[D66] The courage to say no to misogyny

[Antid Oto]

http://rabble.ca/news/2012/10/shooting-14-year-old-malala-yousafzai-disgusting-attempt-silence-girl-who-condemned-mis

'The courage to say no to misogyny': Statement on the attack against 
14-year-old Malala Yousafzai

BY MALALAI JOYA	 | OCTOBER 13, 2012


Malala Yousafzai remains in hospital after being shot in the head by 
members of a faction of the Taliban in Pakistan. Only 14, Yousafzai 
received international notoriety soon after her "Diary of a Pakistani 
Schoolgirl" was published by the BBC in 2009.
Owais Tohid, writing for the Christian Science Monitor, reported that 
young Malala was motivated by another women's rights activist with the 
same namesake:
"The first time I met Malala, a couple of years ago, I asked her what 
her name signified. She answered: 'Probably, a hero like the Afghan 
heroine Malalai [of Maiwand] or Malalai Joya. I want to be a social 
activist and an honest politician like her,' she said, smiling. Ms. 
Joya, a 30-something activist, politician, and writer who was bitterly 
critical of both the Taliban and the Karzai regime, was at one point 
dubbed the bravest woman of Afghanistan."

Malalai Joya, now 34, has survived numerous assassination attempts and 
in 2007 was suspended from the Afghan Parliament because of her 
criticisms of warlords, fundamentalists and the NATO occupation of 
Afghanistan. Joya sent rabble.ca the following statement on the shooting 
of Yousafzai.

On the attack against 14-year-old Malala Yousafzai

Once again we see a crime against women by dark-minded and brutal 
fundamentalists. Malala Yousafzai was shot by Pakistani Taliban because 
she did not remain silent about the ongoing crimes and brutalities 
against women; because, despite her young age, she had the consciousness 
to stand for her rights and say 'no' to the terrorism and misogyny of 
the creatures of the Stone Age.
I strongly condemn this disgraceful act of targeting an innocent 
14-year-old girl. This is the real nature of Afghan and Pakistani 
fundamentalist Taliban. These dirty rascals pose as 'manly' but this 
heinous crime shows how unmanly and disgusting they are to kill a 
defenseless young girl.

Malala was targeted because, in her limited capacity, she wanted to 
inform the world about the brutalities going on against women by 
extremists. She wanted to wake up the women of the rural areas of 
Pakistan to stand up and defend their due rights.
This was a warning for those who only understand the language of the 
gun. This cowardly attack on her proves that these medieval-minded 
groups are aware of the potential power of awakened women and are afraid 
that she may become a role model for many more women. So they tried to 
stop her in the very beginning. But it was a failed attempt because, 
across Pakistan and around the whole world, people are on Malala’s side 
and they are condemning her enemies.
The world should know that the West, and in particular the U.S. 
government, have nurtured, supported and armed these dirty inhuman bands 
for the past three decades. They should know that still in our 
unfortunate Afghanistan, the U.S. and NATO rely on brothers-in-creed of 
the Taliban -- the Northern Alliance warlords such as Qanooni, Fahim, 
Ismael Khan, Atta Mohammad, Abdullah, Sayyaf, Mohaqiq, Khalili and 
others -- who have made life a torture for Afghan women. They should 
know that Karzai's puppet regime is calling the murderer Taliban 
“brothers” and trying to share power with this anti-humanity band of 
killers.

I send my salutations to Malala Yousafzai and am sure that her great 
sacrifice will not be in vain. She marks the shining pages of history 
while her enemies will soon go into the dustbin of history.

Malalai Joya, now 34, was the youngest woman elected to the Afghan 
Parliament in 2005. Joya's book, A Woman Among Warlords, was co-written 
with Vancouver-based activist and rabble.ca editor Derrick O'Keefe.