Former Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai has rejected repeated requests from Taliban officials to speak positively about their rule, saying he cannot do so as long as Afghan girls remain barred from secondary schools.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Karzai said Taliban officials had questioned him about his public criticism and asked why he did not say something positive about their performance. He told them that he would have something positive to say if girls were allowed to return to school, but not while the ban remains in place.
Karzai said educating women is fundamental to Afghanistan’s future and that the country needs educated women across sectors including business, education, medicine, economics, engineering, the judiciary and journalism.
“We must have Afghan girls go to school and women go to work if we are to be a vibrant society, a living society,” Karzai said, according to the Financial Times.
His comments come as Afghanistan remains the only country where girls and women are formally barred from secondary and higher education. The Associated Press, citing UNESCO, reported in August that about 2.4 million Afghan girls were excluded from secondary education five years after the Taliban returned to power.
Karzai also called for greater national reconciliation, saying the Taliban and their opponents are all Afghans despite their political differences. He argued that Afghanistan needs compromise and coexistence rather than continued confrontation.
The former president also described increasing restrictions on his movements since the Taliban takeover in 2021. He told the Financial Times that he must inform Taliban authorities before leaving his home and that security personnel accompany him and return him afterward. He said he has also been restricted from meeting tribal leaders and foreign officials, describing himself as “trapped” despite maintaining what he characterized as a respectful relationship with some Taliban leaders.
Karzai led Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014 and has remained in the country since the Taliban returned to power. While maintaining dialogue with Taliban officials, he has repeatedly called for the reopening of schools and universities to Afghan girls and women.
The Taliban have defended their restrictions on women and girls as being consistent with their interpretation of Islamic law, despite widespread international criticism and calls for the restrictions to be reversed.
