The Garden of Eternity – Essay, Afghanistan 2007

The news reports from Afghanistan are dominated by pictures of military actions, terrorist attacks and often associated with “body bags”, the crude description of coffins covered by national banners. However, the return of the deceased to their home country - whether they passed away during military actions or due to other causes - is a rather recent phenomenon, which has slowly become common since the Vietnam war.
There has been times that it was technically and logistically impossible to bring the deceased back home. Of this, the numerous and huge WWII cemeteries in Europe are witnesses. Apart from this, some people - feeling connected with the place - also expressed the wish to be buried in the country where they passed away.
Near the center of Kabul, a wall encloses a peaceful and lush garden where many foreigners have found their last resting place. Originally it is known as the “British Cemetery” being established to bury the many British soldiers who died in the second British-Afghan war, 1879-1881. Therefore its local name is “Qabre Gora”; Qabre means grave or last resting place and Gora was a 19th century Afghan description for “British soldier”. In the following decades also civilians from various nationalities and Christian movements - roman-catholic, protestant, eastern-orthodox, etc. - were buried here. Among them temporarily residents and travellers in Afghanistan.
During the recent decades of war in Afghanistan, the cemetery was seriously damaged and thomb stones were looted by locals. An older Afghan man, Rahimullah, informed local authorities about the bad condition and the looting of the cemetery. He ended up as the caretaker, being in charge for more than 25 years now. Nowadays for his work he receives an income from the British Embassy.
The story goes that Rahimullah, during the last days of the Taliban regime, suddenly was confronted with Mullah Omar. The Taliban headquarters in Kabul happened to be in the buildings right next to the cemetery. The leader of the Taliban unexpectedly payed a visit, and before leaving asked Rahimullah why he worked in this place. Rahimullah answered, in truth: “I am an illiterate man”, to which he added: “and to be illiterate is like being blind”, which in Afghanistan means “being ignorant”. Mullah Omar is said to have replied “But I am blind as well”, while bursting in laughter.
After the ousting of the Taliban, British soldiers discovered the cemetery in decay and supported its restoration. Since the presence of foreign troops in Afghanistan, plaques with the names of ISAF victims are placed in the walls surrounding the cemetery. There is also a plaque to the memory of the four aid workers of Médicins sans Frontières who were killed in 2004.
Among those buried here are quite a number of children, according the dates on their thomb stones either stillborn babies or post natal deceased, and children who died before the age of three. Also a couple of people, including a family, who died due to road accidents have found their resting place at this cemetery. The most recent grave is of French UNHCR worker Bettina Goislard, who was murdered in Ghazni in 2003. It was her personal wish to be buried in Afghanistan, and not to be brought back to France.
Despite the various tragic causes of death of those buried and commemorated here, “Qabre Gora” is a garden of eternity, like a small oasis, in bustling Kabul. The grass is green and there roses, conifers and many fruit trees, with peaches, grapes and mulberrys (known as “tut” by Afghans). Rahimullah is here every day, with his bird, his son and grandson often spending time with him and visitors passing by.