed under communist purges in Kabul.

Meanwhile, the 14th death anniversary of the national hero, Ahmad Shah Massoud, was observed in central Panjsher province on Thursday with the laying of flower wreath on his tomb.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Abdullah Abdullah, other high-ranking officials and supporters of Massoud participated in the ceremony.

“Ahmad Shah Massoud was a national hero and an incomparable personality in the modern history of Afghanistan,” Meshrano Jirga’s first deputy speaker Mohammad Alam Ezidyar told the gathering.

On the occasion, a three-day handicraft exhibition was inaugurated at the stadium in Panjsher valley.

myn/ma

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