The deputy Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, Din Mohammad Haqbin, claimed that "95 percent" of the population of Afghanistan do not want women to work in the society.

Deputy Minister Din Mohammad Haqbin in an interview with TOLOnews said that the Islamic Emirate in a decree is creating opportunities for widows to work.

“Out of 100 percent, 95 percent of Afghans do not want their women to go to work. Only five percent of the people are making statements on (women work's), and they are trained by the foreigners, but these claims are inaccurate,” he said.

A women’s rights activist, Suraya Paikan, said women’s access to work benefits the society.

“It is needed for women to have access to work. On one hand they can serve the people and society and on the other hand, women have the right to be property owners based on the decree of the Quran. The women could be the owners of property, when they have income,” she said.

Haqbin said that other countries should not interfere in the issue of women’s access to work.

“Why are they interfering in this issue? Every country has its own tradition, religion and law. It is even stated in the UN law that every religion should be respected. We don’t want westerners to impose their laws on us,” he said.

Haqbin also said that hundreds of thousands of widows need urgent aid in the country.

“The Islamic Emirate leader, in a new decree, ordered us to provide work for widows and we have a program to provide work for 1,000 of these women,” he said.

Haqbin stressed that with the implementation of an agreement between Qatar, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, 55,000 workers will be provided with jobs.

Note: The previous version of this story mistakenly said the position of Din Mohammad Haqbin was "Deputy Minister of Public Works."