Author: C Uday Bhaskar
Publication: The Times of India
Date: July 27, 2002
Introduction: Pak civil society
fights back
Rape as an instrument of terror
or punishment and its abiding recurrence across cultures and time is testimony
to how little basic sexual aggressiveness has changed. Worse still is the
cynical reality that this abhorrent practice that leaves many women traumatised
for life is accepted as being part of the normal rhythm of social activity
wherein men will be men. The subcontinent with its inherited feudal traditions
and social hierarchies is yet to redress this glaring gender-based inequity
The recent Gujarat brutalities and the gang rape and murder of an eight-year-old
girl in Guwahati, Assam (July 14) are cases in point and few countries
in the world have an unblemished rape record.
Against this backdrop, the gang
rape of a poor young woman in Meerwala, in southern Punjab in Pakistan
last month should hardly qualify as being out of the ordinary. To date
this year, the Pakistan Human Rights Commission has documented a total
of 165 rape incidents in the Punjab province alone, of which 72 were gang
rapes and Meerwala is part of this tragic litany
Yet what makes the plight of 28-year-old
Mukhtaran Bibi so distinctive is the manner in which this gang rape, ostensibly
sanctioned by the local panchayat, has galvanised Pakistani civil society
and the media resulting in the unprecedented alacrity with which a normally
impassive government and judiciary has acted against the perpetrators.
Within a fortnight of the incident becoming public knowledge, six men have
been awarded the death penalty and Mukhtaran has received considerable
support and sympathy, including an offer of marriage from a Pakistani army
officer.
The sequence of events that has
led to this swift indictment by an otherwise venal state apparatus is the
proverbial silver lining in the dark cloud that shrouds Pakistan and has
some pointers for the regional societal calculus. As a society, Pakistan
has been denied basic democratic rights and the military both defines and
pursues what it perceives to be the national interest. The latter included
the introduction of a certain Islamic religious fervour into society that,
in turn, tacitly endorsed various degrees of sectarianism within the Islamic
faith and complete intolerance for those outside the fold. The combination
of the fanatic maulvi and an insular vernacular press that toes the official
diktat has become the popular image of what ails Pakistan. Yet, in the
Mukhtaran case it is these very elements that have risen to the challenge
in a commendable manner.
The tragic gang rape took place
last month and was first reported by an Urdu daily, Khabrain on July 1.
Subsequently, the entire Pakistani print media and the international press
picked up the story adding to the pressure on the Pakistani establishment.
The Pakistani media has been bold and courageous in denouncing the guilty
and the Daily Times, Lahore, has taken General Musharraf to task for the
manner in which national honour has been defined. While the print media
in Pakistan has been spirited and consistently critical of state transgression
in recent years, more so after the October 1999 military coup, it is the
much maligned maulvi who also came up trumps in this case.
Mukhtaran Bibi's rape, which involved
a complex mix of upper caste arrogance, patriarchal chauvinism and tribal
honour, may have never come to light but for the courage of a local imam,
Abdul Razzaq. The latter condemned the rape in his Friday sermon and reiterated
what any rational person would support that such deviant behaviour though
decreed by the panchayat was against the spirit of Islam. The Bibi case
soon dominated the collective Pakistani consciousness and women's groups
that have long battled in vain suddenly received attention and support.
However, it would be misleading
to believe that Bibi's case will lead to an end to the phenomenon of rape
in Pakistan. The Musharraf regime is grappling with not just rape but the
deplorable practice of honour killing of women that is sanctioned by social
custom and practice. What Bibi's case has done is to point to the very
positive role being played by one section of Pakistani civil society and
the media under trying circumstances. This is a constituency that has received
scant attention when dealing with the entity of Pakistan by its external
interlocutors, including India.
However, Pakistan in its current
orientation with the military at the helm is unlikely to undergo a fundamental
transformation apropos of India. Thus, hypothetically, even if the Kashmir
issue was to be resolved to Islamabad's satisfaction, the Pakistani military
would still not allow a rapprochement with the arch enemy.
The only viable alternative is for
civil society to assert itself and permit the strengthening of democratic
institutions and related practice that have been systematically stifled
since the birth of Pakistan. General Musharraf's perception of the October
elections is an extension of the charade that began with General Ayub Khan
in 1960. Washington regrettably has tacitly supported the Pakistani military
over civil society due to compulsions of realpolitik. The Powell visit
may offer a unique opportunity for Washington to advance Pakistan's true
national interest and support the very constituencies that have brought
some hope to Mukhtaran Bibi and what she symbolises.
