Kandahar gathering a blow to national interest: Senators

KABUL (upper house of Parliament) on Sunday criticised the comments made by participants of the Kandahar gathering and termed it a move against national interest.

Participants of the Kandahar gathering said that the government was in deep trouble due to lack of leadership, and the people were unhappy with the government as there is no security and a proper plan for peace process is missing. They claimed that the government has violated the constitution and some circles within the government also had links with Pakistan.

Lawmaker Baz Mohammad Zurmati said some former government officials who have lost their status participated in the Kandahar gathering and uttered irrelevant words, which were against the interests of the people of Afghanistan.

Zurmati also said that if the government becomes weak, it leads to increase in insecurity, and if the government is disintegrated then everyone would suffer from the imminent loss.

Jumma Din Gyanwal, another lawmaker, said massive preparations were made for the Kandahar gathering but no more than 300 supporters were present.

He claimed that some participantsof the gathering resorted to spreading rumours in order to threaten the government.In one case, participants claimed that the government is awarding contracts to Lebanese companies, but they failed to present any evidence.He added that they are trying to create confusion in the minds of the people, which is immoral.

Another lawmaker,LailumaAhmadi ,appealed to the political leadership of the country to be cooperative towards the national government and not become a source of tension for the public.

She added that leveling accusations against the president for the sake of personal interestsis not a right option, and is against national interests.

Referring to former spy-master’s comments regarding the Durand Line, Lawmaker ZalmaiZabuli said those who made wrong allegations without any evidence should be investigated by the judicial organs.

Rahmatullah Nabil, the former head of the National Directorate of Security (NDS), had made a statement that government leadership sold the Durand Line.

Mohammad AsifSediqui, second deputy chairman of the Mesharano Jirga, said that the primary purpose of organizing the Kandahar gathering was personal interest. It was not a national move and unfortunately no one in the social media appreciated it, he added.

Balkh Governor Atta Mohammad Noor and First Vice President General Dostum’s son were also supposed to travel to Kandahar, but theirflight was canceled due to some technical issues.

But Noor blamed the government for preventing their travel, and said: “We wanted to attend the gathering of Loy Kandahar Consensus Council, unfortunately the government stopped our flight. This is an illegal, immoral, inhuman and non-patriotic move by the government which is not in the interest of Afghanistan.”

Nh/ra