Oxford Union urged to scrap ex-NSA’s speech

KABUL (Pajhwok): Some students, academics, civil society activists and political workers have signed an online petition to the Oxford Union, calling for the cancellation of a speech by former national security advisor Hamdullah Mohib, a media report said on Monday.

Mohib had been invited to speak at the Oxford Union on May 11 about the current situation in Afghanistan.

Mohib, along with high-ranking Afghan officials including ex-president Ashraf Ghani, fled the country in August last year.

The petition branded Mohib a “national traitor” who did not deserve to represent Afghanistan at the Oxford Union, especially in the absence of any Afghan researcher there.

It held Mohib responsible for the fall of the previous government and that he should formally apologise to the Afghan people. But instead he is trying to absolve himself by delivering speeches.

The signatories claimed newly arrived refugees in Oxford, as well as Afghan students and educators, have been seriously hurt and they would not feel easy in Mohib’s presence.

The Oxford Union is one of the UK’s oldest and most prestigious academic institutions. It hosts intentionally important event.

nh/mud