Dr. Yamin turns to drugs after losing wife, children to mortar strike

KABUL (Pajhwok): Dr. Abdul Ahmad Yamin, who lost his family members and everything in a mortar shell attack on his house, says the great grief made him to turn to drugs.

Dr. Yamin is spending bitter moments of his life under the Pul-i-Sukhtar bridge area of Kabul City. Pul-i-Sukhtar is a place where many drug addicts live.

The place is known for addicts and many young people have died there and hundreds of people’s lives are still being destroyed.

The miserable situation of the addicts attracts everyone’s attention. There is smoke of all kinds of narcotics, which maybe the cause of their gradual death.

Abdul Ahmad Yamin, 63, is one of the drug addicts.

When Pajhwok reporter asked Yamin if he would like to talk, he replied in the affirmative.  To a question how much education he got, he replied: I graduated from the medical faculty of Kabul Medical University in 1364 solar year. But I have left my profession and everything in life and I have taken shelter from grief and sorrows of life under this bridge.”

Hailing from Aino Mina area of Kandahar City, Yamin talked about his life: “Everyone here is certain about his death. If someone does not receive narcotics here, that is the moment of his death. We are digging our graves with our own hands.”

Why you turned to drugs?

Yamin remained silent for a moment, then he broke into tears and responded: “A few years ago, my house was hit by a mortar shell in Kandahar, my wife, a three-month-old daughter, a nephew and a seven-year-old sister in-law were martyred.”

He endured the grief for two years but gave up and turned to drugs. He came to Kabul and hidden himself in the world of drugs.”

Yamin mostly misses his wife.

He said: “Separation from my wife was the most difficult pain, my wife was my aunt’s daughter, she was Hafiz of Quran. After that, I have not found anyone in my life who can replace her.”

He said he had worked in provincial hospitals of Kandahar, Farah and Uruzgan provinces.

When asked to give a message to the world in English, he said: “I would say not to use drugs and all people should do sports, such as cricket, football and other games.”

He added his 22-year-old son lived in Germany, but he has no contact with him.

Yamin wanted the government to facilitate his treatment: “What we want, I don’t think the government can provide us treatment because currently the system is facing economic crisis.”

In response to a query that from where he obtains drugs, Dr Yamin replied: “I sometimes write legal petitions for people and prescriptions for patients and sometimes I teach mathematics, physics and English language to the children of a general.”

Some drug addicts steal things to purchase drugs, but Dr. Yamin never stole something to buy drugs.

Yamin wrote a poet of Hafiz Sherazi on a piece of paper and gave it to this scribe.

بر بساطِ نکته دانان خودفروشی شرط نیست

یا سخن دانسته گو ای مردِ عاقل یا خموش

Yamin, remembering his wife sung a Pashto song in her memory

یمین د هغې په یاد کې دا سندره هم وویله:

په دواړو لاسو مې نیولې ستا لمن محبوبا

اوو، اوو په دواړو لاسو محبوبا

پتنګ په شان شپه او ورځ کړېږم

د شمع په رنګې سوځم، ویلیږم

تا بیا له لاسه امر وکړ د سوختن محبوبه

اوو، اوو په دواړو لاسو محبوبا

After singing the song, Yamin left in order to find drugs and said “I will diffidently contact you.”

sa/ma