MAIMANA - First Vice-President Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum on Saturday warned to move court against some so-called political commentators accusing him of tribal discrimination and genocide.
Dostum, who is spearheading a clearing operation in northern Jawzjan province for the past one week, told reporters here that some “narrow-minded” people posing as experts were propagating against him and trying to defame the ongoing operations in the northern region.
“I came here to defend our territory, improve the national unity and eliminate enemies of our people,” he said.
“But some people who call themselves experts are conspiring against me and trying to create the impression that our operations in the north are meant to strengthen our own party and destroy others,” he explained.
Dostum added he had honestly left Kabul and accepted risks to fight against rebels despite being ill.
He said such comments from some so-called experts should be used against Pakistan’s intelligence agencies, Daesh and Uzbekistani fighters. He alleged such experts received orders from Pakistan intelligence agencies to destroy the national unity in Afghanistan.
Dostum said such baseless remarks could not help the Afghans who should work for strengthening the national unity instead.
“They accuse me of dividing Afghanistan while I voted for President Ashraf Ghani who is from a Pashtun tribe because I wanted to remove tribal and regional discriminations,” he added, saying the operations in Jawzjan had been ordered by the National Security Council (NSC) and President Ghani.
Without naming anyone, he said the two individuals should prove where and when he entered the house of a Pashtun and killed his children.
Dostum said he would investigate the propaganda against him and take the issue to a court after he concluding his operations in Jawzjan. The issue would be also shared with the President and the NSC for further attention, he added.
However, Seddiq Mansor Ansari, head of Afghanistan Civil Society Federation (ACSF) in response to Dostum’s claims, said: “Before President Ghani appointed Dostum as VP, we had warned him that Dostum is addicted to genocides because he in the past regimes was also known as the leader of mass destructors.”
He said the VP once again violated his authority and traveled to northern region and got involved in fighting and genocides.
Ansari said the national unity government would collapse soon if it did not prevent criminal gangs from carrying out their destructive activities.
A week ago, Dostum left Kabul for Jawzjan and cleared Qush Tapa district from militants. Dostum is now busy in conducting operations in northwestern Faryab province. (Pajhwok)