Mufumonk
March 23rd, 2005, 09:32 AM
'I Decided to Fight Back' (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7245230/site/newsweek/)
In Pakistan: A gang rape, a fateful choice and still more battles ahead.
Asim Tanveer / Reuters
Still fighting: Mai has become a model for Pakistani women pressing for more rights
By Ron Moreau and Zahid Hussain
NewsweekMarch 28 issue - Soon after Mukhtar Mai was savagely gang-raped on the orders of a village council three years ago, she considered her options. She had never been accused of any crime. (The rape was carried out as supposed retribution for an alleged and implausible affair between Mai's teenage brother and a 30-year-old woman.) But according to rural Pakistan's strict Islamic code, she was forever "dishonored." The local Mastoi clan, which dominates the village council, expected her to keep her mouth shut or simply disappear. Her own Gujar clan refused to support her. "My choice was either to commit suicide or to fight back," Mai recalled last week. "I decided to fight back."
She's still fighting. Although an antiterrorist court convicted and sentenced to death six of the 14 men initially charged with the rape in 2002, an appeals court overturned the sentences last month. Within days of that ruling, the Federal Sharia Court, which has unclear jurisdiction, nullified both verdicts. Then the Supreme Court announced plans to retry the case, and last week released four of the attackers on bail—before the government ordered them re-arrested. "I'm afraid I'm returning to the same sense of insecurity I felt three years ago," said Mai, 32, when she first heard the men were out of jail. "I can't forget what happened; it keeps haunting me."
Until the legal setbacks, Mai's unlikely struggle for justice—her attempts both to force changes in her society and to improve her own situation—was succeeding. Using government compensation and contributions from supporters, Mai built the first school for girls in her village, as well as a school for boys. She plans to use a $33,000 grant from the Canadian government to add a library and a playground, and to set up a cattle-breeding project for poor village women. On land Mai recently inherited, she envisions building a children's hospital.
Mai also has become a model for Pakistani women pressing for more rights. She's been a guest speaker at women's forums across the country, and has even taken her message to Spain and India. By broadcasting her case, she has embarrassed authorities. The Pakistani government, aiming to show its support, has paved the dirt road leading into Mai's village and is now connecting local homes to the electricity grid. "The U.S. civil-rights campaign had Rosa Parks, who helped to spark an entire movement," says Sherry Rehman, a Pakistani activist and opposition member of Parliament. "We have Mukhtar Mai."
When the four convicted rapists briefly returned to Mai's village last week, members of the Mastoi clan celebrated. But the village is a changed place. In an unprecedented display of independence, several dozen local women filed into Mai's dusty compound as nervous and perplexed local men looked on from the road. The women sat on rope beds next to Mai's cow, goat and two buffaloes. They talked about women's rights. "I've tried to do something positive to bring about change," says Mai. "That gives me satisfaction." She'll have to wait longer for the satisfaction of justice.
In Pakistan: A gang rape, a fateful choice and still more battles ahead.
Asim Tanveer / Reuters
Still fighting: Mai has become a model for Pakistani women pressing for more rights
By Ron Moreau and Zahid Hussain
NewsweekMarch 28 issue - Soon after Mukhtar Mai was savagely gang-raped on the orders of a village council three years ago, she considered her options. She had never been accused of any crime. (The rape was carried out as supposed retribution for an alleged and implausible affair between Mai's teenage brother and a 30-year-old woman.) But according to rural Pakistan's strict Islamic code, she was forever "dishonored." The local Mastoi clan, which dominates the village council, expected her to keep her mouth shut or simply disappear. Her own Gujar clan refused to support her. "My choice was either to commit suicide or to fight back," Mai recalled last week. "I decided to fight back."
She's still fighting. Although an antiterrorist court convicted and sentenced to death six of the 14 men initially charged with the rape in 2002, an appeals court overturned the sentences last month. Within days of that ruling, the Federal Sharia Court, which has unclear jurisdiction, nullified both verdicts. Then the Supreme Court announced plans to retry the case, and last week released four of the attackers on bail—before the government ordered them re-arrested. "I'm afraid I'm returning to the same sense of insecurity I felt three years ago," said Mai, 32, when she first heard the men were out of jail. "I can't forget what happened; it keeps haunting me."
Until the legal setbacks, Mai's unlikely struggle for justice—her attempts both to force changes in her society and to improve her own situation—was succeeding. Using government compensation and contributions from supporters, Mai built the first school for girls in her village, as well as a school for boys. She plans to use a $33,000 grant from the Canadian government to add a library and a playground, and to set up a cattle-breeding project for poor village women. On land Mai recently inherited, she envisions building a children's hospital.
Mai also has become a model for Pakistani women pressing for more rights. She's been a guest speaker at women's forums across the country, and has even taken her message to Spain and India. By broadcasting her case, she has embarrassed authorities. The Pakistani government, aiming to show its support, has paved the dirt road leading into Mai's village and is now connecting local homes to the electricity grid. "The U.S. civil-rights campaign had Rosa Parks, who helped to spark an entire movement," says Sherry Rehman, a Pakistani activist and opposition member of Parliament. "We have Mukhtar Mai."
When the four convicted rapists briefly returned to Mai's village last week, members of the Mastoi clan celebrated. But the village is a changed place. In an unprecedented display of independence, several dozen local women filed into Mai's dusty compound as nervous and perplexed local men looked on from the road. The women sat on rope beds next to Mai's cow, goat and two buffaloes. They talked about women's rights. "I've tried to do something positive to bring about change," says Mai. "That gives me satisfaction." She'll have to wait longer for the satisfaction of justice.