Eastern zone elders reject e-ID cards

KABUL (Pajhwok): Elders from eastern provinces on Sunday warned against not mentioning “Afghan” and “Islam” in the computerised national identity (ID) cards.

More than 100 elders and their supporters coming all the way from from Nangarhar, Laghman, Kunar and Nuristan provinces to Kabul held a gathering here to discuss the security situation in the eastern zone.

The elders blatantly announced their support for the induction of Afghan and Islam in the computerised ID cards as the farmer identified their nationality and the later determined their religion.

Senate Chairman Fazal Hadi Muslimyar told the gathering that the word Afghan was their nationality and they would accept ID cards without the two words.

He asked President Ashraf Ghani to resolve the issue through a decree and not wait for the Wolesi Jirga to return from the summer break.

Ustad Tayyb Atta, a lawmaker from Nuristan province, said: “We are Afghans and those who shy to be called as Afghans should leave Afghanistan.”

MPs Eng. Mohammad Alim Qarar from Laghman and Hazrat Ali and Mirwais Yasini from Nangarhar also demanded the inclusion of Afghan and Islam words in the electronic ID cards.

Earlier in the day, hundreds of people took to the streets in Nangarhar to protest the omission of the two words from new electronic national identity cards.

The protestors in Jalalabad marched on different roads, chanting slogans against the issuance of ID cards in their present shape.

On Saturday, a mammoth rally in Kabul protested for the same purpose.

Afghan National Movement head Mohammad Ismail Yon, Afghan Millat Party chief Anwarul Haq Ahadi, Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) chief Abdul Sattar Saadat and Kabul University teacher Faiz Mohammad Zaland took part in the rally.

Calling the national unity government a deal-based arrangement, Ahadi told the protestors: “The incumbent rulers would not give you your right until you mount pressure on it.”

The launch of the ID cards was delayed after President Ghani raised his concerns about information provided in the citizenship cards.

MCIT Spokesman Nusrat Rahimi said the president wanted to resolve unsettled issues before launching the ID cards distribution process.

Earlier, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO)’s office said the distribution of computerised national identity cards would begin in two weeks.

The distribution of electronic ID cards was earlier scheduled to begin before last year’s presidential election, but it had to be delayed for some reasons.

The distribution of ID cards is a joint project of the ministries of interior and telecommunications and information technology. A contract for the project had been signed five years ago.

nh/ma

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