“Take my photo with a cane so that it remains a memory with you”

 

By Murtaza Meraj 
September 20, 2011

This is perhaps the latest picture from Mr. Qasim Akhgar, Khorasan/Afghanistan’s leading intellectual and media personality, that has been recently published on the media. Compared to his previous pictures, he looks very different in this one. It can be seen from his appearance that the suffering of the times and the constant pain have made him very tired and weak.

When my colleague and friend, Asar Hakimi, the country’s leading young media person, took this photo after interviewing Mr. Akhgar, he had said to Asar: “Take my photo with a cane so that it remains a memory with you.”

When I saw this picture for the first time, I got very sad and thought to myself that if Mr. Akhgar could not get recovered from his current illness, then, we may not hear the expressive voice of right-seeking, justice-seeking, and enlightenment coming from this person’s throat. Meanwhile, the recent publicized sad news about Mr. Akhgar’s “sight loss” has increased this suspicion.

Undoubtedly, this news is unpleasant and even shocking for all citizens, especially the intellectual community of the country. Throughout his intellectual and freedom-loving life, which was full of suffering and sometimes mixed with imprisonment and torture, he did not step beyond the path of seeking justice and enlightenment, even for a moment.

Hence, a close connection has been formed between the name of this superman and the aforementioned concepts that whenever his name is heard, those concepts also come to mind unconsciously.

Mr. Akhgar, who has seen many ups and downs in his life and has gone through prison, torture, poverty, illness, and suffering, has not neglected his ideals and the interests of his society even for a moment.

Lastly, Akhgar is one of the greatest assets of our society and has no alternative at this time. I request Ministry of Information and Culture and the non-governmental cultural and media organizations to provide this enlightener with the necessary treatment services and do not let the light of his life be extinguished.