Who Is Meena Asadi? Afghan Karate Champion Voicing Her Fear For Athletes

Who is Meena Asadi? The woman who fled from Afghanistan and established herself as a Karate champion in Indonesia starting a new life and hope for many other refugees.

While speaking about the Taliban capturing the country of Afghanistan and the post-takeover scenario, Meena Asadi told Reuters, "All the achievement and values are destroyed, and this would be a dark moment for the people, especially for women and girls." Asadi feels that "Everything is finished for women athletes".

Who is Meena Asadi?

• Meena Asadi is an Afghan karate champion who currently stays in Indonesia.
• Asadi had fled from Afghanistan when she was just 12 years of age. She went to Pakistan where she stayed for sometime and then returned to the capital city of Afghanistan, Kabul.
• After her return, she started training for karate and also represented Afghanistan in the 2010 South Asian Games.
• But she had to flee from the violence that erupted in Afghanistan soon after she opened her own fight club. Asadi left the country with her then 1-year-old daughter and husband. And the family ended up in Indonesia.
• She spoke about leaving her country and said, "I feel miserable. I lost my hope and the people of my country lost their hope, too."
• Meena Asadi had also been the only female athlete representing Afghanistan at the 2012 South Asian Karate Championship. She had won two Silver medals for her country.
• The 28-year-old has also been a member of the Afghanistan National Karate Federation.
• Asadi is now the founder of the Cisarua Refugee Karate Club in Indonesia. She spoke about her passion for Karate and said, "When I saw that boys could do sports freely, I wondered why I could not do the same. Why should being a girl stop me from doing sports and other social activities?"
• Even though the Taliban has assured Afghans that women and girls would have the right to work and education under Islamic law, Meena Asadi along with many others is sceptical.