Sangar: This article was published in 2018, 17 years after Ahmad Shah Massoud's martyrdom, and the late Rahnavard Zaryab, a famous writer, was still alive. Now both have joined eternity, but the bitter truth lives on.
Author: Rahnavard Zaryab
Original article: رهنورد زریاب: اگر مسعود میبود...
In the 1970s, I lived in the city of Montpellier, France. One day, I was walking down the street in the city. A young woman was walking in front of me, holding the hand of her approximately seven-year-old child. After walking a few steps, the boy suddenly stopped, and his mother asked him: “Why are you standing?” He, who was looking at a photograph on the wall, said to his mother: “That’s Massoud!”
Remembering this short story, which I witnessed myself, I want to say that Massoud was a famous world figure even during his lifetime. So universal that even a seven-year-old child in a city in southern France knew him.
Massoud was an influential figure in our history. Whether his enemies like it or not, the name of Massoud has entered our history as a glorious and brilliant name.
We can say that just as Che Guevara glorified the name of the Grande Valley in Bolivia (because he was brutally killed by the CIA executioners in the Grande Valley in Bolivia), Massoud also glorified the name of the Panjshir Valley throughout the world.
Many books have been written about Massoud. There are twenty-five books about Massoud in my library; of course, these are not all the books written about him in our country and abroad.
Today, everyone talks about Massoud: both those who were his close friends and comrades, and those who, like me, never saw him up close, not even once.
All these praises and writings about Massoud remind me of one story of the late Muhammad Ali Shariati.
Once during the reign of the Shah, Shariati was speaking to a group of women and girls about Zainab, the sister of Imam Husayn. Since Zainab had been present at the incident of Karbala and had seen it with her own eyes, she had herself been captured and had gone through a bitter experience. When Shariati was speaking, the girls and women were crying, crying heavily. Shariati changed the subject and addressed these girls and women: “Sisters and mothers! What is the use of your tears? If you think that your crying will bring Zainab back to life, I tell you that she will not come back to life. If you are crying to please Zainab’s soul, I tell you that Zainab’s soul will not be pleased. But if you want to please Zainab, try to follow Zainab’s path, try to make your personality and character like Zainab.”
Now I want to ask, what is the use of all this praise for Mas’ud? Those who love Massoud and those who respect and honor him should follow his path and aspire to become like Massoud.
I do not know if Massoud were alive today, in our time, would our land and our people be in such turmoil? Is there still such a terrible class situation in this country? Are there still millions of helpless children roaming the streets of this country? Are there still large groups of beggars and panhandlers roaming the streets asking for alms? And finally, would a famous American like Khalilzad have the aspiration to become the president of our country?
I am very sorry that when Massoud's friends invite Khalilzad, they will seat him in the most honorable place.
Our time is a time of turmoil. I wish Massoud were among us today, and I am sure that he would not tolerate such a situation.
If Massoud were alive, would his friends and comrades cling to government posts and chairs in this way?
If Massoud were alive, would his friends and comrades have the courage to build luxurious homes worth millions of dollars?
Unfortunately, the situation is such that we all see this. Personally, I have no hope for these friends and relatives of Massoud. But I hope that my impression was wrong.
