Karzai was responding to a question from the female-dominated audience in Kabul asking why his wife Zenat -- a gynaecologist with whom Karzai has a four-year-old son, but who is rarely seen in public -- was not with him.
"I am oppressed at home, you can ask," he said. "The authority is hers. She had the choice to come or not. Had I forced her to come, that would not have been good."
Elsewhere in his speech, Karzai urged Afghan clerics and tribal elders to promote non-violence against women, which he said was in line with the principles of Islam and the Afghan constitution.
Afghanistan has a poor record on women`s rights and Karzai`s government has recently faced criticism from groups such as Amnesty International after announcing plans to give officials the power to control women`s shelters.
Afghan society is still strongly male-dominated, with men the decision-makers in family life, many women still wearing the burqa, and forced marriages common.
However, the picture has improved since the time of the Taliban, when women were banned from leaving the house without a male relative and could not go to school or work.
(U.C003/P003)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
