Bangladesh Nobel laureate Yunus named chief adviser of interim government

PARIS: Zakia Khudadadi has spent most of her life breaking glass ceilings. Or rather, breaking them with a sidekick.
The Paralympic taekwondo competitor made history in Tokyo in 2021 when she became the first Afghan woman to compete in an international sporting event since the Taliban regained control of her country following the withdrawal of US and NATO troops after 20 years of war.
Due to the rise of the Taliban, she was initially excluded from participation, but was later evacuated from Afghanistan at the request of the international community and was allowed to compete for her country.
At the 2024 Paralympics, which are part of the larger Olympic competitions in Paris, Khudadadi says she is competing on behalf of the women in her country who have gradually had their rights taken away over the past three years.
“It's hard for me because I would love to compete under the flag of my country,” she said. But “the lives of all girls and women in Afghanistan are forbidden. It's over. Today I'm here in Paris to win a medal for them. I want to show strength to all women and girls in Afghanistan.”
Khudadadi is competing for the refugee Paralympic team, while other athletes, such as Olympic sprinter Kimia Yousofi, are aiming to win medals under the Afghan flag. Yousofi's parents fled during the former Taliban rule and she was born and raised in neighboring Iran. She said she wants to represent her country, with all its flaws, and “be the voice of Afghan girls.”
Khudadadi started taekwondo at age 11, training secretly at a gym in her hometown of Herāt because there were simply no other options for women to safely practice sports. Despite the closed culture around her, her family was open and urged her to get active, Khudadadi said.
Her disability makes it difficult for her to remain competitive in Afghanistan, she said.
Although the country has “one of the world's highest per capita populations of people with disabilities” due to the conflict, according to Human Rights Watch, people with disabilities are often marginalized and excluded from Afghan society. Women are often disproportionately affected.
Khudadadi was born without a forearm and said she spent her life hiding her arm. It wasn't until she started competing that this began to change.
“Before I started playing sports, I protected my arm a lot. But little by little… I started to show my arm, but only in the club. Only in competitions,” she said.
When she started competing, she felt the stigma begin to melt away. Taekwondo once again became her path to freedom and in 2016 she attracted attention when she won an international medal for the first time.
That changed five years later, when the Taliban experienced a dramatic rise to power following the Biden administration's withdrawal from Afghanistan. While he prepared for Tokyo, Khudadadi was stuck in the country's capital, Kabul.
The International Paralympic Committee had originally declared that the Afghan team would not participate in the 2021 Games “due to the serious situation in the country.” But in order to still be able to take part in the Games, Khudadadi released a video asking the international community for help.
“I urge all of you, women around the world, women's protection institutions and all government organizations, not to allow an Afghan citizen in the Paralympic movement to have her rights taken away so easily,” she said. “I do not want my struggle to be in vain.”
She was evacuated to Tokyo for competitions in 2021, leaving her family behind.
This made her the first Afghan Paralympian in almost two decades. In 2023, she won gold at the European Paralympics.
After fleeing Afghanistan, she settled in Paris, but said she longed for the mix of cultures that characterized her country and the openness of the people strolling through the busy streets of Kabul.
“I hope that one day I can return to Afghanistan, to Kabul, to live a shared life in freedom and peace,” she said.
Thousands of kilometers away, in Khudadadi's hometown of Herat, 38-year-old Shah Mohammad supported Khudadadi and other Afghan athletes in Paris.
“We are happy for the Afghan women who went to the Olympics, but my wish is that one day women from Afghanistan themselves can participate in the Games and be the voice of the country's women,” Mohammad said.
But this day is unlikely to happen anytime soon.
The Taliban have excluded women from much of public life and prevented girls from studying beyond sixth grade, part of the harsh measures they have imposed since 2021 despite initially promising a more moderate rule. Just in January, the United Nations said the Taliban are now restricting Afghan women's access to work, travel and health care if they are unmarried or do not have a male guardian.
Not only have they banned the sport for women and girls, but they have also intimidated and harassed those who once practiced it.
But even before the Taliban returned to power, women's sport was met with rejection in the country's deeply conservative society, as it was seen as a violation of women's modesty and their role in society.
Nevertheless, the previous Western-backed government had implemented programs to promote women's sports as well as school clubs, leagues and national teams.
For Khudadadi, the IOC Refugee Team has helped her and other athletes who fled their countries to continue their careers. The Paralympian trains long hours with the goal of winning a gold medal in Paris and is deeply frustrated as she watches progress for women in her country slip away and Afghanistan once again disappear from the world spotlight.
A question is brewing in Khudadadi’s mind: “Why has the world forgotten Afghan women?”
For others, like 43-year-old Mohammad Amin Sharifi, it was a joy to watch Khudadadi and other Afghan Olympians – especially the women – in Paris.
“We must now raise the voice of Afghan women in every possible way and the Olympic Games are the best place to do that,” said Sharifi from Kabul. “We are happy and proud of the women who represent the Afghan people.”