Pakistan

Today, General Musharraf,the leader for Pakistan,
accused the Bush Administration, with threatening
to "bomb his country back to the stone age... IF..."
Much ado over nada.

It seems very whiney, honestly. Following September 11,
there was an excellent possibility that Bin Laden was in
exile in Pakistan, or Afghanistan, not to mention, Pakistan
has the bomb. It doesn't seem like such a heinous thing,
for the US Dept. of Defense, to give this unstable nation,
very, very stern warnings. It comforts me that they *DID*!

I've had a few Pakistani friends, and they're great. But, my
friends live in the USA, and they would say the same thing
about their homeland, that it's primitive, in many ways.
This pertains, particularly, to human rights, especially,
how women are treated.

A brave, and valiant effort, has been undertaken, by a
beautiful Pakistani woman, Mukhtar Mai, who was the victim
of a brutal gang rape. Her attackers were originally acquitted.
She has endeavored to seek justice for herself, and other rape
victims, and victims of violence.

The laws in many Islamic countries seem harsh, but,
yet, crimes against women, often do not get justice.

That's why I am so impressed with Ms. Mai. It's people like
her, who bring about positive changes in the world, we live
in, even in cultures, where women's rights are an oxymoron.

I've followed this elegant, articulate, and admirable woman's
campaign, and she fills me with hope for all oppressed women.

Ms. Mai writes a blog, detailing human right's violations.
This is how a 110 lb. woman can move mountains. Way to go!


Here is an excerpt from her blog:

She has been writing a blog for the BBC's Urdu website with the assistance of the BBC's Nadeem Saeed. Here is the first in a series of extracts. I find her
inspirational, and a heroine.

1 July 2006

I came back to my village, Mirwala, (after a trip to Poland) and was devastated to hear what had happened in a nearby village, Wadowala.

A nine-year-old girl, Naseem Bibi, had been abused. Not just that, but another girl had been promised to be handed over to settle the dispute arising over the incident.

I was devastated to hear this.


I'll fight as long I'm alive. Some evils are centuries old and deep-rooted and it won't be easy to rid society of them
Mukhtar Mai

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Here I was talking about women's rights abroad but what about my own neighbourhood?

I was really disappointed and worried. How long will this continue?

But then I thought, oppression of women has to end. Instead of losing heart, I need to keep fighting.

I'll fight as long I'm alive. Some evils are centuries old and deep-rooted and it won't be easy to rid society of them.

I may get lucky and see some positive changes but not everything will change in my lifetime.

I have no doubt the children at my school will be there to take this struggle forward once I've passed away.

Mukhtar Mai started a school for girls in her village in southern Punjab with compensation money awarded by courts during her rape trial.

For more, here's a BBC article about her, including blog excerpts:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5370192.stm