Time magazine has named her one of the hundred most influential individuals of 2010. The Guardian has named her one of the strongest women activists of our time. In Afghanistan’s Parliament, however, she is named a prostitute.
But last week, author Malalai Joya, who was due on a three-week international tour to promote her recently published book “A Woman Among Warlords,” was denied a visa to the United States on the grounds that she was “unemployed and living underground.”
Joya, an author who is forced to wear a burka in Afghanistan to protect herself from those after her life, however, believes there were other reasons for the denial of her entry into the United States.
“I believe there is a political motive behind it as I have always criticized the U.S.,” said Joya in an e-mail to The Epoch Times on Friday. Joya added that she was scheduled to give a joint presentation with leftist author Noam Chomsky, who is also critical of U.S. war policies.
“While the majority of [the] U.S. public opposes the Afghan war, the White House for sure doesn’t want the U.S. public to hear directly from an anti-war Afghan activist,” said Joya.
Joya was due at Harvard University on March 25 to speak along side M.I.T. linguist and longtime political activist Noam Chomsky in support of withdrawing U.S. troops from Afghanistan.
Joya has gone where few others have dared. As a former female member of the Afghani Parliament she stood in front of hundreds of men and openly denounced the “warlords and drug lords” who overtook political power in Afghanistan’s Parliament following the U.S. occupation of the country; an act, which she knew would place her life in danger.
Her public denouncement of the current political system and war in Afghanistan have made her the target of five assassination attempts, brutal name calling and assaults, and resulted in her suspension from the Afghani Parliament.
But Joya refuses to back down.
“My dream is to see an independent, democratic and secular Afghanistan free from all kinds of fundamentalist germs,” Joya said. “My tours around the world especially to the U.S. and other countries that have sent troops to my country is mainly to let the people know that their troops, led by the U.S., are not helping Afghan people but making their life even more miserable by backing a government full of criminal and corrupt warlords and drug lords.”
But last week, author Malalai Joya, who was due on a three-week international tour to promote her recently published book “A Woman Among Warlords,” was denied a visa to the United States on the grounds that she was “unemployed and living underground.”
Joya, an author who is forced to wear a burka in Afghanistan to protect herself from those after her life, however, believes there were other reasons for the denial of her entry into the United States.
“I believe there is a political motive behind it as I have always criticized the U.S.,” said Joya in an e-mail to The Epoch Times on Friday. Joya added that she was scheduled to give a joint presentation with leftist author Noam Chomsky, who is also critical of U.S. war policies.
“While the majority of [the] U.S. public opposes the Afghan war, the White House for sure doesn’t want the U.S. public to hear directly from an anti-war Afghan activist,” said Joya.
Joya was due at Harvard University on March 25 to speak along side M.I.T. linguist and longtime political activist Noam Chomsky in support of withdrawing U.S. troops from Afghanistan.
Joya has gone where few others have dared. As a former female member of the Afghani Parliament she stood in front of hundreds of men and openly denounced the “warlords and drug lords” who overtook political power in Afghanistan’s Parliament following the U.S. occupation of the country; an act, which she knew would place her life in danger.
Her public denouncement of the current political system and war in Afghanistan have made her the target of five assassination attempts, brutal name calling and assaults, and resulted in her suspension from the Afghani Parliament.
But Joya refuses to back down.
“My dream is to see an independent, democratic and secular Afghanistan free from all kinds of fundamentalist germs,” Joya said. “My tours around the world especially to the U.S. and other countries that have sent troops to my country is mainly to let the people know that their troops, led by the U.S., are not helping Afghan people but making their life even more miserable by backing a government full of criminal and corrupt warlords and drug lords.”
