sultan munadi

when reported upon at all, afghan journalists often get labeled as "fixers" or "interpreters." sultan munadi, who died last week in kunduz, was a journalist.

he was also one of the many afghans who emigrated temporarily for reasons of safety + education + now have returned to work at rebuilding their homeland. i know many such courageous people at the university. in munadi's words:

"And if I leave this country, if other people like me leave this country, who will come to Afghanistan? Will it be the Taliban who come to govern this country? That is why I want to come back, even if it means cleaning the streets of Kabul. That would be a better job for me, rather than working, for example, in a restaurant in Germany."

as you probably have read, munadi and his colleague stephen farrell were new york times journalists kidnapped by talebs in early september while reporting in kunduz. a captor told munadi that they could get a prison exchange for farrell but nothing for him. and when the gunbattle went down, it was munadi who stepped out into the line of fire, identifying himself as "journalist." he was shot + killed, + farrell escaped unharmed (thankfully).

it is unclear whether sultan munadi was shot by british forces or his captors. what is shameful, though, is that those who went on to rescue stephen farrell did not even bother to retrieve sultan munadi's bullet-riddled body upon their departure. a colleague of munadi's, writing in the excellent new york times "at war" blog describes speaking with his friends about this atrocity at the funeral last week:

"I spoke to his closest friends. They were all furious and deeply saddened by his death, especially when his body was left behind and not flown back with the international journalist who was rescued. For them it didn’t matter who killed him, whether he was killed by the Taliban or the British special forces, what was important for them was why a sketch or picture of Sultan was not given to the Special forces, and also why did they have time to bring back one of their own soldiers who died, and rescue the British journalist, but left Sultan’s body to rot at the house. Sultan was buried right away when his body was brought back to Kabul. His close friends that saw his body in the white shroud, that Muslims wrap bodies before burial, say that the shroud was soaked in red because of his blood, and his body and face could not be recognized. To them this was the sign of utmost disrespect, as they found it to be inhumane and some were saying that we think the Taliban wouldn’t be this heartless."

i feel unbelievably sad to read about all the wonderful things sultan munadi's friends and fellow journalists had to say about his personal spirit and his contributions to reporting about afghanistan. it is tragic that so many people here, like munadi, must risk their lives just to live in their homeland and do the work they are best at. and that when they are forced by horrendous circumstances toward heroism, as sultan munadi was when he tried to save his own life and the life of his colleague, they are not treated with according respect. it seems so basic, and yet, clearly, so fleeting.