The work of Mukhtar Mai, who survived a gang rape to become a fervent campaigner for voiceless women in Pakistan, has earned her many enemies, among feudal lords and even in the government, according to noted American columnist Nicholas Kristof. “Mukhtar is a hero of mine,” Kristof writes in The New York Times. “But her work has earned her many enemies, particularly among the feudal lords - and even in the government of President Pervez Musharraf, who fears that Mukhtar displays Pakistan’s dirty laundry before the world. So the Pakistani authorities are harassing Mukhtar, trying to break her organisation”, which helps women and the poor in distress.“Most of the pressure right now is on Mukhtar’s top aide and soul mate, Naseem Akhtar. Lately Naseem’s brother was in a mysterious vehicle accident, her father was ordered arrested for no apparent reason and her own house was broken into,” writes Kristof.
The report says that Farooq Leghari, a police chief, was transferred away from Meerwala because “he tried too hard to protect Mukhtar”. He now is police chief in another town and, when Kristof visited him, he told him that “this harassment and pressure on them is from very high up, from Islamabad”.
‘’Their lives are in danger,’’ Mr Leghari said of Mukhtar and Naseem, adding that they could be killed by assassins sent by feudal lords or by the Pakistani government itself, says Kristoff. He adds: “So I have a message for President Musharraf: Don’t even think about it. Start protecting Mukhtar instead of harassing her. And if any ‘accident’ happens to Mukhtar or Naseem, you will be held responsible before the world. We are watching.”
| Good for Kristof. |