Musharraf = Coward

I can hear them snickering disdainfully in the Oval: "All this fuss for one little woman, one illiterate Pakistani from a rural province. Don't these idiots know there are sensitive geopolitical politics at stake here? We're a nation at war. We must support President Musharraf. It is vital to the region."

Well here's a little more fuss for you, Mr. President - your great ally, the wonderful President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan is a weak, woman-hating, dreadful coward of a man, a friend of those who would rape to humiliate and scorn, and pillage for power and perversion.

I speak, for those who haven't heard the news, of the Pakistani government's kidnapping of worldwide symbol of peace and reconciliation, Mukhtaran Bibi, who I've written about before (here and here) on this blog. It sounds quaint and facile and boyish, but Mukhtaran Bibi is my hero - a small, willful package of courage and steel in the face of group torture and violence by the weak-souled, God-hating cowards who would make her a victim.

Victim is a label Mukhtaran Bibi refuses to accept. I read Kristof's column on the train coming in, and got the email from my friend Declan Hill at Oxford, who's been raising money and awareness about Ms. Bibi. And the news is appalling. The full column is below (I rarely quote in full, as a once and future journalist who has been paid for his work; but human rights trumps fair use, my friends).

If you're going to give me link, you folks in the RSS feed, do it today. Or just write your own short item. Or blog Kristoff. Just do it. This issue demands attention. This means you: Wolcott, Mannion, Chervokas, Gilliard, and Wilson. And you, Gandelman, Lasica, DeMarco, Shannon, Aliza, Dash, and Bowbrick. And yeah, you Tom Watson in Whitehall. And you Mernit, and Jack and Kottke, and Goddard, and Calacanis. And you Moose Man and you John Cole and you Pamela. And for God's sake, you Jarvis, and you Kos, and you Arianna with your massive audience reach.

Read this, and you will:

No wonder the Pakistan government can't catch Osama bin Laden. It is too busy harassing, detaining - and now kidnapping - a gang-rape victim for daring to protest and for planning a visit to the United States.

Last fall I wrote about Mukhtaran Bibi, a woman who was sentenced by a tribal council in Pakistan to be gang-raped because of an infraction supposedly committed by her brother. Four men raped Ms. Mukhtaran, then village leaders forced her to walk home nearly naked in front of a jeering crowd of 300.

Ms. Mukhtaran was supposed to have committed suicide. Instead, with the backing of a local Islamic leader, she fought back and testified against her persecutors. Six were convicted.

Then Ms. Mukhtaran, who believed that the best way to overcome such abuses was through better education, used her compensation money to start two schools in her village, one for boys and the other for girls. She went out of her way to enroll the children of her attackers in the schools, showing that she bore no grudges.

Readers of my column sent in more than $133,000 for her. Mercy Corps, a U.S. aid organization, has helped her administer the money, and she has expanded the schools, started a shelter for abused women and bought a van that is used as an ambulance for the area. She has also emerged as a ferocious spokeswoman against honor killings, rapes and acid attacks on women. (If you want to help her, please don't send checks to me but to Mercy Corps, with "Mukhtaran Bibi" in the memo line: 3015 S.W. First, Portland, Ore. 97201.)

A group of Pakistani-Americans invited Ms. Mukhtaran to visit the U.S. starting this Saturday (see www.4anaa.org). Then a few days ago, the Pakistani government went berserk.

On Thursday, the authorities put Ms. Mukhtaran under house arrest - to stop her from speaking out. In phone conversations in the last few days, she said that when she tried to step outside, police pointed their guns at her. To silence her, the police cut off her land line.

After she had been detained, a court ordered her attackers released, putting her life in jeopardy. That happened on a Friday afternoon, when the courts do not normally operate, and apparently was a warning to Ms. Mukhtaran to shut up. Instead, Ms. Mukhtaran continued her protests by cellphone. But at dawn yesterday the police bustled her off, and there's been no word from her since. Her cellphone doesn't answer.

Asma Jahangir, a Pakistani lawyer who is head of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, said she had learned that Ms. Mukhtaran was taken to Islamabad, furiously berated and told that President Pervez Musharraf was very angry with her. She was led sobbing to detention at a secret location. She is barred from contacting anyone, including her lawyer.

"She's in their custody, in illegal custody," Ms. Jahangir said. "They have gone completely crazy."

Even if Ms. Mukhtaran were released, airports have been alerted to bar her from leaving the country. According to Dawn, a Karachi newspaper, the government took this step, "fearing that she might malign Pakistan's image."

Excuse me, but Ms. Mukhtaran, a symbol of courage and altruism, is the best hope for Pakistan's image. The threat to Pakistan's image comes from President Musharraf for all this thuggish behavior.

I've been sympathetic to Mr. Musharraf till now, despite his nuclear negligence, partly because he's cooperated in the war on terrorism and partly because he has done a good job nurturing Pakistan's economic growth, which in the long run is probably the best way to fight fundamentalism. So even when Mr. Musharraf denied me visas all this year, to block me from visiting Ms. Mukhtaran again and writing a follow-up column, I bit my tongue.

But now President Musharraf has gone nuts.

"This is all because they think they have the support of the U.S. and can get away with murder," Ms. Jahangir said. Indeed, on Friday, just as all this was happening, President Bush received Pakistan's foreign minister in the White House and praised President Musharraf's "bold leadership."

So, Mr. Bush, how about asking Mr. Musharraf to focus on finding Osama, instead of kidnapping rape victims who speak out? And invite Ms. Mukhtaran to the Oval Office - to show that Americans stand not only with generals who seize power, but also with ordinary people of extraordinary courage.

UPDATE: The Brits are all over this story (but then, their media actually has a world view) and outrage in the UK press is growing rapidly. Here's Declan Walsh in the Guardian:

President Pervez Musharraf is particularly keen on promoting a "soft" image of Pakistan abroad as proof that his policy of "enlightened moderation" is succeeding. But try as he might, the chocolate on offer often has a bitterly hard centre.

This obsession with external image took a sinister turn last weekend when the government placed Mukhtaran Bibi on its notorious exit control list - an effective prohibition from leaving the country.

The move was shocking because Ms Mukhtaran is a genuine Pakistani heroine. Three years ago, the uneducated Punjabi villager was gang-raped on the orders of her local council of elders, who held that the vile attack was suitable retribution for a sex crime allegedly committed by her 12-year-old brother. That charge later turned out to be hogwash.

UPDATE II: I think the government of Pakistan needs to hear from some of the citizen bloggers of its biggest ally - so here are the contacts, folks. Be tough but polite:

His Excellency Mr. Jehangir Karamat ambassador@embassyofpakistan.org

Mr Mohammad Sadiq is Deputy Chief of Mission and assists the Ambassador in the overall functioning of the Embassy. He deals with both political and administrative issues. dcmsadiq@embassyofpakistan.org

Mr Aslam Khan is Minister (Political) and deals with political issues minpol@embassyofpakistan.org

Mr Shahid Ahmed is Counsellor Community Affairs and deals with the Pakistani community in the United States. shahidahmed@embassyofpakistan.org

Brig Shafqaat Ahmed is the Defence & Military Attache of the Pakistan Embassy. da@embassyofpakistan.org

Mr Ashraf Hayat is the Minister (Trade) and deals with Pakistan-US trade issues. commercialsection@embassyofpakistan.org & compk@rcn.com

Mrs Talat Waseem is the Press Minister and Media Spokesperson of the Embassy pressinfodiv@embassyofpakistan.org

Also, LazyCat, who's been on top of this story before, has some added links and resources - she too calls on bloggers to spread the word of this disgrace.

The Sawpit adds this trenchant commentary:

The embracing of President Pervez Musharraf in order to fight the war on terror is just another example of why the Bush administration's rhetoric about spreading freedom and democracy throughout the world is just a sick joke. It also exposes, yet again, the cynical nature of George W. Bush's supposed deep religious faith. Bush has decided to make a deal with the devil in order to look tough on terrorism.

I also think Chervokas said it particularly well on his blog:

Because Americans only care about things American, let me put this in local terms.

Pakistan's treatment of Bibi and the US government's failure to hold it's ally's feet to the fire on this most basic of human rights issues starkly exposes the bald, two-faced, lie that is the Bush Administration's supposed campaign for democracy in the Arab World.

Once the bullshit of the WMD justification for the invasion of Iraq shimmered off into space like a desert mirage, "democratization" became the buzzword. As a political matter, who could argue the premise?

The problem is that while the Bushies put up a phony show of democratizing Iraq, they have steadfastly refused to face the real challenges of democracy in the Middle East. The country most directly responsible for the Sept. 11th attacks--Saudi Arabia, one of the most despotic Arab countries--has had a Bush Administration pass from day one. And Pakistan--the political patrons of the Taliban, a nuclear power with a dangerous anti-Western military faction, and the country that currently harbors Osama bin Laden--has not just gotten a pass, but been rewarded with new foreign aid in an attempt to buy the country's loyalty in the "war on terror."

Just how good an ally is Pakistan? Bin Laden's living there. They refuse to turn over A.Q. Khan. And they placed a gang-raped woman under arrest because she wanted to speak out for the protect and rights of women. When will someone in the press corps have the balls to ask the President how Pakistan fits into his notion of democracy in action?

Well said: what about it, Amercan press?

UPDATE III: Here's what the Independent reported about the inner politics of the Pakistani government and President Musharraf's real attitude toward Ms. Bibi - disgraceful, and yet President Bush leads him down the Rose Garden path:

The case has indeed embarrassed President Musharraf, a "modern" general who is keen to play down the religious extremism in backward parts of his country. He has been promoting "an enlightened Islam" but activists say that this vision seems to exclude women. Privately, General Musharraf is enraged at how Ms Mai's case has brought infamy to Pakistan. Instead of promoting justice in the case, his reaction, along with a group of newspaper editors, has been to suppress information about the case. The President even threatened to "slap" a reporter "in the face" for publishing details in an international magazine about Mr Mai's defiance. The reporter in question was Pakistan's leading women's rights activist, Ms Jehangir, who is also a UN special rapporteur on human rights.

General Musharraf incurred the wrath of women's rights activists earlier this year. A tribe in Baluchistan began a revolt after an army captain allegedly raped a woman doctor working for the state-run gas company at its desert installations. The tribal chieftain, Nawab Bugti insisted that the suspected rapist be tried by tribal custom - walking across burning coals to prove his innocence.

Instead, the suspected rapist, who had powerful family connections within the military, has so far never been tried. Nor is he likely to ever face justice, after General Musharraf publicly declared he thought that the captain was innocent. The woman doctor was encouraged by the authorities to leave the country - not a choice for the defiant village schoolteacher.

The ruling party has vilified Ms Mai's supporters as unpatriotic. The State Interior Minister, Shahzad Wasim, said: "People in NGOs are ready to say anything for one dinner with Johnny Walker and eat innocent people like vultures."

Comments

[Ralph]

Just another example of why the Bush administration's rhetoric about spreading "freedom and democracy" throughout the world is a sick joke. The democratically elected Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was overthrown by the army back in Oct 1999. At that time the Clinton Admin was very concerned: "If there has been a coup, we would obviously seek the quickest possible restoration of democracy in Pakistan," said US State Department spokesman James Rubin. So since 9/11, that policy is out the window. The US has zero credibility in the world because as long as Pakistan assists the US in the so-called war on terror, they can do whatever they want.

[Tom W.]

Blog it!!

[Jack (CommonSenseDesk)]

Tom,

Good luck with this ~ she certainly deserves it.

Jack

[Tom K]

All good Tom. But please, only one "Declan" per post.

[Ralph]

Done. Good work Tom.

[Tony Alva]

I thank you for peeping us to this story Tom, it is one that warrants yours and everyones attention and involvement. I sent a donation along last time you brought this young woman's plight to the blogosphere, but you gotta stop leading a call to arms such as this with bashing the White House and Bush voters for two reasons: You want and need EVERYBODY to help this women, and the White House may end up being the only hope to gain her freedom.

By immediately alienating HALF the country to this poor women's situation, you're losing a chance for other interested people to get past the BS fabricated "snickering in the Oval..." crap.

We can debate the other issues later, gaining her freedom is what is needed right now. Please keep us informed of any other ways we can help out.

Respectfully,

TA

[Tom W.]

Yeah Tony, Fitz said the same thing - what can I say? The news of Bush's "cordial" meeting with the Pakistani junta leader on the same day as the kidnapping set me off - and i posted in anger. Too late to turn back now.

Also, Bush changed the Clinton policy of (weakly/toothless, I will agree) supporting a return to the overthrown, democratically-elected government of Pakistan. Spreading freedom in the region, indeed.

[Taran]

Her loss of freedom is our loss of freedom. Let's see what we can do.

[Elizabeth]

It seems that all of this helped. She's free to travel.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050615/india_nm/india_206061

[nadir]

I’ve been following this case July 2002, and have read nearly every online story in the Pakistani papers about the case. I’ve also read the text of ATC court judgement and the LHC text (http://www.dawn.com/2005/03/10/nat11.htm)

Firstly, what happened to her was horrible, and we should support people like Mukhtaran, and the many civic organizations in Pakistan that are working for women’s rights and civil liberties in general.

It saddens me, though, that so many people - inside and outside of Pakistan - are trying to exploit her story for their own agenda, and twisting the facts. It’s surprising that the NYT, the “Newspaper of Record”, would contain so many factual mistakes and misrepresentations in an article. They should have done some fact-checking & looked at court transcripts, instead of relying on Pakistani sensationalistic sources and publicity-hungry politicians.

I'd like to comment about NYT columnist Nicholas Kristof's pieces on Muktaran.

1. She was raped, but not “Sentenced to Be Raped” - that was a misleading title.
There was no court in this village. Contrary to the reports, Meerwala did not even have a village council, at least not in the usual sense. Kristof uses the phrase “the village’s tribal council” as if the village had one tribal council representing its two tribes. There was no such thing. No entity in Meerwala had the legal standing to issue a “sentence.”

The group labelled a council allegedly consisted of just three men of the Mastoi tribe: a Mastoi tribal elder, and two relatives of the girl Mukhtaran’s brother allegedly molested. Government prosecuters failed to prove this so-called council had issued a “sentence.” Nobody testified they had witnessed a council or village elder sentencing Mukhtaran to be raped. Mukhtaran’s own testimony was that the Mastoi elder had publicly called for her family to be “forgiven” for her brother’s alleged offence.

2. The article says, “As members of the high-status tribe danced in joy, four men stripped her naked and took turns raping her. Then they forced her to walk home naked in front of 300 villagers.”
As far as I can tell from the court transcripts, nobody danced or expressed joy. This detail was added to “spice” up the story. She was walking home in front of the doorway of Abdul Khaliq’s father’s hut, when Abdul Khaliq pulled her inside at gunpoint, while his alleged acccomplices held her father and uncle outside. According to her testimony, she was raped by Abdul Khaliq and allegedly other men for about an hour. Then she was pushed out wearing only a torn shirt, and her clothes were thrown out with her. Her father covered her up with her shawl, she put on her shalwar and he took her home. She didn’t “walk home naked in front of 300 villagers.” This yet another embellishment.

3. Kristof says, “In Pakistan’s conservative Muslim society, Ms. Mukhtaran’s duty was now clear: she was supposed to commit suicide.”
Pakistan is very diverse, and some of it isn’t so conservative. The country twice elected a woman as its head - something many “liberal” societies haven’t done yet. Her village was poor, backwards, and illiterate. If it was “conservative” the duty of its people, including Mukhtaran, was to see that her rapists get punished, bacause rape is never justifiable in a “conservative Muslim society.” When Mukhtaran went to the police, the society reacted: within two days, the Supreme Court had summoned top police officials, demanding swift action. Headline news in Pakistan, it was anything but routine.

4. “shocking idea that the shame lies in raping”
The norm, in Pakistan, in Muslim societies, and in most of the world, is that rape is a shameful and horrible act. Kristof implies otherwise, incorrectly.

5. Kristof should have mentioned that Taj Bibi was the mother of the rapist.

6. “A Pakistani court overturned the death sentences of all six men convicted in the attack on her and ordered five of them freed.”
Sadly, the prosecution couldn’t make a strong case, because nobody besides Mukhtaran and her four attackers were present in the room. Also, it was night outside, and there was no electricity in the village, so it was dark, and the prosecution questioned how the witnesses could have seen what they claimed to see. She didn’t go to police until a week later. Her sister had washed her clothes, so no DNA analysis. The first court convicted all four of her attackers to death, as well as two other men. Rape is punishable by life imprisonment, gang-rape by death. The LHC found insufficient evidence for a conviction of gang-rape. Abdul Khaliq’s sentence was changed to life. The others were acquitted, but remain in custody. The prosecution is appealing to the Supreme Court.

7. BTW, they were sentenced to death under the draconian Hudood laws. By an Anti-Terrorist Court, a type of court denounced by civil-liberties advocates. Now, even though they were acqutted, they remain in jail, and face double jeopardy. Yet, we don’t hear any “liberals” complaining. So much for principles!

8. It was indeed stupid of the government bureaucrats to put Mukhtaran on the ECL.

[Vaqas]

I wholely support your point of view and think MY President (Musharraf) has lost touch with reality. As a general point, the word 'bibi' means 'miss' in Urdu, so Miss Bibi translates to Miss Miss. it should be Miss Mukhtaran or simply Mukhtaran Bibi / Mukhtar Mai. oh yea, they also seized her passport today so shes not quite free to travel

[Adnan Y.]

According to Dawn, though, it's claimed that her passport was still confiscated after having her name removed from the ECL.

(I've mentioned this on my blog)

[a-train]

I just came over from Trickster where I posted this comment:

WE are the ones that funded these fundamentalist bearded terrorists and their madrasses. WE gave them weapons, money and training. WE helped destabilize modern elected governments in Pakistan and Afghanistan, because they were a little too far to the left for our capitalist tastes.

We were involved in Afghanistan via Pakistan before Russia invaded. We drew them in. We've been involved in coup after coup in this region of the world. In this regard Republicans are no worse then Dems.

Carter is the one that signed a directive to give secret aid to opponents of the pro-socialist regime in Afghanistan knowing that this would induce Russia to invade. 9/11 is just some of the blow-back of an insane foreign policy. And we are continuing on this suicidal and immoral path.

The Taliban is a Pakistani ISI creation. Musharraf has a tiger by the tail. If he crosses the "bearded ones" it's civil war and the mullah's have a good chance of gaining power if this happens. The fundamentalists have infilitrated the military and the secret service in Pakistan. If they take over in Pakistan, they will control nuclear weapons. Washington knows all of this better than anyone, that is why they send jets to Pakistan and don't bother about AQ Khan.

I am sorry for this woman, but there is no chance of our President making an issue of this, none.

Unless, they have a ready replacement for Musharraf that they trust and that has the support to take control.

[Yusuf Smith]

The Muslim bloggers have been all over this story as well. The lady behind Sunni Sister has been doing a running feature on it (most recently here.

Nobody in the world takes "Busharraf" seriously - Pakistan is notorious for its tradition of "dictraitors" and people will never forgive him for collaborating with the Americans in 2001.

[Yogi MCCaw]

Thanks Tom, I posted up the addresses of the embassy officials on my blog ("Moderates Revenge"). Also this link http://www.congress.org/congressorg/home/
where you can look up and write your elected representatives, can be used also. Let's keep their feet in the fire until we see some positive outcome!

Cheers, Yogi

[Malleus]

I just wrote on this story. More needs to be done. Thank you for doing your part.

[Imrana Khwaja]

Excellent article on the Mai affair here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4624411.stm

Also has useful links to case history and a report on a day in Ms Mai's life. Good stuff, IK

[Sam]

Subject: Motivation?..to help an indvidual rape victom or change five thousand years cultureal and social evils by a blog???....

Lots of people are saying things about The president of Pakistan whom I respect as an honorable person regardless of his politics, and bad mouthing Pakistan which is a close ally of my country in a very difecult time.

Yes this is a tragedy, rape, gang rape, or rape in any manner is condemned by all civalized socites and religions.

Unfortunately some people are using theire dislike towards the country of my birth and some of the people of my own country are pimping the tragedy of a brave Pakistanie woman for monetray purposes. I consider these organizations as prostitutes of a heinous crime as either begging from people for money or making their names and causes highlighted and showing compassion in a dubious way.Some people are trying to through money at a cultural malfunction due to an ancient law and culture.

In this day and age any negative view of the muslim people by ignorant and or bigoted people is the last thing we need to encourage.

Punjabies are ancient people, who still have tribal life style, this ruling by an old tradition which goes back to thousands of years, should not be confused by Pakistani Law or behavior of the government.Islam is only 1400 hundred years old, most of us punjabies were hindues and some converted to sikhisam, Islam and christanity. In American and Indian midea.

some people are trying to bring every evil act to be highlighted in muslim countries as a norm.

In USA Gang Bang is considered a freedom of speech, but a "no" by a women is respected and if you cross the line it becomes a gange rape, which is severely punished.This socity excepts a duble penetration or sodomy by a baseball bat or foregin object as a freadom of expression and legal protaction is given to the xrated movie companies to market it in adult theaters and video stores. I do not expect people from Pakistan to qustion the norms and Laws of my great country, they must respect our Laws and norms, niter I would like the Pakistanies to put social misfits and criminal acts of my country to be made a subjecvt matter in Pakistan. Our gang rapist can be covicted or be freed by a jury...

If Pakistan is handling this matter in their judical system we should respect that and try to work on our own demons and social issues. If you feel that Us Americans have tackled Rape, Gang rape, Child molesting and all other evils than we can point a finger at Pakistan and its government.

President Mushrif Knowes that their are some nasty, bigoted,opportunitest, hate mongers, Exploiters, Pimps of rape tragedy, sexul,religious perverts who are trying to get cheep thrils from this brave womans tragedy. I am very concerned about the image of pakistanies and muslimes who majority of them are very moral and peace loving people.

...as I have noticed That some of the peoples postings and using democracy, barbaric Pakistanies and other stupid logic to try to justify behavior of a small group of people, showes there ignorent or hidden agenda.

One of the woman wants to make a movie? why....This story has been told on BBC,CNN and tens of media outlets...what is her motivation???? please do not take advantage of poor Pakistanies misery, if you want to help do in a manner of some respect, like anonymously....

a concerned American.

[Sam]

SC orders re-arrest of 13 accused: Mukhtaran Mai case

By Nasir Iqbal

ISLAMABAD, June 28: The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the re-arrest of all 13 men accused of involvement in the gang-rape of Mukhtaran Mai and designated them as under-trial prisoners.

The court passed the order after suspending the ruling of the Lahore High Court overturning the anti-terrorist court convictions of the five main accused in 2002.

After culmination of a two-day preliminary hearing on a suo motu and nine appeals against LHC-Multan bench order, the apex court directed the Inspector General of Punjab to immediately arrest the accused and keep them in judicial custody till the appeals were decided. The accused should be treated as under-trial prisoners, Chief Justice-designate Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry said in a short order.

On March 3, 2005, LHC-Multan bench acquitted five of them on an appeal and commuted the sentence of the sixth [Abdul Khaliq] to life imprisonment.

“For reasons to be recorded later, leave to appeal is granted in all the petitions and in view of the circumstances, operation of the LHC-Multan Bench is suspended, non-bailable warrants of arrest of the accused, except Abdul Khaliq, be issued while Inspector General of Punjab is directed to arrest and keep them in judicial custody by treating them as under-trial prisoners, pending final disposal of appeals,” the order said.

Moments after the short order, Mukhtaran Mai, surrounded by a horde of development workers, received hugs, kisses and congratulations, while local and international media representatives rushed to record her comments.

“I am very pleased with the order,” said Mukhtaran Mai with a smile. She brushed aside queries about plans to travel abroad in the near future.

Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan and Justice (retd) Chaudhry Mushtaq, representing the Punjab government, told reporters later that the court order covered all the thirteen accused, except Abdul Khaliq. The accused are Ghulam Farid, Mohammad Fiyaz and Allah Ditta, awarded death sentence by the trial court while Faiz Mohammad and Mohammad Ramzan, awarded life imprisonment and Mohammad Aslam, Allah Dita son of Jan Mohammad, Khalil Ahmed, Ghulam Hussain, Hazoor Bux, Rasool Bux, Asim and Nazar Hussain (acquitted by ATC).

A woman in her early 30s, Mukhtaran Mai was repeatedly raped on the orders of the panchayat of the village Meerwala Jatoi in Multan district in June 2002, in reprisal for her brother’s alleged affair with a woman of the Mastoi tribe.

Attorney General Makhdoom Ali Khan told the Supreme Court that gang-rape cases were considered as acts of terrorism because they disrupted public order in a society and stigmatized a woman for life.

Citing cases both from Pakistani and Indian jurisprudence, Makhdoom Ali Khan said that the apex courts of the two countries had held that delay of eight or ten days in reporting such incidents could be condoned besides sole testimony of a victim, in gang-rape case, was sufficient for conviction.

Advocate General Punjab Aftab Iqbal told the court that the provincial government was compelled to detain the five acquitted accused under maintenance of public order (MPO) as they were hurling threats against family members of the victim.

Chaudhry Mushtaq asked the court to suspend the high court judgment as it failed to appraise evidence on the touchstone of principles laid down by the apex court for safe dispensation of justice in criminal cases.

Aitzaz Ahsan said the instant case was not a simple case of gang-rape rather an offence of terror.

He said the instant case was a case of attitude and perspective as women were being used as a bargaining tool.

Lauding the victim’s courage, he said that Mukhtaran despite being illiterate and powerless was fighting against injustice and had not succumbed to pressure.

Advocate Malik Mohammad Aslam, the legal counsel of Abdul Khaliq, said the court should decide the matter with care.

[stan]

First of all, TOMMY... STOP BEING SO PREJUDICE AGAINST MUsharraf; you know nothing about politics; The president of Pakistan has a lot on his mind; and he's doing the best he can...Stop picking on other people's weaknesses; cause it doesnt make you smarter or powerful than them it just shows how stupid you are...

[Adnan Y.]

According to the Wikipedia entry on Mukhtar Mai Wikipedia entry on Mukhtar Mai, her name is still on the ECL list as of July 20th.

Go Here and type in "Mukhtar Mai"

[Khalid M Bhatti Helsingor]

When in 2002, I heard this news of inhumane,inhuman,and the ugliest crime of history.
I was stunned a while, by visualizing the ordeal, anguish and humiliation of Mukhataran Mia (Member of Gujjar Tribe) by some so called (Mostai tribesmen) guardian of the virtue and unislamic tradition.
I shall endorsed the men who raped the woman and men who ordered this unjust justice must be hanged among the masses to make them an example for those who have ill desires and criminal minds to think thousand time before jumping into such a level of disgraceful act and also delivering such an unjust kind of justice.
The honor killing, the sodomizing of pity children and keeping women out of education is unislamic, though I know some of these inhumane act are ignorable in west but these heinous crimes altogether not be tolerant in an muslim country.

I was recently in Pakistan and was shocked to observe that Pakistan is no longer an islamic republic of Pakistan, but a hooch pooch of secularism,capitalism and feudalism.

So what happened with Mukhtaran Bibi and many of her sisters had nothing to do with islam but its roots solely goes back to pre-islamic traditions and evils/vices like that are also springing out from the neo-geographical, neo-geopolitical and neo-socialistic realities,on which's excuse Musharraf has become the lovechild of the west.

If we had strong islamic traditions valid still the days we hadn't had observed crimes of that velocities. As we see that the first man who condemned this heinous crime against Mukhataran Bibi was an Imam, though later on this case is been high jacked by the so called NGO's who are running their sweetshops with affective supports from west to introduce their way of culture and government in Pakistan to achieve its strategic aims.

The heads of these NGO's themselves are the most victimizers of the victims they exploit the victims not only keeping them in their household as mere servants but also extort large sums of money not only from local public,rich philanthropists but also from western countries to popup their accounts at home and abroad.

[Al Goldman]

Why are you sooo Anti Musharaf and Anti-Pakistan?? Yes Pakistan has a lot of problems but it has come a long way over the years. It would have been impossible for a woman such as Mukhtar to have stood up in Pakistan a decade ago to fight for womans rights. Pakistan is a frontline ally of the United States and the western world. Its instability is due to the volatile region its located in, continuing tension in Kashmir and Afghanistan as well as poverty. We need to stand beside our ally in their time of need, help them morally, thru the media, give them long term aid and assist them to improve themselves. We dont want to lose such an important ally especially a muslim one. Pakistan needs support, aid, educational grants... not unconstructive condecending critizism. Al Goldman

[Shourov Bhattacharya]

Not only is Musharraf a coward, but his latest comments in New York show that not only does let the rapists run free, he actually blames the victims for 'getting themselves raped' for financial gain! A staggering statement from a national head of state. There's little hope for women's rights in Pakistan while he's still at the helm (and that looks like being a while).

[Salman]

Having read all these blogs, I living in Pakistan in the middl eof all this. What
Musharaf has said is partly true. Some NGOs are really creating SOME stories to get worldwide attention. But the courage shown by Bibi is great.