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Patronage of rape
The assault on Mukhtaran Mai exposed the vulnerability and helplessness of every woman.
The writer is a health, safety and environment consultant at an organisation called Quality Concerns
Pakistan’s bravest woman finally lost the battle that she single-handedly fought with the rest of Pakistan. Eight years and 10 months down the road, the Supreme Court of the country handed down its 82-page judgement, that may or may not withstand the touchstone of justice, but it surely conveyed a powerful, startling and unambiguous message to the people of Pakistan. An unwritten message that the story of Mukhtaran Mai’s gang rape was not entirely true, that it appeared a case of delusion and that she perhaps suffered from bouts of lacunar amnesia. The rapists were, in fact, men of great honour and tradition. Five out of six of them immediately deserved to be set free and allowed to go home dancing and celebrating, so that their ‘honourable panchayats’ could sponsor yet more opportunities for raping the weak and helpless. The state institutions were essentially there to protect and patronise this politically sanctioned and culturally accepted act of bravery. The women of Pakistan must continue to suffer, while the state must always find a way out for those who indulge in this and other similar crimes.
The conclusion arrived at by the court has saddened the hearts of many who built their hopes for a better tomorrow on a judicial system that could differentiate between narrow clerical procedures and higher principles of justice, or at least between right and brazen wrong. Why must this be the only country in the world where a jirga (a medieval but officially condoned version of a village high court) can order or supervise the rape of a woman? Why must it be the only country where a high court and a supreme court would find nothing wrong with a woman formally presented for rape to four men in front of a large gathering and consider it judicially appropriate to set the culprits free? The fact that insufficient evidence and faulty police investigation were a hindrance in the carriage of justice was acknowledged but overlooked in favour of the rapists.
The assault on Mukhtaran Mai exposed the vulnerability and helplessness of every woman, just as the decision of the court lends a question mark to the dignity, sanity and security of every citizen of this country. For the survivors of this much patronised crime, the judgement considerably reduces any future expectations of justice from within the judicial system. On the contrary, it reinforces the path adopted by the Meerwala jirga as a preferred method of conflict resolution. Why was it not possible for the court to order a reinvestigation, just as it has done so in many recent cases? Why was the village jirga not taken to task for proposing and patronising such despicable deals? Why were the policemen not held accountable for conducting a faulty investigation or failing to produce the real culprits? These and many other questions point towards a systemic failure of our judicial system. The $350 million ‘access to justice’ loan (read gimmick) may have benefitted many consultants and middlemen, but has not taken us an inch forward on the road to justice. If it takes eight years and 10 months to come to a conclusion in such a high-profile landmark case, the courts are not likely to be radiating hope or confidence for ordinary citizens. A court case is now synonymous with an unending ritual of ‘next hearings’ and a pocketful of fee for the legal fraternity that is normally happy to let the show go on forever.
Mukhtaran Mai symbolised the struggle of ordinary people against the tyranny of an unjust system. The state institutions, however, have collectively connived to prove her wrong. The political parties have shown no interest in abolishing jirgas, supporting women, punishing rapists, abolishing practices like karo-kari or stopping hatemongering from religious platforms.
It is time for the people of Pakistan to demand and push for major structural reforms in the criminal justice process. Can the setback suffered be converted into a sustained and organised effort for judicial reform, instead of the knee-jerk emotional responses of anger, press statements and protests?
Published in The Express Tribune, April 23rd, 2011.
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Reader Comments (21)
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Pakistan does or not deserve not deserve freedom or independance? Seems’s the country is run by a bunch of Nazi’s!Recommend
when Injustice becomes law,
Rebellion becomes duty.
Ours is the worst judiciary and out of all the countries in the world this “land of the pure” is the worst country to live in.. It’s time to start hanging the judges, lawyers And many others that have contributed to our current state.Recommend
This is truly an evil country, no doubt about it.Recommend
What the hell stupid decision by the judiciary.. They are nuts.. so sad, we must protect the women of pakistan.. Hang these creeps the rapists.. give them a punishment like they have never seen before.. Shame on the judiciary.. I think they don’t provide justice, they only provide cover up to the crime…
May ALLAH give the rapists a punishment in this world and the hereafter unlike never before seen and that will never be seen again.. Recommend
m hussein: Evil because it has people like you who dont do anything except empty talk?? Evil because you didnt do anything to help Mukhtara mai or others get justice? What give you the right to declare something or someone evil? You must be clearly evil to just see evil!! Go fix yourself before its too late. The evil thoughts you are sending to others will come and bite you back soon. Recommend
@sirius warren: another useless man in this world!! Nothing substantial to add to the article except for telling everyone about your true worth. Amazing how men openly shame themself nowdays!!
Dont worry about mukhara Mai..worry about yourself and get help.
@author: sad to say that you have written well but just wondering where were you when the case was going on? I mean you seemed soo concerned about her to write this article, Why didnt you follow the case and raise alert about the police blunders. Ok so i guess you are like most people..easy to talk negative than prevent??
Cant blame anyone except the police and Mai lawyers. The Judges can only give verdict on whats presented from both sides. Mukhtara Mai team needs to be shamed on national television for messing up this case. Justice delayed..justice denied has whats happened.
Mai we love you for standing up to your accusers. You are a brave woman and the fight has just begin. Recommend
is judiciary independent?
Pakistani judiciary seems FUN like Parliament..
8 years ? why they made Mukhtara Mai to wait
?Recommend
……And lets get back to the business of protesting drones and Karry Luger billRecommend
@MS- Mariya:
You are either deaf and dumb or stupid or both.
Ever looked around you to see what’s happening???
The weak are oppressed, terrorists are let loose, rapists are rewarded, justice is bought with money and that’s the court system!
Ever seen the life of the common man, ever notice that integrity, justice, compassion are non existent in our societies.
Don’t you see how that our biggest export is terrorism? corruption and abuse of the people’s money is rampant.
Ever think about the draconian laws. People are in jail because they threw a business card.. lawyers killed a man on the street because they had a fender bender.
It is stupid people like you that have no sense that makes all this and more happen.
This is an evil country and everyone in the world agrees with that statementRecommend
It makes me sick to my stomach that there are still some people who are hell bent in defending this verdict of so-called independent judiciary. There cannot be any excuse no matter what to come up with this kind of decision. The whole world cannot be wrong to condemn this blatant disregard of basic human rights of a helpless woman.
Another “feather” in the cap of SC of Pakistan. With a history of approving each and every military takeover, they had a chance to do something right for a change. Not even US, has more than 9 judges in the SC. While a poor Pakistan enjoys benches of 17 SC judges. Most of the time these judges like dummies make unanimous decisions, like four legs of a table. No two educated humans have exactly the same thinking except the Pakistani Alibaba and thieves.
Mirz, USA Recommend
We have nobody to blame but ourselves…Recommend
It appears today is the day for supporting the case of a hapless woman raped and disgraced, who had the courage to stand up and accuse the rapists. Of course at the cost of getting a bad name. After all, most of women are supposed to shut up and accept this sexual sexual lust of mean and men to remain pious in the eyes of the society. .
But blaming the judiciary is also not fare; the judges give verdicts according to the laws of the country and NOT on what they think of this case.
Now let us look at what Islam says about rape. As I understand it, you need 4 witnesses, all men and ‘good Muslims’ who have witnessed the rape, or any sexual intercourse. Did Mai produce 4 witnesses? I doubt it very much. The judges were, therefore, ‘forced’ to let the culprits free.
What we should be discussing today is ask questions about this law. How can four people watch a rape and not interfere to stop that happening? How can a man have sexual erection when so many people are watching the act? And most important aspect is that if these ‘pious’ men did not interfere and only watched the ‘show’, are they not part of the crime for not stopping this shameful act? It is left to your judgement to decide if they were not actually enjoying the scenes, as we see on so many blue movies.
My conclusion: Change this law and find some more pragmatic way of determining rape. But then what i am asking is equivalent to being an infidel. God gave me the mind to think and ask questions. Expressing my thoughts should not be a crime. Recommend
This is the judiciary ‘we protested’ to reinstate.Recommend
azad adlia and azad panchaiyats : both zinda badRecommend
Heres a thought what if mukhtara mai was lying?Recommend
the decision show the reflection of landlord mentality in adlia..shame for this decision adlia.very shame..Recommend
@White russian: Ohhh so you are an indian or Pakistan…what low self esteem to hide yourself behind this name. You spoke against Pakistan on the Burqa article and talked about liberating woman. Why not start liberation by accepting yourself and your name. Choosing white russian as a name shows your complexes and low esteem. You have the audacity to point fingers at others when you clearly need help yourself!!!
Zinda bad to hypocrates like youRecommend
@MS-Mariya
I did not say anything about liberating the woman in Burqa article.
I did not say anything against Pakistan either.
I am neither pakistani nor indian.
I use the name of my favourite drink as my internet identity.
Thank you for revealing yourself with your highly intelligent comments.Recommend
Its a head bowing time for our society,a few minutes earlier ch justice of Peshawar High court also said “hum decision face dekh kr dete h”.(we are giving the court decision according to our relations)in a speech with judicial commission.Recommend
The mind set and psyche of Judges is not immune to the prevelant societal attitde towards women folks in the country who are treated as a chattel and not at par and equal to men. All the lip service and protestations in this behalf amount to nothing.
The abuse, exploitation and degraditionof women is likely to continue till the society is not purged of such retrogressive mind set and psyche, Recommend
@MS Mariya
Don’t waste your time here. Women in France are waiting for you to get your support for their right of wearing burqa.Recommend