The Martlet

An outspoken NATO critic, once described as “the bravest woman in Afghanistan,” labeled the Canadian Prime Minister “the warlord of Canada,” last week at UVic.

Malalai Joya, former Afghan Member of Parliament and founder of multiple humanitarian projects in that country, spoke at UVic on Nov. 15 to promote her memoir, A Woman Among Warlords: The Extraordinary Story of an Afghan who Dared to Raise Her Voice.

At the lecture, Joya detailed the existing struggles of Afghan people and her own notorious opposition to the NATO presence there. She said that NATO allies like the U.S. and Canada are bombing Afghan civilians and supporting corrupt warlords.

Her open criticisms of Canadian foreign policy were well received by the audience, a mixture of over 300 students and concerned citizens.

“Right now, Canada is a tool … in the hand of the U.S. government because they follow the same policy,” said Joya.

After booing a man who requested documented proof that the U.S. was giving money to Afghan warlords, the crowd cheered Joya’s statement: “Who is Harper? The warlord of Canada.”

Joya asserted that Harper remains silent while criminal men like “small Bush,” Hamid Karzai, remain in power.

“He wastes the blood of your soldiers. He wastes the tax-payers’ money,” she said.

Rape is still present in Afghanistan and domestic violence is increasing rapidly. The only difference between the Taliban and what Afghans have now, “is that all of these crimes are happening under the name of democracy, women’s rights, human rights,” said Joya.

“Day by day they are making legal their crimes,” she said.

Following the 9-11 attacks, NATO troops began their occupation in Afghanistan to remove Taliban forces from power and establish a democracy.

At that time, the country had already been the scene of a civil war for more than 20 years, after a communist coup in 1978 led to an occupation, which lasted from 1979 to 1989. Joya said that she and other Afghan people view the presence of NATO troops as another foreign occupation.

“Now my people (are) squashed between two powerful enemies: from the sky, occupation forces bombing and killing civilians, most of them women and children. On the ground, Taliban and warlords,” she said.

Joya said that, to reduce the number of enemies, Afghan people must fight, while Canada, the U.S. and other NATO allies must end occupation, stop arming the warlords and Taliban, support the “justice-loving, democratic-minded people of Afghanistan,” and put pressure on neighbouring countries that support the Taliban and warlords.

“We need support of good policy makers who are in power, members of the parliament, democratic members of the parliament, democratic ministers in the government, also peace-loving activists,” she said.

In addition to her four criteria, Joya said that U.S. President Barak Obama must “apologize to my people, end this occupation and, first of all, he must try to send this criminal [George W.] Bush to the International Criminal Court for the war crimes.”

Although she opposes NATO financial contributions to the current Afghan government, Joya recognizes the need for support from citizens of NATO countries.

“No questions, we need a helping hand, but by no means do we want occupation,” she said.

The 31-year-old social activist first caught the attention of a global audience in 2003, when the BBC named her “the bravest woman in Afghanistan.” It is a fitting title for a woman who continuously speaks out against the presence of warlords and human rights violators in the Afghan government, and who has survived several assassination attempts.

After becoming the youngest person elected to parliament, Joya was suspended from her position two years later, in 2007, when she publicly stated that Afghan parliament was worse than a zoo or a stable.

She has since been a guest on broadcast networks such as CNN and Northwest Public Radio, sending her criticisms of NATO presence in her country through international airwaves.

“A longing for freedom beats in every Afghan’s heart, and we have eventually repelled every foreign occupier,” said Joya in her memoir. “This is something the U.S. government might consider, as it rains bombs on our villages in the name of liberating us.”