23/07/2019
President Hamid Karzai was born on the 24th of December, 1957 (Qaws 9th, 1336) in the village of Karz, "Kandahar" Afghanistan.
He is an ethnic Pashtun of the Popalzai tribe. His father, Abdul Ahad Karzai, served as the Deputy Speaker of the Parliament during the 1960.
President Karzai studied at Zahir Shahi School in Kandahar up to grade 2 then moved to Kabul to continue at Mahmood Hotaki Elementary School, then moved Sayed Jamaluddin Afghani School, and graduate from Habibia High School. After graduating from high school, he traveled to India as an exchange student in 1976, and was accepted to study for his master's degree in international relations and political science from Himachal Pradesh University. He obtained his master's degree in 1983. He attended a three months Journalism course in Lille, France in 1985.
After obtaining his MA in 1983, President Karzai joined the Mujahideen fighters resisting the Soviet occupation of his homeland. He served as the Director of Information and later as the Deputy Director of the Political Office of the National Liberation Front led by Professor Sebghatullah Mujadidi. After the formation of the transitional government of the Mujahideen in 1989, he was appointed Director of the Foreign Relations Unit in the Office of the President of the Interim Government.
When the Mujahideen Government was established in Kabul in 1992, Hamid Karzai was appointed Deputy Foreign Minister. Two years later, when the civil war between the various Mujahideen groups began, he resigned from his post, and began to work actively for the organization of a national Loya Jirga (Grand Council). He believed that only through a Loya Jirga could Afghanistan’s difficulties be overcome, and the difference between the competing parties resolved peacefully. This belief was borne out by the Emergency Loya Jirga of 2002 and Constitutional Loya Jirga in 2003.
In October 2001 Mr. Karzai with three like-minded men went across the Durand Line, returned to Uruzgan province and worked to coordinate local efforts to rid Afghanistan of the Taliban. On December 5th, 2001, while he was still in Afghanistan leading these efforts, he was elected Chairman of the Interim Administration of Afghanistan, by the participants at the UN-sponsored Bonn Conference. He, along with the appointed Cabinet, took his oath of office on December 22nd of that year.
During Afghanistan’s first presidential election, on October 9th, 2004, President Karzai won the majority of the votes, and was elected to a 5-year term as President of the Islamic republic of Afghanistan. He took his oath of allegiance at Salam Khana Palace on December 7th, 2004, in the presence of dignitaries and officials from around the world.
Hamid Karzai ran for a second term in 2009 presidential elections and was elected as the President of Afghanistan. He took oath of allegiance at Salam Khana Palace on November 19th, 2009.
Hamid Karzai has been awarded many honors, among them Honorary Knighthood from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth (2003), Medal of Malik Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia, (قلادة الملِک عبدالعَزیز) conferred upon him by the late King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, Quadrica Award from Germany, the Philadelphia Liberty Medal (2004), World’s Most Successful President (2004), Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development (2005) and the American Bar Association-Asia Rule of Law Award (2003).
He received honorary Doctor of Law Degree from the Georgetown University on 25th May 2005, Honorary Doctorate from Nippon Sports Science University of Japan in June 2012, honorary Doctorate from American University of Afghanistan (2015) and Honorary PhD Degree from Shimla University of India (2002).
President Karzai has also been granted the first ever Honoris Causa Degree conferred by Lovely Professional University in India.
His grandfather, Khair Mohammad Khan, had served during Afghanistan’s war of independence and as the Deputy Speaker of the Senate. His father, Abdul Ahad Karzai, was a tribal elder and a significant national political figure, who served as member of Parliament and the Deputy Speaker of Parliament during the 1960s and early 1970s.
Karzai has six brothers and on sister. In 1999, he married Dr. Zeenat Quraishi. He has one son, Merwais and two daughters Malala and Nazo. He speaks Pashtu, Dari, Urdu and English fluently, and enjoys riding horses and studying philosophy.
In an historical event on 29th September 2014, the Transition of Power from H.E. President Karzai to his successor, H.E. President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani took place.
The people of Afghanistan believe this transition marked one of the peaceful transitions in the history of Afghanistan.
#احمدی
