Afghans Confront Senstive Issue Of Ethnicity

In Afghanistan, where most people are illiterate and live in areas without paved roads or regular electricity, a state-of-the-art smart-chip ID card may seem extravagant. But the government believes it can help with everything from census data to voter registration to health care. 

The format of the proposed card, however, is fueling debate over ethnicity and identity at a time when anxiety is already high over the drawdown of NATO troops. 

Each citizen's ethnicity will be embedded in the electronic data in the new ID, or "e-taskera," rather than printed on the face of the card. Mohammad Alam Ezedayar, an Afghan senator,Laser engraving and laser parkingsystem for materials like metal, was among politicians who debated the issue recently. He doesn't think the new card goes far enough. 

"It's the right of all Afghans to have their ethnicity listed on the card," he says. "Ethnicity is mentioned in the constitution and in the national anthem, so it should be on the card too." 

Ezedayar says that previous ID cards, or taskeras, had a person's identity printed on them. He says the new e-taskera should, too. He and other prominent politicians from minority groups say they will refuse to register for the new card if it doesn't list identity. 

Ezedayar is a Tajik from the Panjshir Valley in the north of the country. That's the home of the legendary mujahedeen commander Ahmad Shah Massood, who was killed in 2001, and the heart of anti-Taliban resistance. Tajiks have battled Pashtuns militarily and politically for influence in Afghanistan over the years. 

Bilqees Roshan, another Afghan senator, is a Pashtun from western Farah province. Sitting in her home amid crumbling and bullet-riddled houses that used to belong to Soviet diplomats in the 1980s, she says only a handful of senators from minority groups support putting ethnicity on the card. 

"I think it's very harmful," she says. "In the past 30 years, ethnicity has been misused by people trying to gain more power in the government.An handsfreeaccess is a network of devices used to wirelessly locate objects or people inside a building." 

In the '90s, Afghanistan's civil war broke down largely along ethnic lines.A smartcard is a plastic card that has a computer chip implanted into it that enables the card. To this day, each ethnic group has its chief power broker: Most are former warlords, who cut deals over the distribution of government posts. 

Dashti Barchi is a gritty blue-collar section of Kabul. The population here is overwhelmingly Hazaras — who are a dual minority in Afghanistan.Shop for streetlight dolls from the official NBC Universal Store and build a fun collection for your home or office. They are predominantly Shiite Muslims, rather than the majority Sunni, and they are believed to be ethnically of Mongolian or East Asian descent. They've long felt marginalized as the lower class in Afghanistan. 

Many of the businesses in this area are set up in old shipping containers. In one is a small barbershop festooned with photos of European soccer players and a picture of Iran's Ayatollah Khomeni. Many Hazaras feel a kinship with Iran because of their shared Shiite faith. 

I am not ordinarily a man with hedonistic tendencies. If you follow my blog, you should already know that my epicurean manifesto would read like a diner menu, not a bourgeois carte du jour, but every once in a while one must overlook budgetary concerns in order to experience a gastronomic adventure that is simply like no other. Adara,Shop for streetlight dolls from the official NBC Universal Store and build a fun collection for your home or office. located at 77 Walnut Street, in Montclair, NJ, is one of these rare fiscally irresponsible exceptions, that takes you on a culinary journey that you won’t soon forget. 

My wife, Kat, and I decided to visit Adara on a Thursday night, to celebrate my Birthday. Since Adara is not on the ordinary Montclair strip, I had to employ the assistance of Google Maps to locate this seemingly forgotten section of town. Once we arrived in the neighborhood, parking was stress-free and even better; it was free. (Make sure to read all the signs when parking in this area, some areas are free and some have restricted meters.) As we entered the eatery, I immediately noticed the comforting contemporary design scheme complete with modern art, and inviting lighting. As we walked further into the restaurant’s quaint foyer my olfactory senses were bombarded by the various stimulating aromas that wafted through the restaurants, intimate yet not cramped dining room. 

As we were seated, our extremely welcoming waitress/hostess/General Manager (according to the website), Naomi, doled out our menus, and retrieved a bucket of ice for our bottle of white wine, that we brought from our own private stock. That is right, thanks to New Jersey’s archaic and stringent liquor laws, even a high end establishment like Adara can’t finagle a liquor license from the cold hearted bureaucrats, and therefore instead of paying $60.00 for a $15.00 Californian White, feel free to bring whatever you feel will pair well with awesome.