IDENTITY THEFT

IDENTITY THEFT
Mukhtaran Bibi is Mukhtaran Mai is Mukhtar Mai. However the woman is named her identity has been stolen by her Pakistani government.  Gang raped in revenge for a crime someone else did not commit, bravely seeking justice for herself without vengeance in a society where rape victims would destroy themselves in shame, Mukhtar found strength in herself.  Her story and identity have been used the Pakistani government as a bright light in the free world. When she spoke out against that government, her attackers were freed and Mukhtar was jailed. Now her government has dropped her into a strange shadow land, free but not free

“On the instruction of Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, the name of Mukhtaran Mai has been removed from the ECL,” Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sharpao told parliament, referring to an exit control list that prevents overseas travel.

“She is free to go anywhere. She can go wherever she wants,” he said.
...............
REUTERS

Kafka or the Melville of Bartleby the Scrivener could not enscribe so perverse a use of language to say one thing and mean quite another.

But Ms Mai has told the BBC that her passport has been confiscated so the move is meaningless.

The ban has prevented Ms Mai from taking up an invitation from human rights group Amnesty International to travel to the United States.

Officials had said she had to stay in Pakistan until court cases around the rape were resolved.

But critics said the move was a ploy intended to protect Pakistan's international image.
..........

BBC

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