Rape victim goes door to door for votes

By Asim TanveerMeerwala
August 24, 2005

LAST week the women of a Pakistani village infamous for a gang rape did something that gave the victim, Mukhtar Mai, hope for the future. They voted.

Wrapped in a shawl she embroidered herself and wearing traditional shalwar kameez, a baggy tunic and trousers, Ms Mai was jubilant as she anticipated the election of two housewives from her village of Meerwala to a district council.

"I hope these women will help resolve problems of all women. This can only be done if women are fully empowered," said Ms Mai, who caused a storm of bad publicity for Pakistan and became an international symbol for women's rights after speaking out over her gang rape ordeal three years ago.

The elections aim to give women a greater say by reserving them seats in representative bodies.

The first phase of elections for district councils was held on August 19, when 53 of the country's 110 districts voted. The remaining districts will cast their ballots tomorrow.

Turnout was put around 50 per cent in the first round, but among women it was less, ranging from 43 per cent in populous Punjab province to 16 per cent in North-West Frontier Province, where there have been allegations that women were barred from casting their ballots in some constituencies

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's democratic credentials are often criticised, but he is credited with reserving 33 per cent of seats for women in local and provincial assemblies.

However, women's rights activist Khawar Mumtaz noted hundreds of male and female candidates won unopposed, raising suspicions that others were prevented from filing nomination papers or had their applications rejected.

Ms Mai, who used money donated by the Pakistani Government and supporters at home and abroad to establish a school for girls in Meerwala, canvassed door to door to get the village's womenfolk to come out and vote.

Up to eight women stood for election, she said, and if most of them ended up losing, at least they were taking part.

"Success and defeat are part of the game, but I am happy that women stood in the elections and they cast their vote. I hope they will participate in the future as well," she said.

Ms Mai's village of Meerwala is set in the rural south of Punjab province, a place where traditional feudal and tribal ways hold sway and women have long suffered rough justice.

In 2002, a village council ordered the gang rape of Ms Mai as punishment after her brother, who was just 12 at the time, was judged to have offended tribal honour by befriending a 30-year-old woman from a more powerful clan.

In June, Pakistan's Supreme Court ordered the re-arrest of 13 men accused of involvement in the crime, pending the outcome of Ms Mai's appeal against a high court decision to overturn the convictions and free the men.

REUTERS

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