Mukhtar Mai

The feudal and his shadow

I follow you
I follow you
Like stray dogs always follow you wherever you go on Pakistani streets

You judge me
You judge me......... and let the innocent perish with the guilty

A grim, gallows humour we play in each others company

Sir / Sirkar,
What about the destitute!
They are at the end of their tether
They are ploughing their way through crazy weather – crazy weather

O the rape of Mukhtar Mai:
The lady who was sodomised by a tribal "panchyat", June 2002



I am feeling kind of ill this morning. You see, I keep seeing a picture of this man (this beast of a man – lets call him Feudal X)… “Psychopathic and sadistic” – that is how best to describe Feudal X. His head is apace and pacing. His eyes shine like hot coals. “No quarter!” he cries…

Now, the plot thickens (and I feel worse). As Feudal X is working on a ‘political strategy’ in the plains of Punjab, he notices a maiden from the carefree! THE CAREFREE! THE CAREFREE! He must stop her. He must stop her before all else. He must rape her. RAPE HER! RAPE HER!

[Dear Reader, listen to Igor Stravinsky’s Rite of the Spring – the syncopated rhythms in that ballet are most gruesome. On the source of inspiration and the musical ideas within Rite of Spring, Stravinsky said: “I had a fleeting vision that came to me as a complete surprise ... I saw in imagination a solemn pagan rite: sage elders, seated in a circle, watching a young girl dance herself to death. They were sacrificing her to propitiate the god of spring."]

… And then she is pinned and mounted like a butterfly… and she is a virgin no more!

The struggle will continue…

There is a reason why I have named this… well what should I say… catharsis, “The feudal and his shadow”. We, the people, are the feudal’s shadow. Without us – the dark side of us – the feudal cannot exist. If we can stand up for ourselves – just stand up for ourselves – we will live a dignified existence. To quote Shakespeare: “O, how wretched is that poor man that hangs on princes’ favours!”

Pakistanis, in all their hues and colours, must find the revolutionary bone within them. Emancipation must be given to the peasantry (the landless and the tillers). I daresay that we – as individuals – need to give micro-credit to the poor, so that they may be able to find alternatives to feudalism.

Mukhtar Mai excites my respect and admiration in more ways than one. Despite being gang-raped by Mirwali chieftains, she has kept her chin up… and she does not shy away from seeking justice and retribution. Bravo!

Mukhtar Mai! Here is the triumph of an individual over her personal problems. Here is the triumph of mankind over the problems of the world. Here is the embodiment of Schiller’s Ode to Joy:

Joy! Your magic reunites
What customs sternly separated;
All men shall be brothers