A Short Biography of Martyr Hussein Kharrazi: Kharrazi as a Boat Driver - Part 8

During the Iran-Iraq war, in the course of the operation Karabala-5, when the delivery of food to the troops got disrupted as the enemy’s artillery was firing at its peak capacity, Haj Hussein took it upon himself to resolve the issue, but, as a result of a mortar explosion on February 27, 1987 he fell martyr, joining the army of Imam Hussein (PBUH) in the heaven, his Ashurayi soul becoming a pilgrim of Karbala. He was, upon his own will, buried in the Martyrs’ Section of the graveyard among his basiji fellowship. Following is the account of one of his reconnaissance missions and the words exchanged between him as an anonymous soldier and fellow soldiers.
The Boat Driver
One day arrangements had been made for several troops of the Imam Hussein (PBUH) Division to go to the other side of the Arvand River on boats. To inspect the conditions of the forces there, Haj Hussein, alone and anonymously, got on one of the boats and sat waiting for others. A number of young Basijis who didn’t know him by face boarded and told him, "God bless you brother, would you be so kind as drive us across the river to the other side a bit quicker? We have lots to do.” Haj Hussein, without saying a word, turned the engine on, took the tiller and started navigating the boat. A bit further ahead, without turning his face, he started to talk: "Right now that you and I are here in this boat sweating, don’t you ever wonder where the division commander is and what he’s doing?” No one answered, so he continued, "I’m pretty sure he’s sitting right in front of the air conditioner in his office, all cozy and comfortable, drinking an ice cold coke – don’t you think?” The basiji sitting next to him frowned and objected: "Brother, please mind your own business.” But Haj Hussein was not going to back off easily and repeated what he had just said. The basiji, too, kept opposing him, until he got very angry and threatened: "Brother, for the last time: Mind your own business and don’t talk about others. I’m warning you, if you backbite our division commander one more time, I’ll grab you and hurl you right into the water!” And Haj Hussein stopped at once. He wanted to be among the Basijis himself, listen to them and have his work judged through their words.

Translated by: Sadroddin Musawi