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NEWS & LETTERS, November-December 2005Mukhtar Mai speaksNew York--Mukhtar Mai, Pakistani national symbol and international symbol of women fighting rape and violence, spoke here in November. In 2002, this quiet, impoverished, religious woman who lives in a rural village, suffered a gang rape, ordered by the local tribal council to punish her family for a false charge against her brother. Instead of killing herself or moving away, she began a battle for justice, fighting the local tribal system, the "feudal" landowners, the police and the judicial systems, to get the rapists and the council prosecuted. She succeeded, but her case against the rapists is on appeal. Now she is battling the military government--President Masharraf at first refused to let her travel abroad denouncing her as an opportunist. Mukhtar told the audience at Cooper Union, many of them South Asians: "The support you’ve given me has helped me fight against oppression of the poor and women. Violence is committed by the big landlords, who have all the power and money. To change such conditions, all I have is your support. I want to end oppression through education. I want to provide protection for women. I have people-power with me. Truth will bring victory." In the last three years, no woman has been raped and the tribal council has not met. With compensation money, Mukhtar opened the first elementary schools in her village, Meerwala, one for girls and one for boys. They teach the children that women and poor people have rights. She hopes to open a crisis center and a hospital as her area has no medical facility for women. Her first concern is for victims of the earthquake, and she urged us and the U.S. government to provide more relief. The main sponsor of the forum, Asian-American Network Against Abuse of Human Rights (www.4anaa.org), is working to change Pakistani law, eliminate tribal councils and other parallel court systems, end "feudalism," enforce women’s rights, and support Mukhtar’s projects. Its president, Amna Buttar, likened Mukhtar to Rosa Parks: "neither woman knew that by making a choice, she would change herstory and become an icon for the world." --Anne Jaclard |
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