Japan Press Weekly

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2008 August 27 - September 2 [SDF]

Bullets for self-devotion

Akahata ‘Current’ column

Why does he have to come home like this? Why did he have to die?

The young man used to say, “I want to help tea-loving Afghans grow tea and drink it every day.” He also said, “I want to see them eat sweet potatoes as much as they like.” These humble desires moved Ito Kazuya, 31, to participate in agricultural assistance in Afghanistan with his colleagues.

An armed thug pointed a gun at him. Villagers, who knew of the young Japanese man’s devotion to improving their wel-being, asked the gunmen for his release. Ignoring the pleas, the cold-blooded gunmen took his life. Is it useless to ask the armed thug why he killed a person who devoted his life to a happy future for Afghan people?

The motto of Peshawar-kai, a nongovernmental organization that Ito belonged to is: “We go to places no one dares to go to and do things that no one wants to do.” For nearly 30 years since the former Soviet Union’s invasion, Afghanistan has been a war-torn country. After studying agriculture at a college in Shizuoka and in the United States, Ito made up his mind to go to Afghanistan and left Japan five years ago.

Nakamura Tetsu, a physician and representative of Peshawar-kai, wrote a report about the situation in Afghanistan in the June issue of the association’s publication. He said, “Soon after it was reported that Japan was considering sending its troops to Afghanistan, we perceived real dangers approaching us.” He also said, “We have managed to maintain the situation in which at least the residents of east Afghanistan are friendly toward Japan. If these good relations are cut off (after a deployment of Japanese troops), not only the Self-Defense Forces but also civilians from Japan would be exposed to armed attacks.”

Japan has been favorably received as the largest contributor of assistance to improve Afghan people’s well-being. They will never forget Ito expressing his joy during the harvest season.