Nadia_H

Apologies if this was posted previously.

Life after the verdict, Nadeem Saeed, DAWN, 19 December 2002

What has life been like for the victim of the now jirga-ordered gang rape?

"Education is the key to awareness" said Mukhtaran Mai, the victim of the notorious Meerwala gang-rape.She was talking to TR, a day after Eidul Fitr in the glimmering light of a lantern at her mud house in the village in Jatoi tehsil of Muzaffargarh district, now named after her father as Basti Ghulam Farid Gujjar. After the rape, when the governor of Punjab asked what the government could do for her, she asked that a primary school for boys and girls be set up in her village.The governor generously approved the demand immediately, following the supply of electricity to her village and the construction of a 4.5km long road to connect her village to the Meerwala village.

Mukhtaran Mai, 30, remembers how when she was a little girl she wanted to go to school but there was no such opportunity, especially for girls, in the area. However, she satiated her thirst for knowledge by learning to read the Quran.

"And this is the most that parents in rural areas can offer their daughters," she added. "I still feel deprived of education."

The Meerwala incident only strengthened her convictions on the significance of education. For it was educated urban women who supported Mukhtaran's decision to take the firm stand of bringing the perpetrators to justice; vilified by the illiterate village women who saw her decision as nothing more than the washing of dirty linen in public.

Mukhtaran was given Rs 500,000 by General Musharraf through the then federal minister for population welfare, Dr Attiya Inayatullah, while the principal of a private school in Muzaffargarh also gave her Rs 50,000. An expatriate woman recently sent her a cheque of Rs 100,000. The Muzaffargarh DCO, however, has reportedly directed Mukhtaran Mai's bank not to honour the cheque without his approval, and this order has been strictly observed.

The Punjab education department usually only opens a school in a village when the people of the area provide a piece of land free of cost for the construction of a building. For Mukhtaran Mai's school also, there was no exception. She had to purchase four kanals of land against a sum of Rs 100,000. She also had to pay several visits to the DCO office to get a relaxation on the 'ban' on the withdrawal of the amount from her account. "DCO sahib says the ban has been imposed on the direction of the governor," she revealed.

The structure of the boys' school building has taken shape while work on the girls' school has also been initiated. After the posting of a teacher, classes in the boys' school have commenced, but no teacher has so far been posted for the girls' school. In the first month of it becoming functional, more than 100 students were enrolled in the boys' school.

The education department has, however, opened a girls' school in the vicinity under 'Ujala' scheme. A matriculate woman of Meerwala village is assigned the duty to teach the girls in Mukhtaran's village. Some 30 students have been enrolled in the 'Ujala' school which just teaches people to read and write.

The foundation work on the 4.5km long linking Mukhtaran's village to Meerwala road has been completed. The estimated cost of the road is Rs five million, which does not include the cost of some 10 causeways and two bridges over a water channel. When the village came under limelight, the Water and Power Development Authority carried out a survey of the area to install electricity, but only in Mukhtaran Mai's home, while the rest of the houses were to remain dark. While estimates were made by the WAPDA authority, Mukhtaran Mai and her family refused electricity only to her house while the other 20 house would continue to live the dark.

The governor had also made an announcement for Mukhtaran Mai to be given a job in the girls' primary school in her village but nothing was done to further pursue it. "I would set up a book and tuck shop in the area to supply the schools," Mukhtaran Mai said, disclosing her future plans. She also reflected that the government could not offer her much as she was illiterate. The most they could offer her was the job of a peon or a caretaker of the school, a role which she would like to play even without any remuneration.

Mukhtaran Mai is however, concerned about the security of her family in the wake of the hostility of the Mastoi clan. Though a police post has been set up in her village, it has yet to be given a permanent status. She was sceptical whether the post will be kept in the village on a permanent status. Her brother Hazoor Bakhsh said they might leave the area for security reasons if the government gave them a house elsewhere beyond the reach of the Mastois. However, Mukhtaran Mai said she would only do it as her last option. She said the Mastois had a small piece of land in her village and it would be more practical for the safety of her family if the government would allot the Mastois another piece of land in exchange against this state land which the Muzaffargarh district government had leased out to them in other villages of the area which were mostly populated by the Mastois.

The residents of the area bore fears of a possible encounter between the Mastois and the Mukhtaran family which may lead to brawls, also endangering Mukhtaran Mai's family. They also reported that the proclaimed offender Muneer Badar of the Mastoi clan was often heard hurling threats. A firing incident occurred involving a local journalist, Mureed Abbas, who first reported the Meerwala case in an Urdu daily before the national and international media took up the cause.

The government had announced plans to issue an arms license to Mukhtaran Mai's brother and others who stood by her in her trial including Maulvi Abdul Razzaq who first condemned the Panchayat enforced gang-rape of Mukhtaran Mai in his Friday sermon. Maulvi Razzaq told The Review that they had applied for the licenses some three months ago but the authorities were not in a mood to oblige, whereas Muneer Badar and the other Mastois could be seen carrying illegal arms.

Mukhtaran Mai's family has stood by her though apprehension lurked as to how they will ever get justice, considering the inefficient judicial system of our country.

When asked about any message she wanted to give to women irrespective of rural or urban areas, Mukhtaran Mai said:"They should start their struggle against injustice from their homes by resisting domestic violence. Their silence and tolerance encourages men to further suppress them. They should muster courage to resist the hand raised against them."

The Human Rights society of Pakistan has considered Mukhtaran Mai for their award for the year 2002 for showing an unprecedented resolve to obtain justice. Mukhtaran Mai heard about it on the radio but received no formal information about it.