Afghanistan Times
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Hundreds of residents of Nangarhar came long way to Kabul city to protest against the mounting insecurity in their province. Dwellers of Bati Kot, Nazian, Achin and Deh Bala districts also criticized the provincial governor Saleem Khan Kunduzi for his poor performance since his appointment in May 2015. We have to look at the importance of governorship, geo-strategic significance of the province and performance of Kunduzi to determine whether the residents are justified in their claims or not. Strategically, Nangarhar is a very important province. The governor represents the president there and is responsible for overall affairs of the province. Therefore, his mistakes not only put the government in danger but the residents as well.
Look at the journey of Saleem Kunduzi as governor will make it clear that in which direction he is going. In June last year, militants attacked the bureau office of the Pajhwok Afghan News. In October 2015, Daesh shot a renowned scholar Mawlawi Gul Agha in Bati Kot district. In the same month, two staffers of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission were killed and six others injured in a roadside blast. Daesh established strongholds in different parts of the province including Achin, Haska Maina, Nazian, Shinwari, Bati Kot, Chaparhar and Sherzad. As a result in October 2015, the public health ministry failed to cover every child, under the age of five, in the province. About 46, 000 children were left unvaccinated in Haska Mina, Achin and Kot districts. The miseries of common people do not end here but in December 2015, three children and an operative of the NDS were killed in a suicide blast carried out by a woman. In the same month in another attack, 22 people were injured near police headquarters in Sorkhrod district. At least 10 men were forced by Daesh in December last year to sit over bombs buried in the soil.
The governor failed to improve security in 2016. Therefore, last month around 34,000 children were not vaccinated against polio in Haska Maina, Bati Kot, Chaparhar, Achin and Lalpoor districts. Likewise, a policeman was injured in a bomb blast in Jalalabad city near the Pakistani consulate. Around 13 people were killed and several injured in a suicide attack on a guesthouse of a Shinwari tribal elder. There is a long list of the failures, but in a nutshell Kunduzi has failed to meet expectations. If he was not sacked, the day is not far when extremists would overrun Jalalabad or other districts. Broadcast of propaganda messages in Jalalabad by Daesh is not a history but a good example for case study. There is no logic in supporting him because he has lost public support. Therefore, the government shall sack him to earn back the public support; otherwise, the Taliban will take advantage of the situation. In affairs of state personalities or individuals do not matter.
