By: Khaliq Ebrahimi
Translated By: Mohammad Rezaie
Arezo, 17, champion of Jujitsu athletic sports, has won 70 gold medals. She has won these medals in local, national and international contests.
Arezo started her career path from a ghetto in north of Kabul to big achievements. She is the main resident of Behsod district, Maidan Wardak province. She spent her childhood in Chahar Qala of wazirabad, Kabul. Hazaras form the majority of the residents of Chahar Qala of wazirabad, and has passed her path of success after one another.
Chahar Qala of wazirabad, contrary to its chick name, is a ghetto near Share Naw of Wazir Akbarkhan. Dusty streets and muddy houses of Chahar Qala of wazirabad, are the clear signs that show it is a real ghetto. But life has not been always here a misery, and it had happy moments the rich areas of Kabul may have seen few of them; Luckiness like freedom.
Arezo says her father and some of teachers have played a key role in her success. She does not say about freedom. But it is clear she had no problem to pursue her career from her family and community. Her father has never said “You are a daughter, and you should stay at home.” Or the people did not prevent her from going to sports clubs, but they encouraged her.
Arezo started skating beside her education when she was 5. She says she learned skating very soon and was member of Scate Zone of Kabul and practices in Skatistan of Kabul and then became a skate trainer. “Skate was good, Afghan government and international community supported it.” She said. She has worked for 9 years as a skate trainer.
Beside schooling and skating, Arezo started martial arts when she was 8. She practiced Taekwondo for a while, but certain barriers for girls in Afghanistan Athletic Federation disappointed her. The she joined Hafizullah Abbasi’s private club to practice Jujitsu.
Jujitsu is dubbed as mother of martial arts. Jujitsu is a Japanese classic sport that has a lot of fans today and they call it “Soft art” or ” the art of surrender”, but they say it technics are murderous. Jujitsu was not popular among girls and Arezo was one of the funs of Jujitsu in Afghanistan. Arezo has worked for 9 years in Jujitsu filed. She has participated in 70 sports events including clubs, national and international matches and she has won all the matches. Out of 70 medals, 10 medals are honorary medals. She has won them for her athletic ethics. She also has won 10 medals as the best Jujitsu fighter.
Arezo has missed several matches due to financial problems or younger age. She has not been able to participate in Emirates, India and Kazakhstan. She has participated in 15 expertise contests and five contests out of Afghanistan. Her last match was in May, 2022, which had some unexpected sideline issues.
She had participated in Karachi contest, as the representative of Afghanistan and defeated 3 athletes from Pakistan, Canada and the US and won a gold medal. Two days later, when she was returning from Karachi to Islamabad, Pakistan police detained her and her trainer. She was released after 7 hours but her trainer is imprisoned yet.
Arezo says, Pakistan highway police detained them in “Khaipor” between Karachi and Islamabad, due to not having legal documents while both of them had UNHCR registration documents. She says she has been released by mediation of UNHCR because under age but she is worried about her master because he may be deported from Pakistan.
She has lived alone for 9 months in Islamabad. But Pakistani clubs has not allowed her to practice in those clubs because she is a refugee and she only practiced under her master with limited facilities they had. She had been informed of Karachi contests vial social media networks and then had jointed it. Currently, Arezo’s family has joined her in Rawalpindi of Pakistan.
Though Arezo has never been defeated in sports contests, she has been defeated in other field; 15 August, 2021.
When the former corrupt officials fled Afghanistan and Kabul was seized by Taliban. She was in Dashte barchi, West of Kabul, and was getting ready to take part in a TV show. But she went home on foot. On the next day, she was going to Pakistan for a contest, but it was cancelled.
Later on, everything was cancelling. Arezo was in the 11 grade of Queen Soraya high school, but after passing some months, Taliban banned education of girls above grade 6. Later on, Arezo was banned from going to the sports club. Her teacher was threatened. But she practiced martial arts secretly. Then, one day Taliban came to their sports club, and too a written guarantee letter stating he will not accept girl pupils anymore. But they continued practicing martial arts.
Arezo says Pakistan contests were conducted after several months delay in Dere Ismail Khan. She won on 6, February 2022, a gold belt, the highest medal and raised the three-color flag of Afghanistan in the stadium. At that moment, she had forgotten the flag of Afghanistan was changed and raising the national flag of Afghanistan has severe consequences for her.
Out of 25 champions of Afghanistan only 4 of them participated in Pakistan contests; two boys and two girls. The two boys who had come earlier than Arezo and her master, had given Arezo and her master’s phone numbers to Taliban. “When I returned to Kabul, no body received me.” Arezo said. She was not only a disappointed champion in Kabul, but she was harassed and threatened by Taliban. “I and my master repeatedly received threatening calls. They told us why you participated as the representative of Afghanistan in the contest in Pakistan and why you raised the three-color national flag on the stage?” She denoted.
Arezo and her master only stayed in Kabul for 24 hours. Then, they left Kabul and went to Pakistan, the closest shelter to the refugees of Afghanistan. They faced new limitation as a refugee in Islamabad; including limitation in practicing martial arts and walking outside. Arezo says these limitations did not disappoint me and even when her migration case was rejected by Spain could not disappoint her. She is determined to take part in the next contest although she is alone and have no trainer.
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