Meet Afghanistan's bravest woman

Malalai Joya: "I come from a land of tragedy called Afghanistan." (Danny Abriel photo)

“I come from a land of tragedy called Afghanistan.”

The road that took Malalai Joya halfway around the world to Canada is long, winding and full of struggle. At age 29, Ms. Joya is the youngest member of the Afghan Parliament and has paid a high price for her outspokenness. She visited Dalhousie on Thursday as part of her visit to Canada, sharing her strong views on her homeland with politicians and citizens alike.

Ms. Joya has been referred to by the BBC as “the bravest woman in Afghanistan.” Not only has she survived four assassination attempts on her life and is forced to travel with bodyguards in her own country, but she was expelled from the parliament this past May under questionable pretences for accusing its members of being enemies of the people of Afghanistan. She argues the government is largely controlled by local warlords that come from a fundamentalist background and show little regard for human rights and the status of women.

“They are like a photocopy of the Taliban,” she said. “The Afghan people are like a sandwich between the Taliban and this warlord government.”

Alongside access to water and electricity, security tops Ms. Joya’s list of concerns for her country, especially among women. She argues in some ways the condition of women is now “worse than ever,” especially in the regions of the country outside of the major cities. She said incidents of young women being kidnapped and raped are becoming more common, and shared a particularly distressing story of an 11-year-old girl being ransomed in exchange for a dog. She also noted a growing suicide rates among young women.

As part of her two-day visit to Nova Scotia, Ms. Joya was scheduled to meet with several local MPs, including Alexa McDonough, Geoff Regan and Mike Savage. She planned to urge them to distance Canada’s foreign policy from that of the United States, which she said was “a mockery of democracy,” and instead support Afghanistan men and women fighting for freedom from all oppression. “We need your moral and material support, as much as you can give,” she argued.

Ms. Joya emphasized she would continue to speak out about the injustices in her country, even if it means her continued exile from parliament and further threats on her life: “Telling the truth, there’s no need to apologize.”

Ms. Joya’s visit to Nova Scotia was made possible thanks to support from Dalhousie’s Lester Pearson International office, along with the Departments of Women’s Studies and International Development Studies. It was organized by a number of local social justice and community organizations including the Halifax Peace Coalition, the Students Coalition Against War, and the Nova Scotia Public Interest Research Group.