Parliament members (MPs) on Wednesday said provoking any type of ethnic, linguistic or geographically-based discrimination against Afghans is a crime and those involved in this need to be prosecuted.

MPs claimed that groups within the Presidential Palace act against the national interests and incite ethnic division in the country. 

Their remarks come after a classified document was accidentally shared to a social media chat group - Telegram - by Sawabdin Makhkash, the deputy chief of monitoring and observation at the Administrative Office of the President. 

The document was reportedly meant to be shared only with a select group of senior officials, from the Administrative Office of the President, in a different Telegram group, but instead was accidentally posted to another group.

The document, called Main Deliverables, has 12 articles and appeared to refer to discrimination in the appointment process of officials in the Administrative Office of the President. 

“The Herat Pashtuns who cannot speak Pashto shall be appointed and we shall symbolically appoint Tajiks and Uzbeks who will definitely work based on our demand in order that people would think that the officials of the Administrative Office of the President are from all ethnic groups,” reads the 9th article of the document.

MPs on Wednesday said such moves can widen the gap between government and the people and that anyone involved in such actions must be held accountable for what they have done. 

“Afghanistan is the shared home of all Afghans. Provoking ethnic, linguistic and religious discrimination are crimes here,” Mohammad Nazir Ahmadzai, second deputy speaker of parliament said. 

A number of MPs blamed groups close to the president of distancing the nation through fueling ethnic and linguistic differences. 

“If the president gives time to such fanatical people, it means that the president does not respect the peoples vote. If the president himself organizes such moves, then he should make his stance clear,” MP Abdul Satar Darzabi said.

“There are groups close to the president that want to provoke ethnic and geographically-based discrimination,” MP Lalai Hamidzai said. 

Meanwhile, another MP Nader Shah Bahar, urged government to implement justice on the individuals who try to create discord among people by making ethnic-sensitive moves. 

“We will wait to see how the National Unity Government will react to this case and the Afghan people are waiting to hear the result of government evaluation in this regard,’ said Bahar. 

Sawabdin Makhkash meanwhile resigned from his post following the incident but has rejected the claims against him.

The Presidential Palace said however on Tuesday that the leaked document reflects Makhkash’s own view, not that of the government.