A very sad news has popped out on the display this afternoon. I could hardly believe of that at once. A Japanese doctor Tetsu Nakamura has been shot to death in Afghanistan. The news is here.
He has started working as a physician in Pakistan and Afghanistan in 1984. In an interview, he told he had realized clean water and irrigation system were necessary for the people to live by themselves. It was "an extention" of emergency medicine to help people to develop irrigation system there. In addition to hard work as a physician for the people, he began constructing canal in the desert by himself and helpers and converted it to green field and farms.
His endeavour was based on the reality of what the people needed. He has always been very careful of what was needed by them. The canal′s banks were made of willow trees but not of concrete. It was intended to let the people maintain it by themselves after its construction. It seemed to me that he had not brought nor forced his own idea to them but had done what the reality required him.
In 2014, when our government was inteding to introduce the right of collective self defense in our country which was clearly against the constitution, he announced it would jeopardize those working in NGO for the developing countires with the risk of military conflict/attack. The Pacifism in our constitution has made the people, whatever faction they belonged to, belive Japanese NGO members won't do anything harmful to them.
It is not known yet who has killed him and the other 5 people on the same vehicle today. I won't believe the decision by our government to deploy some vessels of Japan Maritime Self Defence Forces to the Middle East has triggered this tragedy. Military intervention into the Middle East by our JSDF, however, may badly influence on the situation NGO personel is in the Middle East and adjascent areas.
As I have respected him as not only a doctor but also a human being, this news could not be more sad to me. It is a real absurdity that such an excellent person should die in this way. I really hope his idealism based on the real world would be taken over by some young people. May they be successful to further convert the desert to fertile soil. Doctor Nakamura used to tell that the people in Afghanistan invariably told him if they had water, food and environment they could live peacefully with their family, the war would have gone away. I really hope it will come true. Military intervention won't solve the problems.
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