E-MAIL THIS LINK
To: 

Joya Speech Breaks Wall of Silence
EFL
I think Afghanistan is going to be all right in the end.
Some call her a hero; some say she should be silenced. But the young female delegate from western Afghanistan who dared to call mujahedin leaders "criminals" has captivated her fellow citizens - even those who didn’t care much about the Constitutional Loya Jirga before. The speech of Malalai Joya, a 25-year-old delegate from Farah province, on the fourth day of the Loya Jirga was widely publicised, and now the public is clamouring to see photos of her.
One wonders what the Taliban did when it came to wanted posters.
Joya’s words caused a storm of controversy - not because her opinion was unusual, but because public criticism of jihadi leaders is rare and has always brought a severe backlash, including death threats.
Criticism of the murderers of innocents results in death threats. No surprise there.
But her speech, less than two minutes long, has broken through the wall of silence, and ordinary people now feel they can voice their criticism, too. Safia Shahab, a Kabuli in her mid-20s, said Joya is the leader of Afghan women. "Malalai’s speech was absolutely correct," she said. "These mujahedin blew Kabul city to pieces in the civil war."
That would be Hekmatyar, Islamically heroic former prime minister...
Mohammed Nasir, a 25-year-old resident of Khak-e-Jabar village near Kabul, is among Joya’s big fans after he heard about her speech on the radio. "If I get her picture, I will keep it with me, because she has pulled back the curtain to expose the facts," he said. Demonstrations have been held in support of Joya in several provinces, the BBC has reported.
Demonstrations against the jihadis in Afghanistan - this is surprising to me.
Some think so highly of Joya that they want to give her the title of "the second Malalai". Malalai is a famous 19th century Afghan woman who is credited with turning the tide in the battle of Maiwand, against the British. When the morning of the battle began with numerous casualties and Afghans began surrendering or running away, Malalai took up a sword to fight the British herself, singing an Afghan song, and inspired her countrymen to keep fighting.
The wahhabi deal doesn’t look like it’s any better of a fit for Afghanistan than communism was.
Joya’s foes, however, believe that her words were an offense to Islam and jihad.
Jihad was offended. Oh no. Maybe jihad should sample the decaf.
Abdul Halim Haqparast, 60, said that Joya be tried for saying such "rubbish, and insulting to Islam and mujahedin. She should be put on trial. And the court should be made off Ulemas [religious scholars].
Shouldn’t that be a jury of her peers? Guess they haven’t drafted that part yet.
"Any decision the Ulemas make should be implemented, so that other women don’t dare to do the same."
"Danged uppity wimmin!"
A student of Islamic law faculty at Kabul University, Sayed Afzel Sayidi, thinks that Malalai got it backwards, "The communists are the criminals who brought all this misfortune to our country - not the mujahedin. The mujahedin’s protection of our country’s daughters was a blessing, and they protected women from the evil of communists."
For 10 years I have protected my own daughter without making her where a full body gunny sack. So far so good. No communists have accosted her; we have kept her out of public schools.
While not directly using the words jihadis or mujahedin, Joya referred to some of the Loya Jirga delegates and leadership as criminals who "destroyed the country".
I guess she decided to forgo the appeasement option.
"They made our country the centre of national and international fighting," she said in her speech. "They were the people who put our country in its current condition, and want to again
. They should be tried in national and international courts. Even if our people forgive them, history will not." Her remarks caused some jihadi leaders to charge the stage, crying "Death to Communism!" and "Allahu Akbar [God is great]!"
I thought the Islamists were the fellow travelers of socialists and communists loke Arafat and Assad.
They are, whenever it suits them.
Loya Jirga chairman Sibghatullah Mujaddidi at first tried to remove Joya from the assembly, but backed down when other delegates objected. Joya was then asked to apologise, but she stood her ground and would not retract her accusations. Joya, who is staying with other delegates in the dorms of the Polytechnic near the Loya Jirga tent, has been given additional protection by the Afghan National Army and ISAF peacekeepers. The night of her speech, a group of men awakened the female delegates by shouting threats and calling her names. But security officials said they were not aware of any direct threats to Joya’s life.
Intimidation tactics? Does anyone remember the intimidation used by Hillary’s opponent in the race for the senate seat? Now that was some intimidation.
Sorry, Fred ran long - the rest was just incoherent remarks by her detractors. Edit as you like.
Posted by: Super Hose 2003-12-23
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=23243