Pakistan's Dirty Linen
After a tribal court ordered her to be gang raped, Mukhtar Mai defied centuries of tradition by speaking out. But her campaign for women's rights has provoked a political storm in Pakistan.
By taking her case to the Supreme Court and the international press, Mukhtar Mai highlighted the plight of women in Pakistan. "Where was the State when a woman was being raped in broad daylight?" demands Asma Jahangir, chair of the HRC. President Pervez Musharraf is angry about the way her case has placed Pakistan in the global spotlight. "I've said it over and over again. Do not wash your dirty linen outside," he warned. He's gone to extreme lengths to silence Mai and personally ordered the confiscation of her passport. Her village was also given a school, roads, electricity and water in an attempt to pacify her. But the only thing Mukhtar Mai wants is justice.
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