Protesters close e-ID Card forms office in Maidan Wardak

KABUL (Pajhwok): Hundreds of protesters in central Maidan Wardak province on Monday demanded writing full name of the province in computerized national identity cards, vehicle registration plates and other official forms.

Nearly 1200 protestors from Maidan Shahr, the provincial capital, Jalrez, Narkh and Behsud districts took part in the demonstration.

They chanted “we do not want prejudice”, “we want our identity” and “do not violate our rights”.

The protesters warned of continuing protest unless their province’s full name (MaidanWardak) was mentioned in official documents and letters.

SharifullahHotak, a protester and member of MaidanWardak provincial council, told Pajhwok Afghan News that they wanted to peacefully urge the government to write full name of MaidanWardak Province in the electronic identity cards.

“Our aim is to preserve our identity; we demand the full name of MaidanWardak province in our identity cards, vehicle plates and other official documents,” he added.

ZabihullahFarooqi, a civil society activist and one of the protesters, said the central administrations used to write MaidanWardak but the local administration only wrote Wardak due to prejudice.

“If you look at the letters and websites of regional organs, they write MaidanWardak; but our identity is killed in our own province,” he added.

Some other protesters also had similar statements and they closed the office of the Electronic Identity Cards forms.

According to the protesters, electronic identity card staff only wrote Wardak instead of MaidanWardak in the identity cards.

It is to mention here that for the past few years only Wardak is written on vehicle registration plates, passports and electronic identity cards instead of MaidanWardak.

Hr/ma

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