{"id":11029,"date":"2021-01-18T18:06:36","date_gmt":"2021-01-18T16:06:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/?p=11029"},"modified":"2021-02-15T14:40:38","modified_gmt":"2021-02-15T12:40:38","slug":"i-could-just-vanish-in-kabul-pocket-notes-to-prevent-anonymous-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/2021\/01\/i-could-just-vanish-in-kabul-pocket-notes-to-prevent-anonymous-death\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I Could Just Vanish\u2019: In Kabul, Pocket Notes to Prevent Anonymous Death"},"content":{"rendered":"

The New York Times<\/a><\/p>\n

By\u00a0<\/span>David Zucchino<\/span>\u00a0and\u00a0Fatima Faizi<\/span><\/p>\n

As violence engulfs them, some Afghans carry notes with their names, blood types and relatives\u2019 phone numbers in case they are killed or severely wounded.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

For some young people, the pocket note has become an essential element of daily life \u2014 an identity marker ensuring that they will not die an anonymous death. Kiana Hayeri for The New York Times.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

\n
\n

KABUL, Afghanistan \u2014 Tareq Qassemi, a bookseller, lost a close friend to a suicide bombing that killed 80 civilians in Kabul one scorching summer day. Four years later, he still mourns his friend, but also the nameless Afghans who perished with him.<\/p>\n

\u201cTheir bodies were shattered \u2014 the only thing that remained was a shoe or a bag or a pen,\u201d he recalled.<\/p>\n

Mr. Qassemi, 28, now carries a special slip of paper, known as a pocket note, that contains his full name, his blood type and the phone numbers of family members \u2014 like a homemade, civilian version of a soldier\u2019s dog tags. He knows too well how fragile and ephemeral life in Kabul can be, and he refuses to become an unidentified victim.<\/p>\n

\u201cI could get killed on my way to work or in a car or anywhere, and no one knows about me and they will look for my body everywhere,\u201d he said. \u201cI could just vanish.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n