Mukhtar Mai Update

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A happy development in the on-going saga of Mukhtar Mai – the US Government has stepped in to ensure Ms. Mai’s passage outside of the country –

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice secured a personal pledge from Pakistan that gang-rape victim Mukhtaran Mai will be allowed to visit the United States, officials said Tuesday. The State Department revealed Rice’s personal intervention in the now famous case, after The New York Times reported that the Pakistani government still had Mai’s passport, despite lifting a ban on her travelling last week. …State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli said the issue was raised last Thursday by Rice, in a telephone call with Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri. “Secretary Rice made it clear that Mrs. Mai was welcome to come to the United States at any time and that we were looking to the government of Pakistan to ensure that she was free to travel whenever she wanted,” he said. “The government of Pakistan has committed itself to that and therefore it is our expectation that should Mrs Mai want to travel, to come to the United States, there will be no obstacles presented to her to do so,” Ereli said.

Of course, the Pakistani’s felt obliged to make a face-saving “no, we’re really in charge” statement –

Top Pakistani officials maintained there had been no US pressure in the case of Mai, who was ordered gang raped by a tribal council in 2002, and emerged as a cause celebre for international human rights campaigners.

(Previous SM coverage here).

14 thoughts on “Mukhtar Mai Update”

  1. Unfortunately, she’s also saying that she has no plans to travel to the US right now. That’s suspicious, and reads to me like she’s still being coerced into staying.

  2. Yeah, what’s up with the whole “oh, we’re fine with her traveling if she wants to” On NPR a few weeks ago, they had one of her contacts in Wisconsin on the air talking about how she said one thing in a news conference, but then privately admitted that she had been coerced and did not mean whatever she had said.

  3. From the Sify Link –

    Pakistan admitted it had banned Mai from leaving the country after she was invited by Amnesty International to meet US congressional leaders and administration officials to discuss abuses against women in South Asia.

    South Asia?? Ya Pakistan is a part of South Asia, but women aren’t treated that badly in the other South Asian countries (atleast I speak for India).

    Anyways, me thinks the words ‘South Asia’ are generally over used !!! Member countries are not too politically or socially alligned to be reffered to as ONE.

  4. I suppose the above poster has never visited NorthEast India. I’m from that region so I can safely say that abuse is has nothing to do with current borders and more with the South Asian patriarchal culture. P.S. I’m from the “murder capital” of India, district Mujaffarnagar in U.P. It’s not just the muslims. Rape isn’t a religious affliction/problem its a human problem.

  5. To clarify – i am not saying that women dont get raped/abused in India. Unfortunately it happens, but in India abuse against women is generally and relatively not tolerated by law and the society at large. Compare to countries where abuse against women (such as honor killings) is largely accepted.

  6. Unfortunately it happens, but in India abuse against women is generally and relatively not tolerated by law and the society at large. Compare to countries where abuse against women (such as honor killings) is largely accepted.

    look, i think india might fair well against pakistan, though kerala or tamil nadu would probably blow pakistan out of the water. but UP or bihar? are you sure? india is after all one of the female-fetus-abortion capitals of the world. and what about dowry burning?

    i think it was probably imprecise to say south asia. why lump states with relatively normal sex ratios like kerala and mizoram with the punjab or uttar pradesh?

  8. Anang, Its MuZaffar and not MuJaffar 😉

    VM, India does have its own share of honor killings. http://womenforhumanity.org/.newsdetail.php?id=54

    India is much better than Pakistan when it comes to the handling of rape cases though. India does not have the draconion Hadood laws under which women are charged with adultery and sentenced if they cant prove that they have been raped. In Pakistan, the police in rural areas is notorious for charging rape victims with adultery.

  9. it happens, but in India abuse against women is generally and relatively not tolerated by law and the society at large

    Hey, I watched the movie Bandit Queen. Didn’t seem like law and society did much to defend Phoolan Devi.

    Mukhtaran Mai was raped because of what Pakistan calls a ‘tribal’ conflict between high status and low status Punjabi ‘tribes’ or ‘clans’. (specifically, between Gujjar and Mastoi). If the confict occurred across the border, between less superficialy Islamicized communities, it would be called for what it is, an inter-caste atrocity.

    I agree that the Hudood ordinance and other misogynistic PK laws are supported on Islamic grounds, but in this case, we ought to recongize the common, millenia old, South Asian village customs that victimize women from low-status communties.

  10. As a man, and an American, perhaps I cannot claim any great knowlege of womens feelings in this matter, or of Pakistani or Indian culture, history, religions, social structures or legal systems. I will say that it causes me great distress to see that such a thing is protrayed by some as restoring honor to anyone, or that it’s seen as being done under the auspices of any religion. I am not a Muslim, but I respect Islamic peoples and I do not believe that a real Muslim would do such a thing. Were something like this to happen to anyone of my family or friends, I’m not sure I could keep myself from extracting a fearsome vengence against the perpitrators. Death is too good for those who would commit such an obscene atrocity against any living creature.

  11. What this woman has suffered and is going through is an affront to human dignity. Not to mention other survivors like her. I’ve known a couple of Asian families in the US who treated their teen-age daughters like properties (ie., VERY determined to marry them off by arrangement.) Like Post #4 said, no borders stand in the way of people wanting to abuse. Rapists hardly need any excuses, but now and then they will come up with some that are religious/political. Like Bosnia. Patriarchal system just makes it a lot easier.

  12. I know this may anger some of you and i’m not trying to pick any arguements. But here are my thoughts, guys and gals the issue here i think, is not what laws are in place in whichever country. and which are better. We’re talking about a woman who represents the crude reality of life. The fact is, injustice is ever present, Mukhtar Mai suffered and though may have come out superior but she has been scarred for life and that’s the truth. The system still exists in countries like Pakistan and India and there is not sugarcoating it. This system allows women to be treated like mere objects in great prencetage of such countries, though not everywhere. I have seen this treatment and so i’m not speaking from ignorance . Come to think of it rape is a big issue even in counties like US, maybe for some other reasons but its there (that is also from discovered knowledge). I do agree agree with a lot of what is said and one of those things is that ISLAM does NOT permit such acts. A lot of you also feel that the Pakistani or Indian Culture does not permit such behvior and that may be true, and I love these cutltures very much and respect a lot of their aspects and practice them everyday, BUT then one wonders what allows such system to prevail?

  13. I’ll just post this here for those of you who did not get it in their email:

    Asia Society in cooperation with Asian American Network Against Abuse of Human Rights (ANAA), The Amnesty International USA NYC Women’s Human Rights Action Team and Cooper Union are honored to present:

    A Courageous Woman, A Courageous People:

    Mukhtar Mai Speaks Out to Help Her Nation

    Saturday, Nov. 5, 2005, from 10 am to 12 noon

    The Great Hall at Cooper Union

    7 East 7th Street (atThird Avenue) Manhattan.

    Subways: 6 to Astor Place; N/R to East 8th Street

    Mukhtar Mai is known around the world for her courage in speaking out about the brutal gang rape she suffered on the order of a Pakistani tribal jirga. No judge, social taboo, village leader or military administration could silence her, and her brave quest for justice for victims of rape and sexual violence has been an inspiration to women all over the world. Mukhtar Mai is visiting the United States to meet thousands of her supporters and to draw attention to the legal, social and political repression faced by victims of violence in Pakistan. She will also speak on the deplorable conditions faced by women in Pakistan that have been made worse by the devastating earthquake in October.

    While in the United States, Mukhtar Mai will be presented with Glamour Magazine’s “Woman of the Year” award by President Bill Clinton. She will also urge the United States Congress to uphold their commitment to women’s rights in Pakistan by pledging an additional 50 million dollars in humanitarian aid specifically earmarked for the women and children affected by the earthquake. Please join her on November 5th in demanding justice and human rights for all.

    For more information, please contact:

    For AANA: leena_z_khan@yahoo.com

    For AIUSA: AmnestyMukhtarMai@earthlink.net; 212-979-7213

    $5 donation requested