When the Darkness Hides My Face

Mukhtaran Mai: true courage. Many don't know who Muktaran Mai [or Muktaran Bidi] is. She was convicted by a tribal council in rural Pakistan to punishment by public gang rape in 2002, for crimes she did not commit. The Pakistani legal system has arrested, detained, released, and arrested again most of the men involved in her case; but it is an ongoing, uphill struggle.

What is astonishing about Mai is her determination to not let her life simply end because of her case:

When Mukhtaran Mai, a simple, uneducated peasant of a small village, was gang raped on the orders of a local council, her life was supposed to be over. In Pakistan's tribal and feudal culture, rape victims are usually ostracized. But Ms. Mai refused to back down, dedicating her life to social work and to changing attitudes about women.

"I had only three choices. Either to commit suicide by jumping in a well or shed tears all my life like any other victim in such cases. Or I could challenge the cruel feudal and tribal system and harsh attitudes of society," says Mai in a phone interview with the Monitor.

When her case became a very public affair, and human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch took notice of the events, money began to pour in to a foundation she'd set up to build an actual education system in her rural region. She became a voice for the oppression and systematic violence of this ignorance, but then also worked to transform it into intelligence, awareness, and compassion. Truly astonishing.

Her case has been ongoing. The Supreme Court in Pakistan will begin hearing appeals, and recently the Pakistani legal system released up to 6 of the men who were inprisoned for their crimes against her; putting her in danger. She was slated to begin a small speaking tour in America and abroad, but was detained "for her safety" in house arrest; although recently her visa has been restored and she has been released.

When she makes it to America she is expected to tell her story to the world in hopes of raising awareness of the need for aid: aid for education and poverty reduction in these rural parts of the world [and rural lands where the War on Terror metastasizes], because she feels that the true methods of reducing this personal, sexual, and political terror is through building education systems.

She is a wise woman. And it is tough work going it alone:

Mai acknowledges that the pressure on her is daunting at times. "Even some people in the community taunt me, but I don't cry anymore. I only cry when the darkness hides my face. I curl up in my mother's lap but smile with sunrise with more vigor and courage," she says.