Karzai Refuses to Send Daughter Abroad as 2.4 Million Afghan Girls Remain Barred From School
Updated
Updated · Bloomberg · Aug 21
Karzai Refuses to Send Daughter Abroad as 2.4 Million Afghan Girls Remain Barred From School
3 articles · Updated · Bloomberg · Aug 21
Summary
Hamid Karzai said he will not send his eldest daughter overseas for schooling, arguing that doing so would mean giving up on Afghan girls’ right to education at home.
The 68-year-old former president said his daughter, like all girls over 12 under Taliban rule, cannot attend school, though he keeps pressing Taliban leaders to restore education and women’s work.
Karzai described himself as living under virtual house arrest in Kabul, unable to leave home without Taliban approval and escort, but said he still speaks with some Taliban figures and remains hopeful.
He said foreign governments should work with the Taliban to deliver aid, but argued recognition should depend on conditions including reopening girls’ schools and allowing women back to work.
Looking back nearly 25 years after 9/11, Karzai said excluding the Taliban from the 2001 Bonn process was a mistake and blamed Afghanistan’s failures on missed peace efforts as well as outside interference.