Pakistan's iron lady

If there is one thing that makes Mukhtaran Mai stand out, it is her quiet dignity.

In a country where victims of rape almost never speak about their ordeal, or live lives shrouded in secrecy and shame, the simple village woman from Meerwala in the deep south of the Punjab, has dared to look thousands in the eye.

And despite her lack of education, the simplicity of her lilting Seraiki-accented Punjabi and her self-confessed failure to understand jargon about women's empowerment heard at the seminars she has attended, Mai has taken on the challenges she has faced with courage, and a small smile that flickers across her face when good news comes: as after the Supreme Court verdict on Tuesday. (The court rearrest of 13 men linked to the gang rape of Mai.)

Mai's story is in many ways a unique one. The simple village woman, then aged around 30 was brutally gang-raped in 2002, after a tribal council of the rival Mastoi tribe ordered the terrible punishment.

At the time, as her story made its way into newspaper headlines, almost by accident, she had seemed terrified as photographers and journalists converged on her family's tiny home, wishing to speak to the shattered victim of an offence that shocked almost everyone in the country.

Today, the confident young woman is far removed from the terror-stricken victim.

She speaks now of a future, in which marriage, children and more schools in her home area, all seem like real possibilities. "At the time of the rape, I had first thought the only choice for me was to commit suicide," Mai told Gulf News in a recent interview.

The change came as Mai, her parents and four younger siblings two brothers and two sisters realised that most people were in fact behind them. Activists of non-governmental organisations who visited Meerwala in droves told all members of the traumatised family to put the past behind them, and look towards the future.

Challenge

As the eldest among her siblings, Mai chose to take on the challenge.

"I had led in so many matters in games when we were young, in helping out in the home, so I chose to do so in this case too," Mai said.

The eldest daughter in an impoverished family of farmers whose father had virtually written his life off as one not worth living after the crime against his daughter decided to show her parents, her sisters and brothers, other women in the village and indeed thousands of downtrodden people across the country, the way forward.

Many, who have closely watched the young woman who now totes several mobile phones in her bag to keep up with queries from around the world, and conducts press conferences with practiced confidence, believe the real change in Mai came with the setting up of her first school.

When a cheque of Rs 500,000 (Dh30,835) was sent to her by President General Pervez Musharraf soon after the gang rape, Mai returned the cheque and instead asked the government to open a girls school in the area where the population was barely literate.

"I was a victim of ignorance. I want to banish ignorance in my area," she had said at that time.

Mai donated family land for an educational institution and built a basic structure to start a primary school. Today, Mai Mukhtaran School as it is known, has several hundred students.

Mai herself also attends school and is a student of Class III. About a year ago, a boys' branch of the school was opened in Meerwala.

As dollars, yens and dirhams have poured in to support the project, Mukhtaran Mai appears to have gained a new mission in life. The schools have also brought her into direct contact with powerful civil society leaders, World Bank officials and government figures, opening up to her a realm of new possibilities.

The latest among her scheme of things for the future is to launch a micro-credit project in Meerwala for poor women.

'Greedy grooms'

And in a country where victims of rape must almost always face lives of isolation due to social stigma, Mai today also spends much time sorting through lists of suitors.

"I have received many proposals. All choose to flatter men, but I think I can see dollars dancing before their eyes," she said.

However, despite this Mai looks ahead to life with confidence. She hopes to continue serving her community, acting as an inspiration for other oppressed people and showing that when victims fight back, all kinds of battles can be won.

The writer is former editor of The News, Lahore