UPDATE: Mukhtar Mai is here. [Thanks Vidster]
Earlier we reported that the US Government has stepped in to ensure Ms. Mai’s passage outside of the country. However, given our inability to make the Pakistani government do anything, I wasn’t holding my breath waiting for her to show up in the US.
The latest news is that she is planning on coming to America in November to receive an award from Glamour magazine. Mukhtar Mai has a US visa, but she’s still not sure if the Pakistani government will approve:
“I shall go if the government does not prevent me from travelling abroad,” she said. [BBC]
In the past, Pervez Musharraf didn’t want Mukhtar Mai to go abroad because he feared that her visit might tarnish Pakistan’s image. This was a delightfully ironic comment, given how much his own comments on women’s rights have contributed to Pakistan’s image as a banana-less banana republic. In response to this concern, Ms. Mai has said:
“I am a Pakistani and I have no intention of tarnishing the country’s image. But I will speak on the plight of women in rural areas,” she told Reuters news agency. [BBC]
Perhaps to sweeten the deal, she has also promised to:
“… use this occasion to highlight the plight of quake victims in Pakistan and also motivate the Americans and the Pakistanis staying there to contribute and raise funds for them,” Ms Mai said. [BBC]
Will she actually make it? Will Dr. Rice have to intervene again? Will Kristof have to write another NYT piece to embarass Pakistan? Will Pakistan listen? Will anybody care? Tune in here for the continuing adventures of “The Perils of Pauline the Pakistani Woman!”
do you think that she’ll actually be able to come?
This post is strictly from a desi American citizen’s perspective…
Why should Ms Rice waste her time and resources on a woman in a foreign country? Is this her job description? She is paid a salary from my taxes to do perform her duties towards American citizens. The Dept. of State should not be playing United Nations.
Are’nt there enough American women/girls who face date rapes, abuse, beatings, disappearances, insurance-murders, fetus-grabbings etc? Can we like…concentrate within the country?
From a foreign policy perspective, isn’t this exactly the attitude which makes more enemies abroad – the attitude that America knows what’s best for others?
From a David vs Goliath perspective, am I the only one thinking that America can do this only to countries like Pakistan? If say, Saudi or China had similiarly treated their citizens(as they have and continue to do so), America turns a blind eye to it?
I am perfectly ok with NYTimes, International Human Rights groups etc tightening the screws on Pakistan on this issue – they are not the State and are free to set their own agenda. But why should the State dept. interfere? What if tomorrow the State dept. decides to extradite the Calcutta mullah who fatwad Sania for her tennis dress and tried him as per US law?
M. Nam
Today’s BBC headline seems to indicate she may already be here.
The purported crime here was committed in Indian judicial territory, US has no right to seek an extradition.
The state department gets involved in high profile cases. Usually it starts with humanitarian grounds (which leads to the whole spectrum of political asylum etc.). It is the job of the state department to communicate with other countries, I believe the first point of contact is US diplomatic mission in the country in question, which reports to state department.
Why might the state department get involved? I think there are complex reasons behind this. I will not rule out a game theoristic explanation – a consistent stand and firm humanitarian policies give US the upper hand in future negotiations.
Actually, State often gets involved when foreigners are invited to the US but unable to come. This dates back to the cold war when it was a way of scoring propaganda points against the Warsaw Pact who ignored international law and denied their citizens the freedom to travel.
argus_nj/ennis,
What I am hearing is that the US is using the unfortunate case of a foreign rape victim in order to further its geopolitical agenda, but under the guise of humanitarianism.
The amount of bad karma the US is accumulating by this subterfuge will definitely come to light someday.
M. Nam
MoorNam – I really doubt that the US government wants to embarass Pakistan, quite the opposite.
Does not hold a candle to the colossal amount of bad Karma Pakistan might be accumulating, where, get this, a woman can be gang raped legally by the directive of a village council and where in general most women are treated like cattle anyway.
I doubt Dr Rice specifically wanted to go overboard to discredit Pakistan (does that country need any more discrediting?) It is just that this particular incident was so atrocious and was so widely reported that there may have been a more of a humanitarian component in there.
Forgot to add, the purported crime for which she was “punished” was not even committed by her, it was by her brother.
Her 12 year old brother who after being sodomized is accused of being seen in the company of a Mastoi woman thereby bring shame on the Mastoi clan.
So they sodomize him, when the family threatens to report it they accuse him of adultery and gang-rape his sister.
Yeah not so much blaming the little brother here.
BBC Timeline
argus_nj, my appologies I just re-read your statement and saw that you did have the word “purported.”
But I just heard the little brother being blamed twice today and I got a little heated.
Again, sorry :/