Meena (1956–1987)
Meena (1956–1987)
Afghan women's-rights activist and resistance leader. Born Feb 27, 1956, in Kabul, Afghanistan; assassinated Feb 4, 1987, in Quetta, Pakistan; attended a French school; married a doctor (killed, 1986); children: daughter and twins.
Social activist, was dedicated to organizing and educating women; founded the Revolutionary Afghan Women's Association (RAWA, 1977) to work for democracy and social justice; began campaigning against Russian forces and their fundamentalist puppet regime (1979); launched bilingual magazine Payam-e-Zan (Women's Message, 1981); established Watan Schools for refugee children and a center in Pakistan where women could support themselves by selling handicrafts; represented the Afghan resistance movement at the French Socialist Party Congress; after husband was killed by fundamentalists (1986), fled to Pakistan where she continued RAWA's work in refugee camps; abducted and assassinated by agents of KHAD (Afghanistan branch of KGB), with help from fundamentalists. Her organization, RAWA, later took a stand against the Taliban's abuse of women.
See also Melody Ermachild Chavis, Meena: Heroine of Afghanistan (2003).