'Dark Moment Especially For Women': Afghan Karate Champion On Taliban Recapture

Meena Asadi, the karate champion from Afghanistan, fears for the female athletes of her country as the Taliban has gained control of her country.

Talking to Reuters, Asadi said,"I feel miserable. I lost my hope and the people of my country lost their hope, too." She is currently in Cisarua, near Jakarta in Indonesia.

As the militant organisation has violated human rights in the past by executing many civilians, Asadi has little hopes for the future. She said,  "All the achievement and values are destroyed, and this would be a dark moment for the people, especially for women and girls."

The 28-year-old, is a member of the Hazara minority. She had fled Afghanistan when she was 12-year-old. After reaching Pakistan, she advanced in her Karate career as she represented Afghanistan at the South Asian Games in 2010.

She made her way to Afghanistan after that but had to leave again because of the rampant violence in the country. It was then when she left for Indonesia with her husband and her infant daughter.

In Cisarua, she reportedly gives karate lessons to refugees. She was the only female athlete representing Afghanistan at the 2012 South Asian Karate Championship, she won two silver medals. Asadi believes "Everything is finished for women athletes". Her fears are not completely baseless.

Zakia Khudadadi who was going to be the first female athlete at Tokyo paralympics 2021 was not able to leave Kabul. In her statement, she had said, "I’m not losing hope yet. I still have hope that somebody out there will help."

The current state of Afghanistan reminds the country of the Taliban rule during 1996-2001. It was a time when women were not allowed to work in the country, they were not allowed to go to school. They were forced to cover their faces and were only able to step out of their houses with male companions.

The Taliban has maintained that they will not repeat the same this time. The spokesperson of the militant organisation gave his statement and said that women will be allowed to work and they will have rights under the sharia law.

However, there have been reports of violence against women in the country. A female journalist,  , working at RTA Pashto channel was asked to not come to work after the Taliban entered Kabul on August 15.

Meena Asaid said, "They (taliban) are the extremist party, and they don't believe in human rights or rights of women."

"They will never change ... they are the same Taliban."