Ex-president renews call for girls’ return to school

KABUL (Pajhwok): Ex-president Hamid Karzai has renewed his call for Afghan girls’ immediate return to school, linking the country’s development and prosperity to education.

In an interview with a Dubai-based TV channel, he said Afghanistan needed education to cut its reliance on the world.

Karzai told Al-Arabiya: “The most important and pressing issue is the return of Afghan girls to school from grades 6 to 12.”

A power-sharing model of governance was “not necessary” as long as the interim Taliban administration did not enjoy the Afghan people’s confidence, he remarked.

One way the Taliban could muster the nation’s support was to reopen schools for girls, he believed, asking the new rulers to pursue self-sufficiency and economic wellbeing to create a sense of unity among the masses.

On the issue of hijab, Karzai said Afghan women had long been wearing burkas. “Afghan women are fully obeying the hijab in many forms. Some wear burkas, some wear a big scarf for their heads. Others do it in some other forms…”

PAN Monitor/mud

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