In Memory of Makan Nasiri- the missing Iranian child martyr of the war

 This post is dedicated to the 7-year-old Iranian boy Makan Nasiri, who was one of the 168 children who were victims of the atrocious missiles strike of the school in Minab, Iran on Feb 28, 2026, by US-Israel troops. He was the only child whose no human remains were ever found even after 7-weeks of search, and he was thus declared as the missing martyr in the war. The only thing ever found of him were a blue sweater and a single shoe. 

(Makan Nasiri, the only child still missing from the school bombed in Iran | US-Israel war on Iran News | Al Jazeera)

Photos showing the smiling little Makan (taken from the various links below) as that's how I would like to remember him too..

Makan was a boy who brimmed with life and was also someone who had a devotion to God as his mother reported that he would take part in religious rituals and helping with activities in the mosques (https://www.instagram.com/p/DXM18hZSS7e/).

I am sharing some clips which I found from the web:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DW7eTs5gpCz/

(showing the bubbly cute Makan in few clips)

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXrl3wmjC33/

(This clip (AI generated) an attempt to show Makan (after his passing) walking on path of roses and entering the mosque and being welcomed with other martyrs.)

other clips showing the little angel and the aftermath:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXklmmtDPPd/

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXeuBhBCDtb/

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DW3w1gziNPU/

Makan Nasiri was reported as missing after the 7-week search, but he was killed on Feb 28. I discovered that his Arabic-origin name (that means "place" or "location") appears exactly 28 times in the holy Quran. Perhaps, his passing was chosen and was meant to set an example as his role on earth was finished.  But then, it is not possible to fill the void he has left behind and the sorrow which his loving parents feel and will continue to feel.  Truly, his loving parents were spared the horror of seeing their little child in bits and pieces. Rather, God decided to have him become part of the Iranian soil completely and inspire young blood to wake up to their roots and faith and stand up for the truth.

May God grant patience to his parents to manage to live with his loss....

I was getting reminded of some poetry lines of Allama Iqbal at this:

"Kitni Mushkil Zindagi Hai, Kis Qadar Asan Hai Mout

Gulshan-e-Hasti Mein Manind-e-Naseem Arzan Hai Mout

Seena Chaak Iss Gulistan Mein Lala-o-Gul Hain To Kya

Nala-o-Faryad Par Majboor Bulbul Hain To Kya

Zindagi Ki Aag Ka Anjaam Khakstar Nahin

Tootna Jis Ka Muqaddar Ho Ye Woh Gohar Nahin"

-Allama Iqbal

https://iqbalurdu.blogspot.com/2011/04/bang-e-dra-139-walida-marhooma-ki-yaad.html

English translation of above lines:

"How hard life is! How easy is death!

In the garden of existence, death is as cheap as the morning breeze.

If in this garden the breasts of the tulip and the rose are torn, so what?

If nightingales are forced to cry and lament, so what?

The finality of the fire of life is not a bed of ashes.

It is not the pearl whose destiny is to be broken."

https://iqbalurdu.blogspot.com/2011/04/bang-e-dra-139-walida-marhooma-ki-yaad.html

Targeting and killing little children is a war crime and it obviously impacts me to a deeper level, and although I have penned many poetries (unpublished) on that topic, I could not stop myself from expressing my emotions especially for this little boy as it also helps me in my healing too as I am highly overwhelmed as I can deeply feel sorrows of little children and their mothers as I am a highly sensitive person...

I am sharing a poem dedicated to Makan I wrote few days ago. This poem is inspired by the story of Surah Yusuf from the Quran, especially as it's believed that even Prophet Yusuf (A.S.) was 7-year-old when he was separated from his loving father and there was a striking similarity. Even the sweater of Makan had some blood spots/ flesh on it but it was later confirmed it belonged to someone else and not Makan, so essentially, the sweater left a window of hope open...

Anyways, here is my first poem on Makan:

Waiting for Makan

They have given me that torn

blue sweater with blood spots

that are not your blood,

found after the intense search,

the silent witness of your 

disappearance and predicted death.

No trace, no remains

of your gentle little body,

only debris and ruins remain.

Should I believe them?

My heart shall not.

I shall cry and cry,

empty out my two eyes 

in your sorrow,

turn myself blind to this world

as I wait in beautiful patience.

For I know,

after a long long wait,

I shall be able to smell 

your scent from your

heavenly garment

and I shall be granted the sight 

to glimpse your full face and body

shining beautiful and bright

and embrace it in my arms

in Paradise, where we

will meet again.

-Shilpi

A thoughtful scene from the Hindi movie Border 2

 

I had watched the Bollywood movie: Border 2 released in 2026 (based on the 1971 India-Pakistan war) very recently and had to share some of the depthful moments I noted in this movie. This movie is a sequel of the original movie (Border, 1997) that I had watched in childhood, hence I was curious to watch its sequel, especially due to the haunting music score. Anyhow, I still liked the original movie (Border) more as the sequel movie felt somewhat long and boring to me, except the parts which show the role of one of the actors (and a well-known singer in real life) Diljit Dosanjh playing the role of a Fighter pilot (Flying Officer Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon) which fascinated me. 

(A small anecdote of why I have a fascination for AirForce in particular. Since childhood, I always had a t-shirt (dark blue) that actually had a logo which was the Airforce pilot logo (exactly like the one in photo of the actor as shown below) and I would just adore wearing it. Moreover, after my school, all I wanted was to become a pilot or join Airforce or something, however, that was not possible due to my eye number, hence left with no option, I ended up enrolling in metallurgical engineering (although I desired to study aerospace engineering). However, as I grew up, I realized I was not cut out for the air and actually had phobia of flying and of fire and explosion of fuselage. Much later in my life, I did find the answer to all that (reincarnation stuffs :)). In all this, little did I realize that music/ singing was silently whirling in my soul hinting at my true calling, although I was never able to actually memorize music although I had got a guitar in childhood and also a tutor to teach me, but something in my soul did not let me pick it up or have the peace to learn notations (mostly due to the hostile environments of the born family) and I dropped learning to play music, but listening and singing was one thing that never left me. I would just start to sing from very small age.)  Anyhow, back to the movie sequence I wish to blog about:)

    First let me talk of a specific dialogue sequence (from the movie as the dialogues are not available online) between the actor (Diljit) and his mother, before he leaves for the war as he is called to report at the Air Force base.

The dialogues in Hindi are:

Actor: "o meri sauteli maa, chalta hoon, asli maa ka bulawaa aa gaya hai"

Mother: "jeeta reh, meri umr bhi tenu laa de"

Actor: "ley, teri umr leke mein kya karunga, mere paas apni bahut hai.agar ashirwaad dena hai to yeh de ke saare dushmano ko maar giraun"

Mother:"vo bhi to apni maaon se lambi umr ki duayein leke aaye honge. Janam dene wali maa jeene ka aashirwaad de sakti hai, marne-maarne ka nahi"

Actor: "Tere kehne ka matlab hai ki main na ladun?"

Mother: "Nahi, tu lad, tera farz hai, bahaduri se lad aur fateh kar ke aa. Main bhi lad lungi apni mamta se...."

And the same dialogues after I did the English translation are:

Actor: "O my stepmother, I am leaving, my real mother has called me"

Mother: "live long, may you also get my life span"

Actor: "why, what will I do by taking your life span? I have mine which is enough for me. If you want to give me blessings, bless me that I kill all the enemies"

Mother: "Even they would have taken blessings from their own mothers for a long life. The mother who gives birth can only give blessings of life and not of dying or killing."

Actor: "Do you mean to say that I should not fight?"

Mother: "No, you fight, that's your duty. Fight with bravery and attain victory. I will also fight with my motherly love"

So, basically in the conversation, the actor refers to his own mother as stepmother while he refers to India (his motherland) as his real mother- typical of a patriotic man. What I found words of deep wisdom in were the responses of his mother when he claimed that he wanted to kill all the enemies and attain victory for his motherland, and she replied with a wisdom that one is forced to stop and ponder: does war in fact solve the real problem? Truly, the enemies he refers to are also sons and daughters of another mother from a different country, and they share the same fervor. Finally, the mother replies by saying that her son should perform his duty while she will find the courage to fight her emotions coming from a mother's heart.

https://www.wionews.com/entertainment/bollywood/border-2-diljit-dosanjh-reveals-his-first-look-from-varun-dhawan-and-sunny-deol-starrer-1764591340333

 In the air combat sequence of the two fighter jets (India/Pakistan), ultimately the actor manages to win over the other aircraft, although he is fatally injured, but his pride remains intact, and he is martyred (with that sequence portrayed very beautifully). However, even the other pilot from the other side is also killed. So, one is left to wonder whether the war truly ended. In my view, not, simply because although the war on the outer level was ended and won, the war on the inner side started in the hearts of both mothers (struggling with losses of their respective sons) and perhaps may take a long time to end.

Interestingly, in the movie, a similar pathos is reflected in the actor Sunny Deol, who is playing role of some Indian Major on the Border who had also lost his son in the war but always had guilt that he was not there to receive his son's last phone call made only to him while he was on his deathbed. The guilt was that he was at that time praying in the Gurudwara (Temple of Sikhs) and so in the movie we see that he continues to struggle internally and stops going to the temple altogether since his son's martyrdom. Even his wife urges him to achieve victory not only in the external war but also in the internal struggle he faces within himself. Ultimately, towards the end of the movie, we see that he comes to terms with his internal battle and visits the temple, showing that he truly mastered the battle and accepted the will of God.

 

    Interestingly, one of the songs of this movie that is primarily featured and also sung by the actor Diljit (with other singers also) has beautiful Punjabi lyrics (especially the stanza lines below:)

"Ho tujh mein koi daag nahi hai

Chaand tainu yaara ve kaise kahun

Ishq da chehra tera hubahu

Sari zindagi tainu takda rahun

Ishq da chehra tera hubahu

Sari zindagi tainu takda rahun"

https://lyricsmint.com/diljit-dosanjh/ishq-da-chehra

The song link:

BORDER 2: Ishq Da Chehra (Full Video) | Sunny D, Varun D, Diljit, Ahan | Sachet-Parampara, Kausar