The Bravest Woman in Afghanistan
Pascarella, Matt
The Bravest Woman in Afghanistan By Matt Pascarella Illustration by Johanna Goodman In September 2005, Danish filmmaker Eva Mulvad and her crew set off for the Farah province in southwestern...
...He said ugly things to me," Rahela says to Joya, "and he told me, 'If I catch you, I'll shoot you.'" Joya wipes tears from Rahela's face and assures her, "He can't hurt you...
...In one instance, Rahela, a fifth-grade girl, and her family arrive at Joya's campaign office to plead for help because an old man who sells opium is trying to force Rahela to marry him...
...She doesn't deserve to be here...
...And yet, according to Joya, rather than live up to that rhetoric, the U.S...
...Joya, who understandably travels with a phalanx of security around her, is even more compelling a figure in person than on film...
...Matt Pascarella is a freelance journalist and producer based in New York City...
...Rather than create Joya as a larger-than-life, heroic character through testimonials and talking heads, Enemies of Happiness shows a more subtle, accessible, and realistic Joya as she interacts with potential constituents and tries to help those in her province who face serious problems, such as forced marriages, drug addictions, hunger, and domestic abuse...
...Guards, throw her out...
...Their mission: To document the tumultuous, perilous, and ultimately, historic campaign of Malalai Joya in the days leading up to Afghanistan's pathbreaking parliamentary election...
...Several of these are in the cabinet of Hamid Karzai...
...Despite the efforts to silence Joya, she continued to organize women and families throughout Farah and, in 2005, ran for office...
...the chairman of the assembly banned Joya from the meeting...
...She responds that the warlords "might be forgiven by the Afghan people, but not by history...
...Following her statements to the council, four attempts were made to assassinate her...
...They oppress women and have ruined our country...
...And it is like an unconscious body taking its last breath...
...Ironically, Joya's mission to take on the warlords and the drug lords, to promote democracy and women's rights, appears to echo the rhetoric of the Bush Administration...
...It has now been almost six years since the United States invaded Afghanistan with the promise of building a democratic state and liberating women...
...Enemies of Happiness ends somewhat abruptly with her winning the election and taking office...
...She then takes Rahela and her family in a van and they report this man to the police, who issue a warrant for his arrest...
...in April...
...speech, Joya named names and then asked: "How can we talk about democracy when our legislative, judicial, and executive bodies are infected with the viruses of fundamentalism and drug mafia...
...Joya, who was born in 1979, became an international figure in 2003 following a national meeting of the Grand Council of tribal leaders...
...If anyone deserves a sequel, Malalai Joya does...
...It was at this constitutional assembly where she fearlessly confronted council members, stating, "Why would you allow criminals to be present at this Loya Jirga...
...The country is now one of the largest narco-states in the world, accounting for 92 percent of the world's opium production...
...The Bravest Woman in Afghanistan By Matt Pascarella Illustration by Johanna Goodman In September 2005, Danish filmmaker Eva Mulvad and her crew set off for the Farah province in southwestern Afghanistan...
...As people tell her why they are supporting her in the upcoming election, the film shows us who Joya really is and what she has come to represent for so many throughout Afghanistan...
...In her LA...
...Enemies of Happiness, which won a Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival this year, opens with this footage of the assembly...
...I am sorry to tell you, Afghanistan is still chained in the fetters of the fundamentalist warlords," Joya said in a speech in LA...
...They are warlords responsible for our country's situation...
...They should be prosecuted...
...Shouting, "Send her out...
...government is actively supporting high-ranking officials who have been accused of corruption, drug trafficking, and war crimes, including mass murders...
...He already has two wives and thirteen children...
...Don't cry...
...Yet, perhaps more importantly, it is within these vignettes where we learn of the pain and suffering people are enduring, the horrendous conditions of daily life, and the hope for the future that so many have...
...Today, throughout the country, on a daily basis, women seek escape from forced marriages and gang rape by setting themselves on fire, hanging themselves, or simply disappearing...
...The country is spiraling back to the control of old Taliban leaders and warlords who recruit those who are desperate and dispossessed within the "new Afghanistan...
Vol. 71 • June 2007 • No. 6
