When Obama was awarded the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize , Noam Chomsky wrote in an article syndicated by the '' New York Times '' : " The Nobel Peace Prize committee might well have made truly worthy choices , prominent among them the remarkable Afghan activist Malalai Joya . " On November 24 , 2009 , '' New Statesman '' ( UK ) ranked Malalai Joya in the sixth place on its list of " The 50 people who matter today ... for good and ill " , calling her " Afghanistan 's answer to Aung San Suu Kyi . " Because she is " unemployed " and " lives underground " , the United States denied Joya a travel visa in March 2011 which sparked a public campaign by her supporters to pressure the US government . She was scheduled to speak at several different places in the United States , including Pace University in Manhattan and St. Mary 's College of Maryland . Joya stated that " the Afghan government has probably requested the U.S. to not let me enter ... because I am exposing the wrong policies of the U.S. and its puppet regime at the international level . " However , the U.S. State Department later explained that a visa has been issued to Joya
2009 Nobel Peace Prize
2009 Nobel Peace Prize
Malalai Joya