Mukhtar Mai

So much has been written about Mukhtar Mai that I would be remiss if I did not write a little bit about her on this site. Mukhtar Mai was a young woman living in Pakistan with her family when her 14-year-old brother was seen with a girl from another tribe. After the other tribe learned this, they demanded first that the boy marry the girl and that Mukhtar marry the girl's brother. The brothers of the girl rejected the marriage proposals and instead insisted that Mukhtar should be punished by gang-rape; "They would 'make zina' with her and this would equalize the situation." (1)

The tribal council, called a panchiyat, had Mukhtar come to them to ask their forgiveness.

When she arrived at the panchiyat, [Mukhtar] was physically apprehended by [a man] who was armed with a gun. She was taken into a room ... and raped by Abdul Khaliq, his brother Allah Ditta, Fayaz Hussain, and Ghulam Farid. Witnesses say she cried out the entire time. When they were finished, the four men threw her out into the road. She was naked; her father threw his shawl over her. This was witnessed by her father as well as two other men... (1)

However, rather than going quietly into that good night, Mukhtar and her family went public with her story, hoping to bring the rapists to justice and to "raise awareness about culturally sanctioned violence against women."

Mukhtar Mai says that she contemplated suicide at this point. It is expected that a woman who has been raped will commit suicide and will be too ashamed at what has happened to file a complaint with the police.... [However,] that Friday, the imam's [sermon] centered upon "a great injustice" which had been committed against a woman in the village, and he alerted a local newspaper reporter. He also encouraged Mukhtar to file a complaint with the police...

In the year in 2004, about 150 women were punished by karo kiri (rape), under panchiyat an informal village/tribal system of law... (1)

And Yet She Is Harrassed...
Mukhtar received a great deal of harassment from Pakistanis who felt that she was dishonoring her country by airing their dirty laundry. The president of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf, "dismissed [Mukhtar's] claims, telling The Washington Post that women in Pakistan invite rape in order to get a visa to the West and make money," referring to the numerous invitations Mukhtar had received from western organizations to come and tell her story. (2) This certainly echoes the cultural refusal in Pakistan to acknowledge rape that I wrote about in this earlier post.

Though Mukhtar Mai persued the matter, it was by no means an easy road. After convictions, acquittals, and re-arrests, the matter is still not decided:

A court in 2002 sentenced six men to death and acquitted eight others in Mai’s rape. Last March, the Lahore High Court acquitted five of the men and reduced the death sentence of the sixth to life in prison. After an emotional appeal by Mai, the acquittals were overturned in June and 13 men originally held in the case were re-arrested. They remain in jail while Pakistan’s Supreme Court considers the matter. (3)

Now, Mukhtar waits in limbo, fearing for her life:

Mukhtar Mai is currently tremendous danger from people who want to restore the "honor" of the [tribe who committed the rape]. They may kill her, rape her and find some other gruesome way to punish her for speaking out. There are some in Pakistan, including Senator Kulsoom Parveen and President Pervez Musharraf, who feel that the international attention to this case has given a bad name to ... Pakistan, and that Mukhtar Mai should stay quiet. Senator Parveen, who is a woman, has publicly implied that Mukhtar Mai and another woman whose rape case became notorious earlier this year, have weak 'iman (faith). She also said that Mukhtar Mai should be barred by the state from travelling outside of Pakistan to tell her story.

Others, more extreme, believe that Mukhtar Mai should be silenced by force. While Mukhtar Mai does have many supporters, including those in the Parliament, she currently lives under constant police protection. Brothers and sisters, the Qur'an and Sunnah is the rock that she is standing on and she has made it very clear to journalists that she fights from an Islamic standpoint, not against it. (1)

A Pakistani Writer Speaks Back
Khaled Ahmed, writing in the Daily Times, a Pakistani newspaper, addressed the hatred many in Pakistan felt toward Mukhtar Mai for publicizing her story:

The expatriate community is holding on to Islam to safeguard its cultural identity in the face of Americanisation. Mukhtar Mai was saved from passing into oblivion by the foreign media and the human rights activists inside and outside Pakistan. In the eyes of many, this violated Pakistan’s sovereignty.

The question is: is Pakistan’s sovereignty maintained by violating the honour of a helpless woman? (4)

Ahmed's answer is a resounding "no." In response to people who claim it was unnecessary for Mukhtar to go to the United States because, here too women are raped, Ahmed writes:

This is typical of the opinion in Urdu. In English, by and large, there is an acceptance of the injustice of laws towards Pakistani women. Urdu is the language of our nationalism; English is the language of our reform.

There is a myth prevalent in Urdu that our women enjoy more honour than the women of America. This kind of approach brushes aside the long-standing plaint of the women in Pakistan about religion-derived laws that punish them without any proof of guilt.

The rape law in Pakistan is the most dishonourable thing one could do to a woman. But somehow we equate it with honour. Honour lies in getting raped and then not complaining about it. This happens all the time. Pakistan is answerable to the UN for violations of human rights under law. (4)

Sources:
(1) International Muslma Rights Association, "Appeal for Mukhtar Mai: What You Can Do to Help Her and Raise Awareness."
http://www.muslimarights.org/mukhtarmaiappeal.htm

(2) "Pakistani Heroine Visits U.S." Bust, February/March 2006, p. 16.

(3) Daily Times, "French FM praises Mukhtar Mai for breaking silence."
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006%5C01%5C17%5Cstory_17-1-2006_pg7_48

(4) Daily Times, "Why Do We Hate Mukhtar Mai?"
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2005%5C12%5C23%5Cstory_23-12-2005_pg3_2