Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday said Afghans had broken the chains of slavery, as he spoke about how cultural imposition was tantamount to ‘mental slavery’.

The premier was addressing a ceremony in Islamabad on the launch of the Single National Curriculum.

The Prime Minister said shackles of mental slavery still existed. “A slave mind can’t work progressively, therefore mental slavery is more dangerous than the actual [physical] one.”

“I had the wish that the country had single curriculum for the last 25 years, however, people told me it was an impossible task,” said Khan, adding the British rulers had divided the people of country in two sections for the purpose of governing the state.

He further said in the past children who belonged to the elite class studied in English-medium schools and those who didn't couldn’t go in the Civil Services of Pakistan.

In his view, the prime minister said: “We did a great injustice to our people after Partition by not implementing a single curriculum across the country.”

Khan further said differences in education has led to a “difference of thoughts”, adding those who were getting benefits from the system couldn’t want to change it.

In his address, the prime minister said that he had to face challenges as the SNC was being implemented in the country, however, “I am determined to take a big step.”

“A person who imitates others can be a good slave, however, he can’t make progress,” said the premier, adding Afghans had broken the shackles of slavery. But the shackles of mental slavery are still intact, he added.

As prime minister spoke, reports emerged from Kabul of five people being shot at Kabul airport as they tried to get on to an evacuation plane. Later in the afternoon it was reported that three stowaways fell to their death from an airborne US military plane.

On Sunday, Taliban claimed to be in control of Afghanistan having defeated the US-installed Ashraf Ghani government.

The Prime Minister is expected to address the situation in Afghanistan in a national security meeting on Monday.