Malalai Joya

Malalai Joya (ملالۍ جویا) (born 25 April 1978) is an activist, writer, and a politician from Afghanistan.

Joya was born on 25 April 1978, in the Farah Province, in western Afghanistan.

Her father was a former medical student who lost a leg while fighting in the Soviet–Afghan War.

In 1982, when she was 4 years old, her family fled Afghanistan to live as refugees in neighboring Iran.

She got involved in humanitarian work while in eighth grade."'I started working as an activist when I was very young, grade 8. When I started working amongst our people, especially women, it was so enjoyable for me. I learned a lot from them, even though they were not educated. Before I started, I want to tell you, I didn't know anything about politics. I learned from people who were non-educated, non-political people who belonged to a political situation. I worked with different committees in the refugee camps. I remember that in every house that I went everyone had different stories of suffering. I remember one family we met. Their baby was just skin and bones. They could not afford to take the baby to a doctor, so they had to just wait for their baby to die. I believe that no movie maker, no writer is able to write about these tragedies that we have suffered. Not only in Afghanistan, but also Palestine, Iraq…The children of Afghanistan are like the children of Palestine.

They fight against enemies with only stones.

These kinds of children are my heroes and my heroines.'"

Joya returned to Afghanistan in 1998, during the Taliban's reign.

As a young woman she worked as a social activist and was named a director of the non-governmental group, in the western provinces of Herat and Farah.

She is married, but has not revealed the name of her husband due to fear for his safety.

Malalai Joya gained international attention when, as an elected delegate to the Loya Jirga convened to ratify the Constitution of Afghanistan, she spoke out publicly against the domination of warlords on 17 December 2003.

My name is Malalai Joya from Farah Province.

By the permission of the esteemed attendees, and by the name of God and the colored-Shroud martyrs of the path of freedom, I would like to speak for a couple of minutes.

My criticism on all my compatriots is that why are they allowing the legitimacy and legality of this Loya Jerga come under question with the presence of those felons who brought our country to this state.

I feel pity and I feel very sorry that those who call Loya Jirga an infidel—basically equivalent to blasphemy.

After coming here their words are accepted, or please see the committees and what people are whispering about.

The chairman of every committee is already selected.

Why do you not take all these criminals to one committee so that we see what they want for this nation?

These were those who turned our country into the nucleus of national and international wars.

They were the most anti-women people in the society who wanted to [makes pause] who brought our country to this state and they intend to do the same again.

I believe that it is a mistake to test those already being tested.

They should be taken to national and international court.

If they are forgiven by our people, the bare-footed Afghan people, our history will never forgive them.

They are all recorded in the history of our country.

Some delegates applauded her speech, but others turned to shock and dissatisfaction, including the chief of the Loya Jirga, Sibghatullah Mojaddedi who called her "infidel" and "communist", and ordered her out of the assembly.

Some delegates were heard shouting death threats.

After some representatives intervened her expulsion, Joya returned to the assembly, but refused to apologize after being asked by Mojadeddi.

She served as a Parliamentarian in the National Assembly of Afghanistan from 2005 until early 2007, after being dismissed for publicly denouncing the presence of warlords and war criminals in the Afghan Parliament.

She was an outspoken critic of the Karzai administration and its western supporters, particularly the United States.

World Pulse Magazine (issue 1, 2005) wrote:

When her time came to make her 3-minute statement, she tugged her black headscarf over her hair, stepped up to the microphone, and with emotional electricity made the speech that would alter her life.

After she spoke, there was a moment of stunned silence.

Then there was an uproar.

Male mujahideen, some who literally had guns at their feet, rushed towards her, shouting.

She was brought under the protection of UN security forces.

Her suspension in May 2007 generated protest internationally and appeals for her reinstatement were signed by high-profile writers, intellectuals such as Noam Chomsky, and politicians including members of parliament from Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, and Spain.

She was called "the bravest woman in Afghanistan" by the BBC.

In 2010, Time magazine placed Malalai Joya on their annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world.

Foreign Policy Magazine listed Malalai Joya in its annual list of the Top 100 Global Thinkers.

On 8 March 2011, The Guardian listed her among "Top 100 women: activists and campaigners".