Hamid Karzai

About Hamid Karzai

Hamid Karzai was born on December 24, 1957, in the village of Karz, near Kandahar, Afghanistan.

Hamid Karzai completed his primary education at Mahmood Hotaki Elementary School, the Afghan school Sayed Jamaluddin, and Habibia High School. After leaving high school, he traveled to India in 1976 through a student exchange program and was accepted at the University of Simla in the Master’s program for International Relations and Political Science. He graduated with his Master’s degree in 1983, shortly after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

Hamid Karzai went to Pakistan and joined the Mujahideen fighting against the Soviet invasion of his country. In 1985, he went to Lille, France, to attend a three-month journalism course. Upon returning to Pakistan, he became the Director of Information for the National Liberation Front led by Professor Sebghatullah Mujadidi. He later became the Deputy Director of its political office.

He left his position two years later and actively worked on creating a national Loya Jirga (Grand Council) when civil war broke out between two groups of Mujahideen. As a devout Muslim and dedicated patriot, he placed all his hopes for peace in a Loya Jirga. The Emergency Loya Jirga was created in 2002, followed by the Constitutional Loya Jirga in 2003.

In August 1999, Abdul Ahad Karzai, leading the resistance against the Taliban in Pakistan, was assassinated by the Taliban and their foreign allies. This tragedy did not shake the convictions of the Karzai family, and the son followed in his father’s footsteps in the fight against the Taliban.

His role as the head of the country was confirmed by the members of the Emergency Loya Jirga, who elected him President of the Transitional Government on June 13, 2002. In the first Afghan presidential elections on October 9, 2004, Hamid Karzai received the majority of votes and was elected President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan for a five-year term. He took his oath of allegiance on December 7, 2004, at the Salam Khana Palace, in the presence of many dignitaries and officials from around the world.

As president, Hamid Karzai is seen as a unifying force among all Afghans. He fights for human rights, particularly those of Afghan women. He has appointed several women to positions in his cabinet and even recently appointed the first female governor in the history of Afghanistan.

Hamid Karzai has received numerous awards. He was named a Knight of Honor by Queen Elizabeth of England in 2003 and received the Philadelphia Liberty Medal in 2004 and the American Bar Association-Asia Rule of Law Award in 2003.