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Muslim Woman's Courage Sets Example
Pakistan's Federal Shariat Court -- the nation's
highest Islamic court -- vacated an appeals court
decision that had outraged the world.
In essence, the appeals court had acquitted five
of the six men convicted in the 2002 "honor rape"
of Mukhtar Mai. Her ongoing story may well
foreshadow the future of Muslim women who suffer
under tribal law and other oppressive traditions.
Hers is a savage tale of brutalization and courage,
with confusing twists and a resolution that is
uncertain. But it is a story of hope, which
provides reason for optimism.
In it, the West provides an invaluable voice of
conscience and compassion. But the story's ultimate
message may be that Muslim women must stand up for
themselves and say 'no.'
In the summer of 2002, a panchayat court (or
village council) sentenced Mukhtar to be gang-raped
by four men. The sentence was not to punish Mukhtar
for wrongdoing. Rather, her 14-year-old brother was
accused of associating in public with a girl from a
rival and more powerful tribe; her rape was meant
to punish the family for his transgression.
Gang-raped, beaten, and thrown naked into the
street, Mukhtar was forced to walk home through her
village. The public nature of the punishment
ensured she was an outcast and unmarriageable.
Mukhtar was expected to kill herself, but a suicide
attempt failed. Her family revived her, and the
support of her loved ones deterred her from making
future attempts.
Her story grabbed the media's attention.
Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times visited her
home and observed, "a girl in the next village was
gang-raped a week after Ms. Mukhtaran, and she took
the traditional route: she swallowed a bottle of
pesticide and dropped dead."
By contrast, Kristof wrote, Mukhtar survived and
propounded "the shocking idea that the shame lies
in raping, rather than in being raped."
In rural Pakistan, as in many remote Muslim
areas, tribal courts often take precedence over the
law of the land on matters of family and
"honor."
Indeed, when human rights organizations express
outrage over ritualized violence against women in
Islamic cultures, it is often the panchayat tribal
courts toward which they point an accusing
finger.
For example, Pakistan is notorious for "honor
killings." This is the practice by which women are
murdered, usually by male relatives, for sexual
'improprieties' such as having sex outside of
marriage. Mukhtar's story is an international
indictment of that system.
However, in recent years\x{2014}largely due to
its alliance with and dependency upon the United
States\x{2014}Pakistan's national government has
been trying to reform how women are treated in
their country. President Musharraf has declared an
agenda of "enlightened moderation" that sets his
more Western version of society at odds with tribal
traditions.
In Mai's case, the first "official"
encouragement came from a local imam (an Islamic
cleric) who called for her attackers to be brought
before a civil court. (The importance of calls of
reform and rebellion originating from within the
society itself cannot be overstated.)
Soon, international opinion took up the cry and
Pakistan's authorities reacted quickly. A special
anti-terrorism court sentenced the four accused
rapists as well as two members of the panchayat
court to death. Musharraf presented Mukhtar with
approximately $8,300 in compensation and ordered
the police to protect her.
Mukhtar used the money to open schools for
children in her village.
Sarwar Bari of Pattan -- a non-governmental
organization that supports Mukhtar -- states, "A
lot of people would have taken the money and run
away, tried to forget, but Mukhtaran has not only
stayed but has launched a visible challenge to the
feudal landlords to change the status quo."
And, then, a slow and boring appeals process
ensued. And, then, world attention shifted
focus.
Some of that shift was the natural consequence
of a fast-moving world. Some was encouraged by
Pakistan's government to mute global criticism.
Clearly, the Pakistani government was not pleased
with reporters like Kristof.
Last September, Kristof reported, "relatives of
the rapists are waiting for the police to leave and
then will put Ms. Mukhtaran in her place...I walked
to the area where the high-status tribesmen live.
They denied planning to kill Ms. Mukhtaran, but
were unapologetic about her rape."
And while the world shifted focus, the appeals
court set her rapists free.
Early this month, Kristof published an op-ed in
the N.Y. Times entitled, "When Rapists Walk Free."
There, Kristof commented, "I had planned to be in
Pakistan this week to write a follow-up column
about Mukhtaran. But after a month's wait, the
Pakistani government has refused to give me a
visa..."
But now that the higher court has overturned
those acquittals, global attention is again on
Mukhtar.
On a website about her ordeal, Mukhtar, a small,
soft-spoken women in her 30s, says of the
attention: "My legal name is Mukhtaran Bibi, though
I have become known in recent years as Mukhtar Mai.
The local media here in Pakistan gave me that name,
meaning 'respected big sister,' after my story
first became national news."
But what the world sees upon refocusing on
Mukhtar is a woman who has stood strong for two
years and become a lightning rod around which other
women gather to march and protest.
One official reaction: a contempt plea has been
filed against 14 people, including Mukhtar, for
making statements critical of the court to the
press. Liberalizing the treatment of women and
moving too openly against tribal courts obviously
places Musharraf in an uncomfortable position.
Yet change is coming. Mukhtaran has said. "It's
more than I would have thought possible two years
ago."
Imagine what might be accomplished if the world
pays attention for the next two years.
©2007, Wendy
McElroy
* * *
Wendy
McElroy is the editor of ifeminists.com
and a research fellow for The Independent Institute
in Oakland, Calif. She is the author and editor of
many books and articles, including her latest book,
Liberty for Women: Freedom and Feminism in the
21st Century. She lives with her husband in
Canada. wendy@ifeminists.net
E-Mail. Also, see her daily blog at
www.zetetics.com/mac
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