By MASATOMO NORIKYO/ Correspondent
February 16, 2020 at 07:00 JST
A baby boy is named after Japanese doctor Tetsu Nakamura in Kabul on Jan. 26. (Masatomo Norikyo)
KABUL--The naming of an Afghan baby after Tetsu Nakamura, the slain Japanese doctor, has drawn an outpouring of accolades on social media as well as threats to the family.
Nakamura Muslimyar was born in a hospital in Kabul, two days after Tetsu Nakamura, a doctor with Peshawar-kai, a nongovernmental group based in Fukuoka, was killed in an ambush in Jalalabad, eastern Afghanistan, on Dec. 4. He was 73.
The baby is the third son of Samiullah Malang, 46, who said he picked the name to honor Nakamura and in hopes that the boy will become as generous as the humanitarian.
Samiullah, a restaurant owner, is from eastern Afghanistan where Nakamura worked on irrigation projects. He had seen how the doctor’s work transformed the land from desert to green fields.
“What helped villagers suffering from drought was not foreign armies or weapons, but Dr. Nakamura, who worked in the fields,” Samiullah said. “I want my boy to have the same heart as Nakamura’s in helping people.”
A local media group posted a story about the naming of the baby on its Facebook page. The post quickly gained more than 8,000 likes.
But others were not so happy.
Samiullah said he has received threatening messages from unknown people.
One said: “It is not an Islamic name.” Another said: “You will be a target.”
The Samiullah family was forced to leave their home in Kabul because the apartment owner feared an attack. They moved to a suburban house.
Despite the threats, Samiullah and his wife have no intention of changing their newborn’s name.
“We will never forget the Japanese man who offered a helping hand at a cost of his life regardless of differences in nationalities and religions.”
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