Saturday, June 30, 2007
Bomber's end: Flash of terror, humble grave - International Herald Tribune
The two men had come to the common end of all human journeys. Their bodies, swathed in bloody white sheets, lay on a rocky hillside. Awaiting them were two thin rectangles of shallow graves. The city of Kabul was responsible for the burial. No mullah had been asked to preside over this earthly farewell.
"One of these guys needs a smaller hole," one gravedigger said, laughing.
The bigger of the bodies belonged to an old man, Khan Mir. His body had gone unclaimed, and the obligations of an Islamic funeral were forgone because he was a pauper. The identity of the other man was unknown. He was only half a body really, a headless torso with but a right arm and a right leg. His interment was meant to be ignominious because he was a suicide bomber, or yak enteher kunenda.
"Cover them with rocks and throw on the dirt," the chief gravedigger called out.
...
As the old pauper was lowered into the ground, Khwaja Nuruddin, representing the city's Culture Department, swiftly mumbled: "God is great. There is only one God but God, and Muhammad is his prophet." But when the suicide bomber was laid to rest, only the insistent wind broke the silence.
Pieces of slate were positioned to cover the rectangular plots, with small rocks used to fill any gaps. Then the graves were sealed with mud that had been made by emptying a 10-gallon jug of water into a small pile of excavated soil.
With the work finally finished, Nuruddin brushed the dust from his gray business suit. He then paused to consider the situation and opted to recite a few Koranic verses, standing first by the suicide attacker's grave, then by the pauper's. ...
The two men had come to the common end of all human journeys. Their bodies, swathed in bloody white sheets, lay on a rocky hillside. Awaiting them were two thin rectangles of shallow graves. The city of Kabul was responsible for the burial. No mullah had been asked to preside over this earthly farewell.
"One of these guys needs a smaller hole," one gravedigger said, laughing.
The bigger of the bodies belonged to an old man, Khan Mir. His body had gone unclaimed, and the obligations of an Islamic funeral were forgone because he was a pauper. The identity of the other man was unknown. He was only half a body really, a headless torso with but a right arm and a right leg. His interment was meant to be ignominious because he was a suicide bomber, or yak enteher kunenda.
"Cover them with rocks and throw on the dirt," the chief gravedigger called out.
...
As the old pauper was lowered into the ground, Khwaja Nuruddin, representing the city's Culture Department, swiftly mumbled: "God is great. There is only one God but God, and Muhammad is his prophet." But when the suicide bomber was laid to rest, only the insistent wind broke the silence.
Pieces of slate were positioned to cover the rectangular plots, with small rocks used to fill any gaps. Then the graves were sealed with mud that had been made by emptying a 10-gallon jug of water into a small pile of excavated soil.
With the work finally finished, Nuruddin brushed the dust from his gray business suit. He then paused to consider the situation and opted to recite a few Koranic verses, standing first by the suicide attacker's grave, then by the pauper's. ...
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