The daughter of the fugitive Afghan president lives in New York: what she does

While women in Afghanistan are gripped by fear of a return to oppressive Taliban rule, the daughter of fugitive President Ashraf Ghani is living a bohemian life in New York. New York Post.

Mariam Ghani, 42, an artist and filmmaker, lives a bohemian lifestyle in her loft in Brooklyn. In stark contrast to the lives of women under the harsh control of the Taliban. Reporters met her outside her home in a luxurious building in the quiet, green area of ​​Clinton Hill on August 17, a few days after her father left the country to the Taliban. She refused to answer the reporter's questions.

Mariam doesn't know where her father is

Her disgraced father fled Afghanistan on Sunday 15 August. He left the presidential palace with his closest confidants. According to the Russian embassy in Kabul, he escaped with four cars and a helicopter full of cash. Initially, it was assumed that he fled to a neighboring country, for example, to Uzbekistan or Tajikistan, but on August 18 it became known that he was in the United Arab Emirates.

In a social media post from an unknown location, 72-year-old Ashraf Ghani stated that he fled to save lives.

“If I stayed, countless numbers of my compatriots would be tortured and Kabul would face destruction and ruin that could lead to human disaster for six million people,” he said.

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Politicians and experts say his sudden escape thwarted negotiations for a smooth transfer of power in Afghanistan. Therefore, the people of the country faced chaos and fears of a return to the brutal rule of a militant group.

On Monday, Mariam Ghani made a post on her Instagram page. She wrote: "She was angry, grieved and terribly afraid for the family, friends and colleagues who remained in Afghanistan." The woman then added that she "worked feverishly to do whatever was possible for them."

It is unclear if Ghani contacted her father or may not even know where he is.

Education and Career

Ashraf Ghani has worked in the Afghan government since 2002. Back then, Mariam, who was born in Brooklyn and raised in Maryland, was just starting her career in art, as well as her teaching career. Her father was elected President of Afghanistan in 2014 and then re-elected in 2019.

Since then, her work has been exhibited in some of the most famous museums in the world. Including the Guggenheim and MOMA in New York and the Tate Modern in London. In 2018, she attended Bennington College in Vermont.

Her first feature-length documentary, What We Left Unfinished, is about what was started and abandoned during the communist era in Afghanistan.

“I grew up at the intersection of cultures,” she said. "And this is the position from which I work as an artist."

"He was always a wonderful person"

Mariam Ghani has not publicly commented on her father's recent actions. In a 2015 New York Times article, she said she found it "wonderful."

“He was always a wonderful person,” Miriam said then, without going into details.

Before returning to Afghanistan in 2001, Ghani worked for the UN and the World Bank. He was a scholar and had a PhD from Columbia University of New York.

His wife Rula Ghani is from Lebanon. They raised two children - Mariam and Tarek - in Maryland. At the time, Ashraf was teaching at Johns Hopkins University. Mariam Ghani studied at New York University and the School of Fine Arts.

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In her Instagram post on Monday, Ghani did not mention the plight of Afghan women. The latter once again report that they are cut off from education and work or forced to marry Taliban fighters.

However, she provided resources for people willing to help the people of Afghanistan. Including through letters to elected officials in the United States and through volunteering. And also through donations to organizations that help refugees.

“To everyone who registered and expressed solidarity in recent days: thank you. It means a lot, ”she wrote.

“I am pretty burnt out, but I hope that at some point I will be able to answer all of you personally,” Ghani summed up.