THE POWER OF CONSCIENCE

THE POWER OF CONSCIENCE
Mukhtaran Bibi speaks the truth that indomitable love may conquer all in spirit, but political bodies are another matter. Now the latest update from Pakistan:

UPDATE FROM NICHOLAS KRISTOF/NEW YORK TIMES [here]
On Friday, Ms. Mukhtaran told me that one of the prime minister's aides had just called to offer to take her to the United States. It seems Mr. Musharraf wants to defuse the crisis by allowing Ms. Mukhtaran a tightly chaperoned tour of the U.S., controlled every step of her way.
"I said, 'No,' " she said. "I only want to go of my own free will."
Hats off to this incredible woman. President Musharraf may have ousted rivals and overthrown a civilian government, but he has now met his match - a peasant woman with a heart of gold and a will of steel.

JUST IN KRISTOF ON NEW SMEAR CAMPAIGN  [here]
A Pakistani journalist who wanted to remain anonymous informs me:
For the past 2-3 months, an Urdu newspaper called Ausaf -- which is widely believed to be financed by Pakistan's infamous "agencies" -- has been carrying what can only be described as a vicious campaign against Mukhtaran Mai. Stories have featured about her character (that she smokes so is therefore "bad"!!!), questioning her "patriotism", that she had been sold to a western agenda and so forth.

Another Pakistani confirms that. So I think what we're seeing is a pattern of the Musharraf government getting sick of the attention that Mukhtaran got, getting increasingly resentful of what they regarded as an image of backwardness that she promoted, and thus increasingly determined to destroy her.
Musharraf should be ashamed of himself.

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL EXPRESSES CONCERN [here]
Amnesty International USA is gravely disappointed by reports that gang-rape survivor Mukhtaran Bibi was pressured into withdrawing her visa application for a speaking tour in the United States. That the Pakistani government would bar Ms. Mukhtaran from leaving the country is a testament to the calculated measures it has taken to obscure a human rights record that flies in the face of international standards.

KRISTOF ON UNSPOKEN LARGER CONCERN [here]
It does make you think: If this is how President Musharraf treats a woman who has the world's attention, whom U.S. officials have spoken out strongly on behalf of, then what happens to an ordinary woman who isn't in the spotlight?

KRISTOF ON THE NAME: MAI OR BIBI? [here]
By the way, a word of explanation on her name. In the Pakistani press, she's mostly known as Mukhtar Mai, and occasionally as Mukhtiar Mai. Mukhtar is a variant of Mukhtaran, and Mai -- like Bibi -- just means that she's a woman. So calling her "Ms. Mai" means Ms. Woman. I use "Mukhtaran Bibi" because she told me that that's how she would prefer to be called and she showed me that that is what her national ID card uses. That's also what people in her village call her.

 

Here in America where our personal difficulties may seem minor compared to Mukhtaran, we may find inspiration in her so far away. The light of conscience and the power of the will can make more than one woman free.

BLOGGERS WHO HAVE WRITTEN ABOUT MUKHTARAN CAN BE FOUND [here]
PREVIOUS HERETIK POST [here]   

Tom Watson has written most about Mukhtaran, most recently [here]

The Heretik Joe Ivory Mattingly is interested in showing as much support across the blogs as possible.  If you have posted about Muktaran and would like to be added to the next update of posts, drop a comment below or contact me [here].