Hamid Karzai
Born on December 24, 1957 to an eminent family of the Pashtun people’s Popalzai tribe in the Kandahar region of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, is one of the world’s most prominent liberation leaders. As a child, Hamid Karzai attended several schools in Kandahar, as well as in the country’s capital city, Kabul. After that, Hamid went out of the country to study in other parts of the world including Simla, India.
Hamid Karzai played a significant role for his native land in the 1980s. He served as an advisor and diplomat during the Soviet Union’s Afghanistan invasion. With that, he was able to win the loyalty of the holy warriors, or the Mujahideen, the group responsible for expelling Soviet power from Afghanistan.
During the post-cold war period, Hamid Karzai became the deputy foreign minister for Afghanistan from 1992 up until 1994. But not long after the country’s autonomy was secured, internal problems started to sprout in Afghanistan as local political warlords began to compete for power. Once again, Hamid Karzai’s diplomatic skills and expertise in the political scheme of things became an important tool for the leaders of his country. In order to ensure peace in the country, Hamid Karzai was offered the position of ambassador for the United Nations.
A few years later, Hamid Karzai took over his father’s position as the Khan of the Popalzai tribe, right after he was allegedly assassinated by the agents of a certain opposing political movement. Upon taking over the position, Hamid Karzai became the most visible leader of resistance against the Taliban movement. He immediately expressed his defiance against both the Taliban and Pakistani governments by bringing along a convoy of tribal mourners to bury his father in Kandahar, which happened to be a stronghold of the Taliban.
Hamid Karzai became the President of Afghanistan in June 2002 after the Loya Jirga elected him into the position. He became the first Afghanistan president to be directly elected into office in September 2004. Through his new position, Hamid Karzai continued his mission of rebuilding and reuniting Afghanistan.