The Mukhtaran Mai Saga /NY and DC report

The Mukhtaran Mai Saga /NY and DC report:

A lot has been written about the redoubtable lady.
For the sake of continuity and coherence I would recapitulate the events before reporting on the press conference in NY and the rally in Washington DC.
Mukhtaran is a classical victim of the feudal society of Pakistan.She was gang raped pursuant to an express and explicit decision of a village council at
the behest of a local feudal who, spurned by the younger brother of the lady in his sexual advances to him, fabricated the tale that the boy had besmirched the honor of the feudal's sister.
The dastardly deed was done in a dwelling with the whole village population congregating around the place. She was then made to walk to her own house with marks of the assault in full public view, wearing tattered clothes which showed more than they hid.
She refused to commit suicide, or go away and end up in a brothel, which is the usual fate of such victims.Police had initially refused to register the case. A local cleric and human rights workers took up her cause. The ensuing publicity forced the police to register the complaint, called first information report (FIR).
General Musharraf was in his nascent "enlightened moderation phase" He got into the act, whipped the police into taking expeditious action and ordered his minions to pay compensation to the lady, which she, of course, used to open a girls school. She magnaminiuosly invited the children of his assailants to attend the school.
The case went to the court where suitable sentences were awarded to the perpetrators. The case invoked international attention. A write up in NY Times generated world wide attention and funds which Mukhtaran used for her education project as well.
The perpretators appealed against the sentences in higher courts as was their right to. The sentences were overturned in all cases but one (in which death sentence was reduced to a life sentence) FOR LACK OF EVEDENCE in a case witnessed by some three hundred people.
Mukhtaran had has filed an appeal against the reversal of an earlier court decision to the supreme court of Pakistan.
Asian American Network Against Abuse (ANAA), a Human Rights advocacy group, founded by Dr Amna Buttar, a former Chair of APPNA Womens caucus, she found APPNA leadership too hide bound and looking up to the Government of Pakistan (GOP) with tongues hanging out for crumbs off the table, too stifling.
ANAA initially worked under the umbrella of a South-Asian group,Develop in Peace (DIP) which gave it 501c3 shelter.
Amna, though, made a good faith effort to work with APPNA leadership.

Early in 2005, the story of the rape of a physician at Sui Gas installations in the Baluchistan province of Pakistan allegedly by Army personnel, broke into international media. Amna took the initiative, convened a tele-conference and asked the President DR Husain Malik of APPNA to form a task force to look into the issue. The man, taken off gaurd and not having his handlers at his elbow, unable to stand the clamor appointee a committe with Amna as the Chair. I was about ot go to Pakistan at the time. Amna aked me to meet the physician. I was able to, but when I went on line to draft a report, I was stunned to find a posting that Husain Malik had dissolved the task force.
I did not know the man as I do now, hence the surprise.He, now I know for a fact, does not have a mind of his own, nor a spine.
ANAA decided to convene a seminar on violence against women in South-Asia with focus on Pakistan and invited Mukhtaran to the event to high light the plight of women in Pakistan, to put the pressure of international public opinion on the Governments in the region to be fair, equitable and just to all women regardles of religion, race and socio-economic status and remove the discriminatory laws from the statue books. We have, specially in mind, the so called Hudood laws which many eminent authorities of Islamic jurisprudence have found repugnant to the word and the spirit of the religion.
The seminar had to be arranged in a convention center near the Hotel where APPNA are holding their Sommer session.The junta, burnt by the seminar, arranged by a South Asian Physician's group under the auspices of DIP, on prospects of Democracy in Pakistan held in the same Hotel as their meeting in DC last year, refused to give a room to ANNA. The Democracy seminar not only took away a large portion of audience from the TOADY CONVENTION OF PAK-PAK, but the sycophants must have been suitably whipped on their.... by their pay-masters for allowing a discussion on Democracy. This time they used a subterfuge of booking the whole Hotel. They have the money given them by a compliant membership to waste. South -Asian regimes are sensitive to the public opinion in the USA. Pakistan's rulers are specially so.
We planned a series of visits for the lady to meetings in several cities. The schedule included "a day on the Hill" which Mr Kumar, Chief of Washington DC Amnesty International (AI) had kindly offered to arrange.
Besides AI, we got in touch with other Human Rights groups both indigenous and those based on expatriates. We thought that with General Musharraf at the helm, with his loud protestations of "enlightened moderation"- the expression is a contradiction in terms-and projection of the "soft' image of Pakistan, a true blue Freudian slip, an inadvertent confession that the actual image is harsh, we will have the full cooperation and assistance of GOP.
We felt that the USA consulate in Islamabad, with its heightened state of alert might be reluctant to issue a visitor's visa to Mukhtaran.
Mr Kumar, he must have a passion for his work, again offered to use his good offices to facilitate the visa.
We all approached our respective congressmen to intercede with the US consulate on our behalf. I must pay a tribute to my Congressman Maurice Hinchey, who honored my request by promptly wrote a letter to the US consul in Islamabad. My co-workers were green were envy.
How misplced our apprehensions turned out to be.
Like all open organizations we have our share of moles, informers and fifth columnists.
The given wisdom is that the toadies lost no time in conveying our plans to the office of the Pakistani pro-consul, other wise known as the country's ambassador to the USA.
The current incumbent of the office, a former Army Chief and a former boss of General Musharraf, is not known for his tact or diplomatic skills. He was sacked by the then Prime Minister Nawaz Shareef for meddling in affairs above his station/pay grade.
It was panic stations at the embassy. We, in the USA are familiar with the heightened state of alert, justifiable though it is.Pakistan army are prone to, as justifiably, to panic buttons. In a crisis, they lose what little composure they otherwise have.
The pleni-potentiary, clearly a misnomer in the case of Pakistani ambassador, reportedly advised his Government to keep Mukhtaran at home. The after math of his advice was that when the lady was about to embark on the trip to the US consulate for a scheduled appointment her house was surrounded by Police in large numbers, for the ostensible reason that her life was in danger, as her assailants were about to be released on bail. They also siezed her passport. I am not aware of the logic of taking away the passport as related to personal safety, but the police work in inscrutable ways in the country of my youth.
Pakistani Police are no different from their counterparts in other countries. Mukhtaran had already sent her new and valid passport to the USA consulate. Not knowing any better, they grabbed the old one. Her companion sneaked out of the house and called one of our co-workers.
The next day they asked her to accompany them to a secure place. She demanded to see her Lawyer. They promised to take her to her legal team in Lahore. She was held in communicado for several days. This was another official assault on her person. She had been abducted and held in duress while her assailants were free on bail.
During her days of illegal detention, she was harshly upbraided by Nilofer Bakhtiar,adviser on women's affairs to the resident IMF/World Bank agent in Pakistan, alias the PM of Pakistan. Other minions of Musharraf joined in and coerced her to sign a document that she wanted to with draw her application for the US visitor's visa. Armed With the paper Government agents were able to get hold of her new passport and impounded it. I suppose this was for her greater safety too.
She was next presented to a press conference where she was made to state that she had cancelled her trip to the USA as her mother was sich. When asked by a reporter the cause of her mother's indisposition, she declined to elaborate.
In the meanwhile, the news of her extra-judicial detention had broken out. Main stream , public, regional, local and South-Asian media of the USA got into the act.
The USA state deptt succumbed to public pressure and publicly castigated theit favorite client state in the region.
Pundits have it that the USA ambassador to Pakistan, truly pleni-potentiary in this case, told Musharraf to shape up or ship out.
Mukhtaran's name was taken off the Exit Control List.
Other countries have a list of undesirables they want to keep out. Pakistan and specially Arab regimes want to keep dissidents, and victims of official repression and political opponents in, lest they advise the western media and public of the tue state of affairs in the fascist regimes. Certain Arab countries are so paranoid that they hold on to passports of visitors from third world countries. That is ,presumably, what projection of soft image means.
Underlings in pakistan are not as dependent for tenure on the pleasure of the big house on Pennsylvania avenue, so they did not return her passport.
Musharraf, while being grilled by the press during his Australia and New Zealand visits, had to concede that he had ordered that Mukhtaran be stopped from leaving the country.
Whether it was bravado, a face saving device or he was actually a fall guy, is any one's guess. Musharraf is not a free agent. He is not just beholden to the only super power in the world. He is answerable to his contituency too, the feudal class,
in whose interest the Army, Civil Service and the Mullahs have worked since the early days of Pakistan..
ANAA members were bombarded with messages from Pakistan consulates and the Embassy. Appeals were made in the name of National Honor and dignity. They were told that we were upholding National Honor by telling the world that we take on the oppressors and give respect to victims of the anachronistic feudal class.It would appear that Pakistani rulers are frozen in a time warp. They never learn from their mistakes, ever doomed to repeat them, spewing out jaded slogans.

When this tactic did not work they resorted to the worn out slander that we were Indian agents. They used their stooges, sycophants and boot-lickers and third rate gutter press to spread the slander. A few pragmatic, read faint of the heart, though not of the head, in our ranks wanted to publicly disassociate from Indian Human rights groups, Hindu, Muslim or Sikh.
But integrity, good sense, in a word sanity prevailed.
We decided to make common cause with all like minded Human Rights organizations regardless of their ethnic, racial, religious or National origin/ affiliations. We decided to hold a press conference in NY at the Pakistan consulate on 6/22/05 and follow up with a rally at the Pakistan embassy in DC the next day.
We contacted AI and other Human Rights groups to join hands with us. The response overwhelmed us. There were the usual pre-events jitters and glitches. The person who had taken responsibility to get posters couldn't. We had to scramble and get them.
Here I must pay tribute to my daughter Sana, an activist in her own right, she founded a South-Asian advocacy group during her under-grad years at Duke. She sat up the whole night preparing the posters. (I did not tell her that as a national coordinator of the Mukhtaran visit it was her job to pitch in). She even got her elder sister, not an activist, to help her.
Weather smiled on us. It was unseasonably clement in NY.
We gathered at the junction of Fifth Avenue and sixty fifth street, half a block from the Pakistani consulate. We had official participation in a sense. A chauffeur of the Consulate, bless his soul, was directing people to the press conference.
Besides ANAA, AI, Turning point, Sakhi,and Human Rights First were represented. Amna Buttar and Nuzhat Iqbal on behalf of ANAA, Sheila Dauer of AI, Robina of Turning point, Ghazi Khan a venerable activist and Ayesha Al.Adawiya of Women In Islam made impassioned speeches and demanded that GOP return Mukhtaran's passport, she be allowed to visit the USA, and discriminatory laws be taken off statue books etc. Ayesha emphasized the point that so called Hudood laws had nothing to do with Islam.
Nuzhat's call for Musharraf to walk the walk and not talk the talk caught the mood of the crowd to a nicety.
Amna, Nuzhat, Sana and Ehtisham proceeded to DC for the rally.
We gathered to gather about a block from the Pakistan Embassy at 4.30 pm on 6/23/05. The day was balmy again.
All the organizations represented in NY were here too. In addition we were joined by a contingent from Sindhi Association of North America, The World Sindhi institute and Irfana Anwar Executive Director of Karamah. AI, led by Mr Kumar were present in full force.
Ayesha Siddiqa, a research scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Institute was among the distinguished persons there.
The tempo of the proceedings was heightened by the participants, holding aloft posters " Murder and rape are not family matters, Return her passport-free Mukhtaran,She is not alone, Human Rights for all, Musharraf arrests rape victim and frees rapists,Let her speak,Honor should not kill", and chanting slogans such as General Musharraf tell the truth, Mukhtaran is not alone, Women's rights are Human rights, shame on Musharraf etc.
The media including CNN, Voice of America (MR Solangi), and a Pakistani press contingent with Mr Anwar Iqbal of the Daily dawn etc were on hand and conducted individual interviews as well.
Mr Kumar made a passionate speech for Human Rights, solidarity with the people of Pakistan,and the need of unity in the ranks of activists. Amna delivered a reasoned appeal for fair deal, justice and equality under law for all. Nuzhat and Saadia high lighted various aspects of Human rights violations in Pakistan. Jennifer read a prayer. Ehtisham dwelt on the need for structural change in Pakistan, how the feudal class had used the Army to subvert the electoral process, the foundations of Democracy and the judiciary,all pledged by Jinnah the founder of the country for pakistan.. He traced the events since Ayub's Martial Law in 1958 to the current "Ghazi of Kargil" Musharraf.
A resolution demanding honesty and respect for law was presented by Ijaz Syed and endorsed by the crowd by acclamation.
A delegation headed by Amna then proceeded to the Pakistan Embassy.
A minion tried to keep us out of the Embassy , but retreated when asked if he had any specific objections to our being on the Embassy grounds.
A black suited, black bow tied, burly man with "reinforcer' almost visibly written on his face, soon escorted a pin up male offficial and a lady press attache to the delegation.
Members of the delegation asked the officials pointed questions.Q. Why had they impounded Mukhtaran's passport. Response, it will be returned to her when she goes to Islamabad on 6/26/05 for the Supreme court hearing.Q. Why was it seized in the first place, No answer.Q.Why was she abducted. It is an old story. She is free now.Q.Is she free to leave the country now. Ans. She will decide after the Supreme court hearing.Q. Are you denying that she was forcibly prevented from leaving the country? Ans. Don't know.
At this point the pretty boy woke up. We are very sensitive to empowerment of women, he said. He was told that the actions of his Government did not support his statement. He had the grace to blush.
A Pakistani press reporter tried to pontificate. We should not be sarcastic. He was told to mind his own business.
He stayed back to cozy up to his pay masters.
The proceedings were concluded by Amna by thanking all the participants She singled out Sana Ehtisham for her work.