August 12, 2008	Tuesday	Sha'aban 9, 1429

KABUL: As insurgent attacks reach record levels, relations with Pakistan sink to new lows and rising food prices hurt millions, the Afghan parliament on Monday grappled with what word to use for ‘university’.

The debate pits Pushtu speakers, mainly from the south and east, against Dari-speaking Tajiks from the north and west and centres on the thorny issue of which words to use for expressions such as ‘university’, ‘student’, and for academic titles.

“There were two different points of views in the meeting,” parliamentarian Ahmad Ali Jebrayeli said. “There were some who favoured the use of Dari expressions by Dari speakers and Pushtu words for those who speak Pushtu,” he said.

Jebrayeli lamented that with the huge problems facing Afghanistan, lawmakers were locked in debate over terminology.

The debate will likely reinforce the perception of many ordinary Afghans that parliamentarians are out of touch with their needs and only focus on their own narrow interests.

Parliament failed to agree on a resolution and decided to form a committee to look into the problem, Jebrayeli said.

A journalist for a state newspaper was recently fined for using the Persian word for university in a report.—Reuters