[Reader-list] Afghan objects to India-Pak war terminology

[Yousuf]

This is a very interesting news. If you remember
Pakistan naming their ballistic missiles as Ghauri and
Ghazni to counter India's Prithvi and so on.
Appearantly Afghans don't like that idea... They would
probably not like a particular kind of history-writers
of India too:


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February 23, 2006  Thursday  Muharram 24, 1427  
DAWN


Kabul objects to Pakistani missile names

KABUL, Feb 22: Afghanistan formally complained to
Pakistan for naming its ballistic missiles and other
weapons after historic Afghan heroes, a minister said
here on Wednesday.

Afghan Information Minister Makhdom Raheen said that
Kabul had recently sent a letter through its foreign
ministry to Pakistan over the use of names of Afghan
nation’s heroes, including Mohammed Ghauri, a
12th-century conqueror who ruled what is now
Afghanistan and invaded areas in what is now India and
Pakistan several times.

A series of Pakistan’s ballistic missiles is named
after Ghauri, including a 1,500-kilometre-range
nuclear-capable weapon.

“We asked them (Pakistan) not to use the names of
great elders of Afghanistan on weapons of mass
destruction or other war equipment,” Mr Raheen said.
“These great elders played a major part in building
national solidarity and in transferring science and
knowledge from the homeland across southwest Asia.”

Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam
refused to comment or say whether it had received such
a letter.

Afghanistan is also complaining about Pakistan’s use
of the name of Ahmad Shah Abdali, an 18th century king
who founded the powerful Durrani dynasty, on a weapon
that Raheen did not identify. Abdali laid the
foundations for the Pashtun tribal rule in
Afghanistan.

Mr Raheen said Pakistan was welcome to use the names
but only for peaceful things like memorials,
monuments, conference rooms and historical places. —
AP




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