Mukhtar Mai's story

In June 2002, Shaqoor, a 12 year old boy in Meerwala village of Muzzarfargarh district in Pakistan, was accused of illicit sex with a girl of the more powerful community of their village. In Meerwala, the Mastoi clan ruled the tribal council. Mastoi's were richer and powerful as opposed to the Tatla clan of the same village. Shaqoor was from the Tatla clan while the girl - Nasim was from the Mastoi.

The tribal council was outraged by the immodesty of the boy. Four Mastoi men abducted Shaqoor, took him to fields and sodomised him. Shaqoor's mother and sister begged the perpetrators to show some mercy. The matter went to the local tribal council dominated by the Mastoi's.

Shaqoor's family proposed Shaqoor's marriage to Nasim to settle the matter. The Mastoi's demanded that illicit sex be avenged by illicit sex. The Mastoi men who gathered around the council refused any other settlement. The powerful prevailed. Shaqoor's elder sister - Mukhtar Mai was dragged by the Mastoi men to a barn and raped several times by four men to avenge the honour of the Mastoi clan.


To add to her humiliation, Mukhtar Mai was also paraded naked in front of the entire village before her father wrapped a shawl around her and took her home. The family expected Mukhtar to end her life to end their trauma. Mukhtar did unthinkable. She went to the police station and filed a complaint.

Mukhtar was a timid, illiterate girl, who had never raised her voice in the family household. In June 2002, after being raped, when she could barely walk, she walked several kilometers to the nearby police station to file her complaint. She knew she was taking on a powerful clan. But in her heart, she knew she had nothing to lose. Mukhtar was determined to send the culprits to jail.

Her courage stood by her. The media took attention. The Chief Justice of Pakistan's Supreme Court called it the most heinous crime of the 21st century. The Pakistan government compensated her with 5 lakh rupees. And her story was picked up by all international news agencies. Mukhtar's one step of courage ensured that Pakistan took notice of her plight.

In the name of honour - Mukhtar Mai's Memoir

In 9 years since 2002, Mukhtar has opened a girls school in her village from the aid she got from Pakistan government. An illiterate Mukhtar got educated. She has also opened a centre to help other rape victims and continues to tour the world to share her story with audiences worldwide. She also broke the stigma and married a police constable from her own village in 2009. She wrote her memoir which has been translated into several languages abroad. And all this while, her legal battle against those who raped her continued. The matter progressed from the local court to the Lahore High Court till in 2005, the Supreme Court of Pakistan took a suo moto notice of the Lahore High Court's verdict. Lahore High Court had acquitted 5 out of the 6 accused. While 5 walked free, the 6th death penalty was reduced to life imprisonment.

Its been almost 9 years since that fateful day when Mukhtar was raped. On April 22nd this year, the same Supreme Court who called this 'the most heinous crime of the 21st century', acquitted 5 out of the 6 accused in the case. To add to her wounds, the Supreme Court of Pakistan, upheld Lahore High Court's judgement of awarding life imprisonment to the sixth accused instead of death penalty.

 

Mukhtar is disappointed. Judiciary was her last hope.

 Even as the supreme court verdict has sparked off another debate in Pakistan, i only wonder if this is the end of the road for Mukhtar or will she, like last time, do the unthinkable? I wont comment on the state of affairs in Pakistan. For i think, that India too has a lot of introspection to do, when it comes to 'rape law'. I can only feel Mukhtar's pain. She might be wondering whether getting raped was worse or being denied justice? I only hope her country doesnt let her down.

India has been raped: M F Hussain

M F Hussain seemed quite miffed with the recent terror attack on Mumbai. And he has conveyed that on canvass. His reaction to the Mumbai tragedy, the work that he has named as 'Rape of India' has become the highlight of an exhibition on Indian contemporary visual arts at London's prestigious Serpentine gallery. He has also said that "hope the youth will rise and throw the old fogies away." Voices of aggression have come from all the nooks and corners of this world against the terror attack.

While Washington, London, Berlin, Russia have all voiced their angst against the perpetrators and pledged their support for India, some voices have arrived from the most unexpected corners. I am quite surprised at the way the Pakistani Media (especially Dawn and Geo TV) have taken up the task of investigating if the terrorists were actually from Pakistan. Much to the Pakistani hukumat's embarrasment, the fact which we knew within 24 hours of the attack, has been proved by their own fourth estate. I would like to credit Pakistani media with supporting the truth even as it goes on to establish that their own nationals were involved in an attack on India.

I am sure the Pakistanis (I mean the local citizens) too are ashamed at the revelation. For a week, they cried hoarse about how India had failed at providing any proof that the attack was launched from their soil. Some of them went on to boast that India was jumping the gun too soon and was pointing fingers at Pakistan out of mere habit. Sorry to disappoint you but India has ample proof that the switch that triggered the attack was pulled in Pakistan... the perpetrators who terrorised Mumbai were Pakistani nationals... the commando like training they received was imparted by none other than Pakistan's ex-army officials... The proof is there. And we will soon hand it over to you. Infact not only to you, but to America as well as the entire world to see.

India's external minister, Pranab Mukherjee, in his meeting with Condoleeze Rice (US's secretary of state), made it amply clear that India's decent behaviour, shouldnt be mistaken for its weakness. I agree, Mr. Mukherjee. India has been nice enough to support the travel ties, cricketing ties, cultural and trade ties with Pakistan... But i think we should cut off all the ties with Pakistan. We dont need to play cricket with them. Though i love Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, i dont mind kicking him out of our country. Most Indian Muslims too have come out strongly against Pakistan.

Which has been the most noteworthy. If groups like the Lashkar or Jamaat ud dawa or al qaeda, claim to be fighting for Islam - and if this has been their reason to launch an attack on India to establish their caliphate (Rule of Islam in this World)... please hear it loud and clear that the Indian Muslims are not interested. And in your bid to establish your own Islamic world, let me remind you that out of 141 civilians that died in the attack - 44 were muslims. If you are fighting for them - you do not realise that muslims have become targets of muslims. Noted lyricist and poet, Javed Akhtar, who came out to condemn the attacks, said, "Humme hi badalna hoga... woh (pakistan) to kabhi badalenge nahi... isi liye humme hi badal na hoga." He's an Indian Muslim.

Shahrukh said, "I have read the holy Quran. I read it aloud to my children. I strongly believe that there's one islam by Allah, and there's another by the Mullahs." Aamir observed Eid with a black band on his hand. In his blog (http://www.aamirkhan.com/blog.htm), Aamir calls the terrorists - AK 47 toting maniacs, and says, "Terrorists are not Hindu or Muslim or Christian. They are not people of religion or God. They are people who have gone totally sick in their head and have to be dealt with in that manner."

Infact, one of the most polarised states of India - Gujarat too saw muslims coming out and condemning the attack. Infact in places like Navasari, Rajkot, Vadodara and Ahmedabad, Muslims burnt the Pakistani flag to show their anguish. I appreciate their solidarity. In times like this, when the attack comes from foreign land, in the name of religion - the muslims in Gujarat have shown that its not religion which is the problem.. its the nation that's the problem. Not only big Muslim names but also the common Indian Muslim has stood by India today to condemn the attack that originated in the name of Islam.

Its time Pakistan cracked down on their terror factories. Because if they dont, we will. We dont want a war... but dont take our decency for our weakness. As one of my very close friend puts it, 'Jab time aayega... tab andar khuss kar maarenge...'

What Pakistan feels about the Mumbai Terror Attack

Moments after Mumbai attack was shown live on television, reports started pouring in that the terrorists had come via the sea route from Karachi. The updates that kept coming later, made it amply clear that terrorists not only came from Karachi but were born and bred in Pakistan, picked up as recruits in Pakistan, trained on the Pakistani soil, by some Pakistanis who belong to the Lashkar-e-Toiba group. It was clear that PAKISTAN HAD ATTACKED MUMBAI. (I dont care if people think i am generalising. If so much can be allowed in the land of Pakistan, i have rights to generalize.)

So when we can all see it that where the attack came from... Pakistanis would beg to differ.

Today's Indian Express has a nice report of how the Pakistan media has been carrying this news. Forgive me for plagiarism but i would love to share this with the readers of my blog.

TALKING PAK

With Mumbai 26/11 escalating tensions between India and Pakistan, the hostilities are playing out on a different platform: the media and the Net. While the Indian media has been talking of the “Pak angle”, the media in Pakistan has declared a virtual war on the Indian government and media. It is “hurt and angry” that India is “again” pointing fingers at Pakistan “without any proof”. Sympathy after initial news of the attacks gave way to defensiveness when Pakistan was first blamed, then to belligerence as the blame game intensified. Here, we tune in to some Pakistani TV channels, zoom into their blogosphere and peep into online social groups to hear their voices—mostly angry, some jingoistic and a few restrained.

TV: The big picture

News 1: Zaid Hamid, ‘security consultant and strategic defence analyst’, is a fixture on this channel: whether it’s on Mujhe Ikhhtilaf Hai with Qudsia Qadir or on Siyasat Aur Pakistan with Faisal Rahman. On Mujhe Ikhhtilaf Hai (I differ), Hamid made incendiary comments on how the Mumbai blasts are the handiwork of "Western and Hindu Zionists". "The Indians wanted to orchestrate 9/11 and recreate the drama of that but failed miserably," he says. He continued: "Inki shaklein Hinduonwali hain, jis zabaan mein guftagoo kar rahein hain, woh zabaan koi Pakistani istemaal nahin karta hai". (The terrorists looked like Hindus and their dialect was not what any Pakistani would speak)

Aaj TV: On the programme Live with Talat, Talat Hussain wondered if India and its media are jumping the gun by "instinctively pointing fingers at Pakistan". A clipping of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s address to the nation, promising to "strongly take up with Pakistan…that the use of their territory for launching an attack on India will not be tolerated", is followed by Hussain citing the Samjhauta blasts of February 2007. Then, too, India and its media—newspapers and TV channels—blamed Pakistan-based groups. It now turns out, Talat said, that "right-wing Hindu groups" and a serving Lt Col, Prasad Purohit, were behind the blasts. Aaj TV’s news programme, Prime TV, quoted Major Gen Athar Abbas, a senior Army officer, as saying that there are no terror camps on Pakistan’s eastern border.

GEO TV: On November 28, viewers heard something that took many by surprise: commandos seen sliding down a rope from a helicopter onto the Nariman House rooftop, were described as “Israelis’’. Geo TV said there were reports that the men in black were not Indian NSG commandos but Israeli ones. Just like Indian channels put together clips from "fringe Pakistani channels" to show how the Pakistani media was taking sides, a report on Geo TV pieced together a TV clip from Indian channels which, they said, had eagerly jumped to the conclusion that Pakistan was behind the attack and were pushing the Government to go to war with Pakistan. The report showed Indian reporters claiming that the Pak Navy was behind the attack, without attributing it to anyone. Another said rather provocatively, "Das atankwaadi, das ke das Pakistani." The report also shows clips of TV advocating attack on terror camps in Pakistan. But the report also says that there have been some voices of restraint. It took Kabir Bedi’s quote on Times Now: "Let’s make a distinction between the government of Pakistan and the people of Pakistan, let’s also make a distinction between this government of Pakistan and previous governments of Pakistan". On his programme Meray Mutabik, former PTV chief Dr Shahid Masood described the history and size of the Indian media, praised its role in breaking stories and its anti-establishment line. Masood wondered if India’s investigative journalists would get to "the truth of the Mumbai blasts instead of blaming Pakistan". A panel discussion, Capital Talk, took a more strident stand. It began with a "report" on the "atrocities India commits in the name of secularism—attacks on Christians, people gone missing in Kashmir, atrocities on Dalits". The show advised India to act against the likes of Pravin Togadia and Lt.Col Purohit, instead of carrying out a propaganda against Pakistan.

DAWN News: Another panel discussion; this time with the three top guns of Pakistani media—anchors Hamid Mir, Talat Hussain and Nasim Zehra. In an hour-long programme aired last Saturday and Sunday, they took turns to say that the Indian media was "too nationalistic", "told lies" and seemed to have made a habit of pointing fingers at Pakistan.

AL JAZEERA, QATAR, DOHA: Al Jazeera English tries to maintain a balance. It said that so far, there is “zero proof that Bin Laden and his Al Qaeda are in any way involved in the Mumbai attack" but added that the way Westerns were targeted makes the attacks a "trademark of the Al Qaeda”. It ended by saying: “Seems that like-minded groups are emerging in spite of the US’s so-called global war on terror”. On the channel’s Riz Khan Show, former CNN anchor, Riz Khan, in Mumbai “to study the success of Bollywood and explore social issues”, found himself assessing the attack: wasn’t this Mumbai’s 9/11? And how on earth did the attackers sneak in?

IBA NEWS, JERUSALEM: As expected the focus was on Rabbi Holtzberg and his wife killed in the Nari man House attack. One clip that makes it toYoutube is a report on the prayer meeting held in honour of the Rabbi and his family. It dwells on Baby Moshe still clutching his ball and still crying uncontrollably for his "Emma (mother)".

ON BLOGS

On http://darkcoldcoffee.wordpress.com/ 2008/11/30/, Raheel Lakhani questions the links between terrorists and religion in ‘A reaction is all they needed’. “Terrorists have no religion or nationality,” he writes. He thinks India and Pakistan are using the Mumbai attacks for their own purposes thereby playing into the terrorists hands who want “a ripple effect” and (you are) helping them achieve their motives”. Angry, he adds that if people around the world “are such cowards that our insecurities are only fulfilled by labeling, accusing and killing people'' or “harvesting more insecurities by propagation of fear then we all are also terrorists”.

“PS: The Arms Business is one of the biggest in the world. The fear propagated through them makes us buy them more.” With much talk on Indian TV of the need to raid Pakistan, Pakistanis debate the possibility and its possible outcome. Riaz Haq posted “Can India Do a Lebanon” in Pakistan (http://www.riazhaq.com/2008/12/can-india-dolebanon-in-pakistan.html) last Tuesday. He quotes Indian writer Pankaj Mishra's article in The Guardian on the possibility of India imitating Israeli raids on Lebanon. He wonders whether Indians growing admiration for Israel, Obama's support of India's right “to protect themselves”, and imminent general elections may tempt India to “do a Lebanon”?

In a detailed argument, he warns India would fail. “…they may… make some short-term tactical gains,” by killing a few suspected "terrorists", innocent civilians, and occupying some Pakistani territory temporarily. But in the long run, “they run the risk of a spectacular strategic failure leading to more and bigger terrorist attacks and possibly a nuclear conflagration in the South Asian region.” He argues that an Indian attack would “relieve pressure on Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Pakistan's FATA region, strengthen support for Pakistan's military, weaken Pakistan's democracy”.

Another blogger, Supersizeme feels ordinary Pakistanis do little to make any positive change “in this repulsive ideology that has grasped not only our country but our religion” or to disprove the stereotype that all Muslims are terrorists: “Instead of saying ‘yeah, we do have a problem. Lets try to think of ways to fix it’, we get incredibly defensive and take offense at anyone lumping us in with terrorists.'' Another response illustrates why many Pakistanis are now angry at India. Raza admits finding it hard to sympathise. “Be honest: although you let out an 'OMG' or a 'that looks terrible'…you snarled under your breath, 'they had it coming,' or, 'whatever…the Marriot was worse.'.. (So) why are we chastising Indians for feeling angry and afraid right now?'' One reason is that “Pakistan deals with this stuff every day'' but no one sympathises.

“Our people are getting killed day by day in this fight, and no one gives a s…. So do excuse us for being a just A LITTLE bitter.” Still, he hopes those responsible for the attacks are caught. “As Pakistanis, I am sure we will do everything in our power to make sure that this doesn't happen again. But boys, this is one ride you're gonna have to come along for...so strap in.''

As Indo-Pak relations nosedive, some bloggers offer solutions. Here's one from http://pitafi.com/2008/12/03/mumbaitragedy-a-doable-solution/ “The best, and perhaps the only, option is that India with the help of the international community probes the matter and compiles the evidence. Then it can provide Pakistan the evidence with the diplomatic request to try the accused. Pakistan government then can ensure that the apex court's full bench tries these element in open and transparent hearings and they are finally brought to the book.”

Lets hope that better sense prevails...