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TAKHAR (SW): Latif Pedram, a member of the Wolesi Jirga today, among the hundreds of supporters and protesters of the word “Afghan” on the electronic Nation Identity Cards in Talaqan Takhar province said that if the government doesn’t accept the demands of the people, the civil war will start.<\/p>\n
Pedram said there are efforts underway on the establishment of military bases in the north and added that if the situation continues this way, the north will declare itself independent. He called on the non-Pashtun soldiers to not accept the orders of President Ghani after this.<\/p>\n
Pedram said the solution to Afghanistan’s crisis is a national consensus, saying that if the government continues to fuel the ethnic tensions, they will have the option to rename Afghanistan back to Khurasan which encompasses all the ethnic groups in Afghanistan, because the other tribes combined constitute majority of the populations and hence surpass the Pashtun tribe, therefore Khurasan is a better name for Afghanistan.<\/p>\n
Latif Pedram called the current government as a tyrant and said that the people of Afghanistan will stand against the imposition of the Pashtun identity on the other tribes.<\/p>\n
Asmatullah Qurbani, representative of Takhar people in Provincial Council said if the demands of the people are not accepted by the government, they are ready to pick up guns and go to war against the government. He called on the government to not fuel the ethnic tensions more than this.<\/p>\n
Khair Mohammad Taimur, former commander of Takhar police and one of the members of Afghanistan Islamic National Movement, the Dostum’s party said that the government is trying to eliminate the identity of other tribes, but the people will not allow this and will revolt.<\/p>\n
Taimur added that people have achieved their freedom at the price of their blood and “they will never allow a fascist group to oppress the other ethnicities and humiliate them”. He said people are willing to stage an uprising against the government and the oppressors.<\/p>\n
Shah Hussain Mortazawi, the deputy spokesperson for the President said that Pedram does not represent other ethnic groups in Afghanistan, and whether the soldiers take orders from the President or not, is none of Pedram’s business.<\/p>\n
The process of distribution of eNIC brought many criticisms and disagreements along with it. Protesters in various provinces including Takhar, Parwan, Panjshir, Balkh, and Badakhshan showed their opposition to the inclusion of the word “Afghan” on the eNIC and these disagreements has been seen in widespread across the country.<\/p>\n
ENDS<\/p>\n
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