Following the release of a report on illegal land grabbing activities, Parliament's Commission for Monitoring Government Actions on Monday accused the Junbesh Milli Party of unlawful, large-scale land grabbing in northern Afghanistan. The accusation was categorically rejected by the Party, which is led by Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum, a registered candidate for the spring Presidential elections.
Zalmai Mujadedi, the head of the government oversight Commission, on Saturday read off names of low-to-medium level land grabbers that had been identified in the report to Parliament. He complained that his Commission had received insufficient cooperation from a number of ministries during its eight-month investigation, so much so that it was unable to find the names of the biggest land grabbers in Afghanistan.
Nevertheless, with Monday's accusation, it would appear that while the Commission was prevented from fingering individual big-timers, associations were not out of reach.
"Junbesh Milli Islami Party has started land grabbing in the north on a large-scale and no one can deny the trend," said Mujadedi.
But deny it is exactly what the Junbesh Milli did. Bashir Ahmad Tayanj, a spokesman for the party, said the commission's reported findings were part of a conspiracy against his party and mocked the allegations.
"There are some circles who have plotted and started conspiracies against Junbesh Milli and the Commission for Monitoring Government Actions is a part of this," said Tayanj. "We strongly reject the land grabbing accusation, it's totally contrary to the facts."
With no formal legal injunctions yet to follow from the Commission's report, against Junbesh Milli or individuals it names, information regarding any hard evidence backing up the claims has not been made available.
Gen. Dostum, a registered Presidential candidate for the spring elections and the head of Junbesh Milli, made headlines a couple weeks ago for apologizing for brutalities and damage he had caused as a faction leader during Afghanistan's bloody civil war era. He has not yet comment on the Commission's allegations against his party.
After receiving the report from Mujadedi and his Commission, Afghan lawmakers emphasized the importance of disclosing the names of land grabbers. They were upset that officials in the Ministry of Urban Development and the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock had been uncooperative during the Commission's fact-finding process.
Mujadedi said that only land grabbers that fell in the third and second tiers – representing the least and moderate amounts of land taken – were identified. Because of a lack of help from the ministries, those of the third tier – representing the largest-scale land grabs – remained a unknown.
"The names of those who have stolen land in the provinces of Kabul, Takhar, Badakhshan and Balk should be exposed," said Qudratullah Zaki, an MP from Takhar. "Why is not happening and only small land grabbers are being exposed and not the main ones?"
A number of MPs present at the meeting on Saturday where the Commission first presented its report claimed that most of the land in question was appropriated based on orders from President Hamid Karzai.
"This Commission's report is not satisfactory for us," said Qurban Kohistani, an MP from Ghor province. "Most of the lands are occupied with the order of President Karzai; there are a number of instances of this, and even those close to President Karzai are involved in it."
The Commission concluded its report by saying that land grabbing has become such a serious challenge in Afghanistan that unless a dedicated and permanent commission is established for investigating and resolving cases, offenders would remain unidentified and thriving with impunity.
The Lower House is expected to summon the Ministers of Defense, Agriculture and Livestock, Urban Development and Rural Rehabilitation and the Kabul Municipality to question them about the Commission's report.