Table of Biography
Zarifa Ghafari is one of the politicians of Afghanistan. Zarifa Ghafari served as the first female mayor of Maidan Shahr, the Afghan province of Wardak’s capital.
Early Life and Childhood
Zarifa Ghafari was born in 1994, in her birthplace, Kabul. Her age might be 29 or 30. She was the first-born daughter of Abdul Wasi Ghafari. Her father, Abdul was an Afghan Army colonel and commander in the Special Operations Corps. She holds Afghan nationality but her ethnicity is unknown. Likewise, she has altogether seven siblings but their details are not available.
Despite being forbidden from receiving an education, she went to a secret school. In 2001, education became legalized. After her father was transferred to work in Paktia, she was forced to return to Halima Khazan High School in secret. Considering that a student committed suicide at the school, her parents did not want her to go. She was later taken to the hospital after being injured in the bombing that murdered the province governor.
Life Story and Career
On November 5, 2020, the Taliban shot and killed her father in front of his home in Kabul. Ghafari was only able to enroll in Panjab University in Chandigarh, India, thanks to a scholarship. Because they did not want her to live alone while attending Shaikh Zayed University, her parents had already turned down her application. She had an economics degree and had the option to live in Chandigarh, but she chose to go back home.
Ghafari applied to be the mayor of Maidan Shahr, and after taking examinations, she was given the job ahead of other (male) applicants. In July 2018, she received a formal appointment from the country’s current President, Ashraf Ghani, to serve as Maidan Shahr’s mayor. At the age of 24, she was elected as Afghanistan’s youngest mayor, and a few outlets incorrectly identified Ghafari as the country’s first female mayor.
Caption: Zarifa Ghafari was on one of her programs
Source: Instagram
However, because of protests and threats from local politicians over her age and gender, her time as mayor of Maiden Shahr had to be postponed for nine months. There have been other female mayors in Afghanistan, although they often served in cities with more accepting local cultures. She had a position that was almost untenable in Wardak, a typically conservative region where the Taliban enjoy broad support.
She experienced harassment from a group of men who stormed her office on her first day as mayor and asked her to resign. After taking up her duties as mayor, she also received death threats from the Taliban and ISIL. In March 2019, Zarifa took the pledge of office as Maidan Shahr’s mayor. However, she lived in Kabul due to security concerns. Ghafari is an inspiration to other women since she was able to start a campaign against littering in her community.
More on her life and career
She escaped multiple attempted murders. On November 5, 2020, she made the following sentence after gunmen killed her father: “It is the Taliban. I’m not welcome in Maidan Shar, they say. That is the reason my dad was killed. Following the uncertainties created by the Taliban USA negotiations, she also made a specific request and appeal to Mike Pompeo, who was then serving as US Secretary of State, to protect the rights of women in Afghanistan.
Ghafari declared she would stay in the country in August 2021 as the Taliban advanced. I’m sitting here waiting for them to come,” she declared on August 15, 2021, following the Taliban’s capture of Kabul. Nobody is available to support my family or me. My spouse and I are just sitting next to them. And they’re going to come for me and kill me.” She and her partner, Bashir Mohammadi, as well as her mother, four brothers, and three sisters, fled Afghanistan after the Taliban took control of the country’s government in the middle of August 2021. On Wednesday, August 18, they arrived in Istanbul, Turkey.
More…..
Before deciding to leave Germany and go home, she lived in Bonn or Düsseldorf for six months. She spoke about it with her fiance, the Kabul police, a Netflix film crew, and her biographer before returning, counting on her online reputation to keep her safe. A picture of her at her father’s burial served as her first social media post.
She was only there for a few days, but she realized that, despite the security enhancements, women’s rights had been severely curtailed and they were no longer allowed in public spaces like parks and amusement parks. She was the subject of a documentary that Netflix aired in November 2022, and the Financial Times also had an interview with her.
Achievements
Ghafari has been included in BBC’s 2019 list of 100 important and inspiring women from around the world. The US Secretary of State selected Zarifa as an International Woman of Courage for 2020.
Personal Life
Her sexual orientation is straight. As for her marital status, she is a married woman. She married Bashir Mohammadi, a former Director of Information & Culture at the Ministry of Information & Culture in Afghanistan. However, there are no exact details about their wedding and married life. They are currently residents of Germany.
Caption: Zarifa Ghafari with her husband
Source: Getty Images
Zarifa Ghafari – Net Worth 2024
Zarifa might have earned a decent amount of money throughout her career and profession. However, there is no exact information about her earnings and net worth as of now.
Social Media
Coming to her social media activity, Zarifa Ghafari is quite active on Instagram and Twitter. Her Instagram account ‘@zarifa.ghafari’ has more than 8.7K followers and has shared 93 posts. Likewise, she joined Twitter in December 2014 and has more than 97.2K followers on her ‘@Zarifa_Ghafari’ account.
Zarifa Ghafari – Body Measurements
As for her physical appearance, Zarifa Ghafari has a well-maintained fit body personality. However, there are no details about her height, weight, waist size, dress size, shoe size, and so on. But looking at her pictures we can assume that she has a pair of brown eyes with stunning brown hair. Moreover, she always wears a scarf with her dress.
Caption: Zarifa Ghafari posing for a photo
Source: Instagram