Afghans condemn Imran’s remarks on culture

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Taking to various social media platforms, Afghans said that women were teaching and studying at universities before the establishment of Pakistan …reports Asian Lite News

Afghans across the spectrum, including common people, politicians, and activists condemned Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan’s recent comments over their culture made at the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) summit in Islamabad.

Khan on Sunday at the OIC’s session said that not allowing women to get an education has been part of the culture of the Afghan people and the world should respect that.

Taking to various social media platforms, Afghans said that women were teaching and studying at universities before the establishment of Pakistan, reported Khaama Press.

Some said that Kabul University has been founded in 1932 while Pakistan emerged in 1947.

A large number of social media activists posted photos and video clips of ancient Afghanistan where women would go to universities and schools and they were part of the cabinets in different governments, reported Khaama Press.

Former President Hamid Karzai said that the statements of Imran Khan are inflammatory and disrespectful and asked Khan to stop interfering in Afghanistan’s internal affairs, reported Khaama Press.

Afghanistan’s former ambassadress to Norway Shukria Barakzai also said that the comments show his lack of knowledge of Afghanistan’s history.

Leader of Pashtoon Tahafuz Movement (PTM) Manzoor Pashteen in a Twitter post also condemned and said that Imran Khan’s comments are false and negative.

Pashteen said that Pashtoons never denied education to girls nor denied their rights. “Stop this colonialism,” he wrote, reported Khaama Press.

Furthermore, activists on social media also reacted to Imran Khan’s statements and added that his comments are humiliation to the Afghan people and the Islamic system.

ISIS attack

Taliban’s acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi on Monday downplayed remarks made by Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan at the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) summit in Islamabad that the Islamic State attacks Pakistan from Afghanistan.

Muttaqi said at a press conference in Kabul that the remark made by Khan is not an insult to Afghanistan. He added that his remarks were critical of the former governments, which may have therefore caused former government officials to feel compelled to show a reaction, reported Tolo News.

“It was a summit, everyone has an opinion,” said Muttaqi, adding, “Imran Khan criticized the former (Afghan) governments. I think officials of the former governments felt obligated to react, I don’t see (Khan’s remarks) as insulting.”

On Sunday, at the OIC Summit, Khan said, “We have had attacks from (the) Afghan border, from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), into Pakistan.”

Khan’s remarks sparked a response from former Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Afghans on social media.

Karzai called Khan’s remarks “an attempt to sow discord among Afghans, and an insult to the Afghan people.”

“Allegations that ISIS is active in Afghanistan, threatening Pakistan from Afghanistan, is clear propaganda and in fact the opposite is true. The threat of ISIS has been directed from Pakistan against Afghanistan from the very onset,” Karzai added in a series of tweets.

Muttaqi said that if the Pakistan PM meant that a weak Afghan government would not be able to control the Islamic State threat, that is another issue, and he hopes it will never happen. (ANI)

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