Earning dowry cost, Hamidullah loses 4 body parts

MAIMANA (Pajhwok): A 40-year old man in northwestern Faryab province says he lost his both arms and feet while working in Iran to earn dowry cost before marrying his wife but now he has beceme burden on his own family.

Hamidullah, a resident of Khwaja Sabzposh district, was sitting on the side of a road in Maimana City, the provincial capital, and was begging. He looked a calm man but in fact he carried incurable pains in heart.

After accepting to talk with Pajhwok Afghan News, he told his story about losing his arms and feet and said, “Ten years ago when I was newly engaged, the family of my fiancée demanded 450,000 afghanis in dowry.”

“Earning this amount of money from farming was not easy and I had to travel to Iran and work there,” he said.

He sighed and said, “I spent one and a half years doing heavy construction labor in Tehran, but one day electricity cable hit me and I fell from a second floor to the ground.”

Hamidullah got a lump in throat and paused. But continued, “After a few days when I came to senses in hospital, I was half a human because the power cable which hit me caused me to lose both of my feet and arms.”

He said he lost his hopes as well but his father-in-law brought him to Afghanistan improved. He added he had five sons aged between seven and two years.

Hamidullah swallowed his grief and said, “I was a strong man, I would do most difficult works and I never asked money from anyone, I did not like begging, now I am obliged to beg to provide some food to my wife and children,” he said.

“War destroyed us, if there was peace in our country, I would have never traveled to Iran for earning money, I might not have lost my legs and arms and I would have been a healthy man,” he said.

He called war the mother of all misfortunes for him and millions of Afghans and said, “Thousands of men like me suffered from war and faced an unwanted and failed life.”

Hamidullah also witnessed bad stories of Afghans forced by war and joblessness in Afghanistan and traveled to Iran for heavy labor. He tells stories of Afghans in Iran who were insulted and held in contempt and hurled abusive words by their company owners.

He said Afghan workers received little money for more work and they were getting addicted to drugs in Iran.

“I saw with my own eyes dozens of Afghan youths turning to drugs and becoming useless and disabled people, I saw Afghan youths who were suffering from deadly diseases like cancer,” he said.

“Four Afghans faced the same fate as of mine, they fell from high floors to the ground and lost their lives.”

Hamidullah pointed to two of his sons sitting with him and said he was seeking the help of others for good future of his children.

While looking to his children with a smile, Hamidullah said, “I hope the war will end permanently in Afghanistan so our children do not see the darkness of now in future.”

He asked the Taliban and the government not to force Afghan youths into fleeing to other countries and let them work for development of their country.

Hamidullah said no charity organizations had so far helped him. He thanked his wife and said, “My wife is the best helper and friend, she treats me with open heart, she changes my clothes and combs my hair as well as brings up our children.”

Mds/ma

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