Baby Trump causes stir in Afghanistan

Kabul, March 17

Donald Trump flops over his pink and white baby walker and rolls it around his family’s modest home in Kabul, blissfully unaware of the turmoil his “infidel” name is causing in the deeply conservative Muslim country.

The rosy-cheeked toddler’s parents named him after the billionaire US President in the hope of replicating his success. But now he is at the centre of a social media firestorm in Afghanistan after a photo of his ID papers was posted on Facebook.

A self-confessed fan of the US tycoon-turned leader of  free world, Sayed Assadullah Pooya said he and his wife have been inundated with “vulgar and insulting” comments attacking their choice of name for their third child.

Some Facebook users have gone as far as threatening to kill Sayed for giving his son an “infidel name”, while others have accused him of endangering the boy’s life.

“I didn’t know at the beginning that Afghan people would be so sensitive about a name,” Sayed said. He said someone posted a picture online, sparking the controversy that forced him to close his Facebook account. 

“I did a lot of research, which motivated me to choose his name.” Sayed hopes his son will “be as successful” as the US President. — AFP