"I want to thank my partner, Bibi Gul, for supporting me and Afghanistan," he said. "She has always supported Afghan women and I hope she continues to do so." Ashraf Ghani also owns 200 acres of land in Surkhab area of Logar province. Abdul Baqi Ahmadzai, who is close to Ashraf Ghani, claims that Ashraf Ghani inherited a lot of land from his father. However, Ashraf Ghani bought this 200 acres of land separately in Logar province. Ghani lost most of his stomach after suffering from cancer in the 1990s. It is said that Ghani wakes up every morning before five, and reads for two to three hours. He is the older brother of Hashmat Ghani Ahmadzai, an Afghan politician who is the Grand Council Chieftain of the Kuchis. On 2 February 2020, Ashraf Ghani made controversial remarks while talking about Timur and Muhammad of Ghor which angered the Uzbek population of Afghanistan. He made those remarks while delivering a speech to a group of Afghan students on History, Culture, and the National Identity. Ghani stated that Muhammad of Ghor destroyed Afghanistan’s central irrigation system while Genghis Khan demolished the irrigation system of the northern provinces. He also taunted Amir Timur by calling him ‘lame’ and stated that Timur wiped-out the irrigation system for Sistan, Farah, and Helmand provinces. His remarks regarding Timur were considered highly offensive to Uzbeks, according to experts, which drew wide spread condemnation from Afghanistan's Uzbeks population. Following his remarks, residents of Faryab province staged protests and demanded an apology from Ashraf Ghani. The protesters threatened that they would take serious action if Ghani did not apologize for his remarks. Abdul Rashid Dostum, former vice president of Afghanistan, also demanded an apology from Ashraf Ghani. Bashir Ahmad Tahyanj, spokesperson of the National Islamic Movement of Afghanistan, said that "Ghani has a personal bias towards historic figures, honorable ethnicities, the history and culture of the people who live in Afghanistan. This is not his first time.” However, the Afghan government palace in a statement defended Ghani's remarks and stated that 'what Ghani said about Timur was not offensive or insulting'.