Shroud of silence surrounds death of Afghan refugee at Webb City High School

 

His name was Rezwan Kohistani and he came to this country from Afghanistan with hopes of a new and better life.

Instead the friends he made during his short time here mourn his passing and his family, already uprooted from its home once, is leaving the supposed promised land of southwest Missouri hoping to find a place where the hate runs less rampant and the American dream is a reality.

Tomorrow will mark two weeks since the Webb City High School freshman's body was reportedly discovered on the baseball field.

It took 11 days for school officials to release a guarded statement, which did not tell us much of anything.

The statement began with an immediate deflection.

The district has been asked by local media to provide information regarding the events that took place on May 5th that resulted in the death of one of our students.

That would seem to indicate that if the media had not kept asking about it, Webb City R-7 officials would have been content to remain silent.

Blame the media.

In this area, that usually works.

Why is the media asking questions? Because every media outlet has been contacted by Webb City residents who want answers.

And they are not getting any answers from school officials. Nor are they learning anything from local law enforcement.

Not one word.

Not one word about the bullying that Rezwan Kohistani reportedly endured since his arrival in our community.

Not one word to even let the community know the circumstances surrounding the boy's death are under investigation.

Not one word to indicate Rezwan Kohistani ever existed.

A Go Fund me page has been established to raise money for the Kohistani family to help it as it leaves the nightmare that southwest Missouri has been and settle in Texas.

The Kohistani family is grieving the tragic loss of Rezwan, their beloved son and brother. The teenager Rezwan took his final breath in Southwest Missouri. He left behind his parents, four brothers and sister, who will miss him dearly. 

The Kohistanis are refugees from Afghanistan who recently resettled in southwest Missouri. In light of Rezwan’s tragic passing, they are starting a new chapter in Texas.

Members of the Joplin community are raising funds to help the Kohistani family with this transition. All donations will go directly to the family to compensate them for loss of income, moving expenses, food, gas, and other costs that may arise. 

We want to ensure that they have the resources to endure this difficult time without a heavy financial burden. Let’s come together as a community to support the Kohistanis. Please consider making a donation. Any amount helps.

As of this writing, $8,404 of the $10,000 goal has been raised.

The Kohistani family has left Missouri. And perhaps if the situation that led to its departure remains shrouded in a veil of silence, soon we will no longer be talking about him, no longer wanting answers about what happened to him and life will go on in this community like Rezwan Kohistani never existed.

We cannot let that happen.

We owe it to ourselves.

We owe it to all of those who are bullied because they are different from us.

Most of all, we owe it to Rezwan Kohistani and his family.

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