KABUL (SW): A number of civil society activists in Kabul on Saturday said they do not accept the term ‘Afghan’ on the face of the proposed biometric identity cards.
Maseeb Motarif, member Front for Defense of Identity (FDI), told a press conference that such moves for uniformed identity can harm the national unity. He asserted that the term Afghan only corresponds to Pashtoons, and bringing other ethnicities under it would tarnish their identities.
Motarif warned moves to issue new biometric cards via the Directorate for Population Census with the term Afghan written on the face of the cards would be resisted with movements for justice by the civil society.
The issue was also raised at the Wolesi Jirga (lower house) where a number of parliamentarians expressed their reactions in favor and against the Presidential Decree in this regard.
Fawzia Kofi, female member of the house, said she does not accept the decision by the joint committee of the Wolesi Jirga and Mesharano Jirga because some members from the WJ did not attend the decisive meeting of the committee. Another member Ghulam Farooq sad the WJ should pay serious attention to the issue.
The Presidential Decree in this regard was first rejected by the WJ, but the MJ approved it. The matter eventually went to the joint committee of the houses that approved the Decree with a majority vote.
ENDS
