An Open Letter To Afghan Government (Report)

KABUL, Apr 10 (Pajhwok Afghan News):

A group of Afghan students in the United States have condemned the killing of Ajmal Naqshbandi and poured scorn over the government for its failure to save his life.

In an open letter to the Afghan government, the students said Taliban had killed a man who was out to earn bread for his family.

"We condemn in severest terms the Taliban and their sponsors who brutally murdered our brother, a husband, a would-be father and the son of a mother," said the students in their open letter.

They said this 'inhuman' act of Taliban was against the "noble principles of Islam that value human life and human dignity".

The students said "the Taliban and their international terrorist supporters have a malicious strategy to destabilise Afghanistan's nascent democracy through murdering innocent civilians".
They also expressed anger over the handling of the situation by the Afghan government.

They asked the people of Afghanistan to join them in demanding an explanation from the government.

The students said the government should have treat Ajmal Naqshbandi and Daniele Mastrogiacomo on an equal footing. "However, you, the Afghan government, demonstrated that you put more value on the life of non-Afghans than on the life of the very people who elected you. You showed to us that in fact, in your eyes, the life of an Afghan is still worthless and his blood cheap."

At the end of their open letter, the students posed the following questions to the Afghan government:

Why did you negotiate with the terrorists in the first place, putting at risk the lives of numerous aid workers, journalists and other friends and citizens of Afghanistan?

Even if there were valid grounds for negotiation, why did you not secure the release of both Afghan and foreign citizens?

They also asked the government to extend compensation to the widow and family of the slain journalist.