Mukhtar Mai's December 11th Fundraiser in Sacramento

Re # #7, 38, My Dear Tamasha Saab – read this news and suck on it. Hope it makes you feel better about your miserable little piece of shyt life. Enjoy the article, and share it with your sisters as well. Thanks.

Here is the link in case: http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\12\11\story_11-12-2007_pg7_7



Mukhtar Mai called the Rosa Parks of Pakistan

* Mai visits US to raise money for her school, clinic and women’s shelter

By Khalid Hasan

WASHINGTON: Mukhtar Mai, who has become quite a cult figure here, was honoured with a standing ovation at a well-attended event in Sacramento, California, on Sunday.

Mai, a local newspaper said, had “brought her message of hope and courage” to the city. She spoke to a mixed religious gathering, describing how she had opened the first school in her village and challenged a feudal system that had imposed tribal justice for centuries.

She is in the US to raise money for her school, a clinic and a women’s shelter now operating out of her home. “My motto is, injustice should be fought with knowledge,” she told her audience, speaking in Urdu. “Sometimes men forget there are women’s rights,” she added. She told the newspaper Sacramento Bee, “I’d never heard of school; in my village there never was a school. The first school I went to was my own. I’m still in fifth grade. I can read Urdu with difficulty.” Her school now educates 700 girls and 300 boys, ages 4-13. She said that she had not yet forgiven her attackers. “I asked that their kids come to my school, because illiteracy is what caused this,” she said, adding that five of their sons now attend, “but their daughters are not coming”.

Pakistani-American journalist Ras Siddiqui said while some Pakistani Americans “see Mai as airing our dirty laundry in public – this incident doesn’t represent normal Pakistani life – most applaud this brave woman from rural Pakistan promoting education and women’s empowerment after herself being a victim of the worst kind of abuse”. Siddiqui noted that despite all the attention focused on religious extremists in Pakistan, “it was the village imam who first spoke up in defence of Mukhtar after she was attacked. But it was Mai herself who turned the tables on her attackers”.

Mai is due to sign her book, ‘In The Name of Honor’, at a major bookstore before attending a fundraiser at a five-star hotel.

Re: # 37
Excuse me!

A correction in my previous post:

Please read ' honoured your sister' in place of 'fukked'.

Re: # 35

kulharee

Now you have turned to me becoming 'sincerely' personal as though I have fukked your... Excuse me I am not that stupid as you all MM pimps are.

#34 gues who is the interior minister? musharraf's lawyer, now on a Pakistan-paid trip to the US to go around trying to sell musharraf by rambling on with the same stupid lies (e.g. that Nov. 3 was not about the CJ, but about getting the terrorists) that only a moron would think anyone other than a moron would believe.

Re #31, Shah Saab, were you amongst those honorable men? The more you talk, the stupider you sound. I mean it in all sincerity.

BTW -- how the hell a retired Lt Gen Hamid Nawaz -- became the 'caretaker' Interior Minister of a supposedly non partisan impartial 'undertaker' of a 'free fair and transparent" transtional government?

Can the Qurashi guy who acts like an MP (Military Pimp) for Musharraf explain this kind of undertaking?

Mukhtar Mai has arrived in the US and is

happily present in Arizona.

We hope to receive her here in Sacramento, California

on Saturday.

Ras

Re: # 28

"ISLAMABAD: The government will release Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan, Advocate Ali Ahmed Kurd, Justice (r) Tariq Mehmood and other detainees in the next 72 hours, caretaker Interior Minister Lt Gen (r) Hamid Nawaz said on Wednesday."

Thank you Mrs. Patterson for making the Rottenwiler lick his own vomit.

Re: # 29

Arjun

"Why are you fundraising for a woman who, to quote the new Paki president and owner of a spanking new learjet, got herself raped to make a million $$ and get a canadian visa?"

And got honoured too (vide Tahmed32 at #19). What a win-win-win position it is! Is it not intriguing that her's is entirely a one-sided show as her alleged rapists (potentially all men can be accused of rape) are silent and deprived of gender sympathy for being accused of having been 'dishonoured' for executing the order of the Meerwala Punchayat to honour MM by raping her because her brother had 'honoured' the 'rapists'' sister. It all looks so bizarre to me.

For those interested

my email address is

rsiddiqui@surewest.net

Ras

Why are you fundraising for a woman who, to quote the new Paki president and owner of a spanking new learjet, got herself raped to make a million $$ and get a canadian visa?

Bush's Rotweiler growls at Bush's envoy Mrs. Patterson -- for his "Huddee in his Shiskabab".

US ambssador barred from seeing Aitzaz Ahsan!!

"LAHORE, Dec 3: United States Ambassador Anne W. Patterson cast doubts about the sincerity of the government to hold free and fair elections after she was denied access to Supreme Court Bar Association president Aitzaz Ahsan here on Monday.

Ms Patterson, who had met former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, human rights activist Asma Jehangir and former chief minister of Punjab Pervaiz Elahi earlier in the day, arrived at Mr Ahsan’s residence in Zaman Park at 3:30pm and issued a brief statement to the press before being ushered inside his office for private talks with his wife.

Making at brief statement after emerging from the office half an hour later, she said: “Let me be clear -- we have consistently called for the release of all detainees. He is in custody, he cannot be seen and we have asked the government and urged the government to release him as soon as possible.”

“I think it certainly casts doubts on the capacity to hold free and fair elections. If candidates are under arrest, it makes it very difficult to hold a campaign.”

The ambassador was trailed to her car by two US human rights activists from Code Pink, chanting “Why is the Bush administration continuing to support Musharraf?” They had spent the previous night on a 24-hour vigil at Mr Ahsan’s residence.

A detention order issued on Sunday night extended Mr Ahsan’s home detention by 30 days. He “poses a grave threat to the public safety and is likely to cause breaches of public peace and order,” it stated."

Bush needs to send MISTER Patterson -- not Mrs. Patterson to shorten the leash after checking the K9 for the rabies virus.

Thanks Ras -- here is the last paragraph of that Jang editorial on Aitzaz Ahsan:

"The question that comes to mind is… how can the entire government and the military and civil establishment be so scared of one man that they cannot let him get out of his home?

Is it because they FEAR that he may say something or move a petition in a court?

This is not a hypothetical but a valid question given the existing ground reality. Aitzaz is, by any yardstick, a popular politician, a brilliant orator and a successful lawyer -- right now he is the man the government is so scared of that he has again been caged for 30 days.

He is also a candidate in the Jan 8 election and how can he possibly woo his constituents if he is detained.

This would suggest that what the government is doing in his case is nothing more than pre-poll rigging -- and that too of the most blatant kind. Aitzaz must be released forthwith and allowed to campaign.

If the superior courts are helpless in providing this basic right to a very respected citizen, because of the emergency, President Musharraf must personally order his release as his continued detention has become a major international embarrassment for his new presidential tenure (of course house arrest of deposed judges and Geo TV's continued closure are other sticking points for Mr Musharraf).

As a cynic would say, if Aitzaz cannot be freed – since he is deemed too dangerous -- perhaps one shouldn't be surprised if all his opponents are also put under house arrest. i.e. if the government comes good on its oft-repeated claim that the Jan 8 election will be one with a level playing field for all candidates and parties. His continued arrest, that of the deposed judges and the ban on Geo, make the power structure in Islamabad look so fragile.(Daily Jang)

Anil,

Pls Check your inbox.



nasah,

Pls Check

http://thenews.jang.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=84166

FREE AITZAZ AHSAN

Re: # 22

I got your email, earlier one filter might have filtered it out. Can you please email me your email address?

Ras #20 If you think what I wrote is worth repeating at the event - by all means.

Anil,

I sent you an email on Saturday Evening around 6:00 PM.

(To your email address)

I have repeated it via CHOWK so please check your inbox

here.

Thanks

Ras

Ras:

Did not get your email? Let me know, if lunch on Sunday, Dec. 9 at 12:00PM, is possible?

Thanks
Anil

For those coming to the program

Checks for tickets and the filled forms have to

be RECEIVED by this Friday in Sacramento (December 7th).



RE: #19 tahmed32

Sir, I could not have said it any better.

Can I quote you in my final report on this event?

Ras

teshah #18 my friend, in case of rape, it is the perpetrator who has no honor. The honor of the woman who is attacked remains intact. Please reflect upon this.

MM honor is still intact - those scoundrels could attack her body, but they could not touch her brave and noble soul.

Re: # 10

tahmed

Thank you dear for your courteous response.

You say:
"I fail to understand why you have this animosity towards Mukhtaran Mai to the extent that you are prepared to claim the exact opposite of what you know to be true."

May I ask, how do you presume that I have animosity towards MM and what is true in your view.

Is it inimical to her to say that she was not raped and her honour is in tact. In fact this was the judgment of the Multan High Court which still holds ground unless and until reversed by the Supreme court
where the case, I presume, is still pending.

Re. others:
I don't know why the dogs are barking as though they are after a hot bitch vying for their turn.

Quoting from #16 "Tahmed sahab ....teshah is a qadiyani senile budha....thats a textbook definition of chip on the shoulder....u dont make sense out of it...u just laugh n clap as u would at bandar tamasha"

#16 - Abu-Shamshan, did you mean to say Teddy Bear tamasha? What if they named a Bandar after him? You think that will be more fitting?

Mukhtaran Mai has more courage, valor and n character than the entire high brass of our 'brave army' only if she was our army chief....we wouldnt the mess we r..

Tahmed sahab ....teshah is a qadiyani senile budha....thats a textbook definition of chip on the shoulder....u dont make sense out of it...u just laugh n clap as u would at bandar tamasha...

Anil: Microcredit operations are a natural complement to women's education. So, your idea of inviting Mukhtaran Mai to this event is a very good one. Once girls have completed school education, many of them can then progress to some income generating opportunity - and access to microcredit makes that possible.

Ras: Great job you are doing. I went to the Mukhtaran Mai website you mentioned, filled out the donation form, and just put a small donation in the mail.

I liked what this friend of yours said - this is not about the past, it is about the future. And it is generally recognized that girls education is probably the most productive investment one can make for the future because of the affect on her children.

I would suggest linking up with DIL (Developments in Literacy, also California based) who as you I am sure know have been working hard for several years now introducing schools in Pakistan. Another NGO, MMBMT, has also introduced a number of girls schools in remote areas in Mianwali, and could probably provide some useful advice.

For those readers interested in this cause and tickets

please visit the following website:

http://www.sacvalleychapter.org/

You can donate, purchase tickets and get all kinds of

information on Mukhtar here.

I just wanted to add (happened after I wrote this article)

that CAIR (Sacramento Valley Chapter) has also become a

major sponsor of this Fundraiser.

Chris Cork,

Thanks for reading and replying back.

I have a nice picture of you and Agha with Mukhtar coutesey

of Jack. Please keep up your good work and write something

on Mukhtar here on CHOWK around the new year.


For Bay area and Sacramento residents (especially) we are

pushing tickets for the main event these days.


RE: tahmed32 #10 your question is very valid. But I believe

that Shahji was just being sarcastic.

RE: #11 augmentin: Thanks. Many of us tend to agree.

I salute to that great lady!

teshah #4 I fail to understand why you have this animosity towards Mukhtaran Mai to the extent that you are prepared to claim the exact opposite of what you know to be true.

I know MM quite well and see her fairly regularly, she lives about 100kms from me. I have known about this fundraiser for a while and have been liasing with Jack Loomis to see if IU could get an article done in time for the dinner...but events conspired against me, and it was not to be. MM and Naseem are flying tomorrow (3rd) IIRC, and are due back in Pakistan on 13 or 14 of December...will see them before Eid.

The work that her NGO does is good...they hve recently be thoroughly audited by IRC, a very big American NGO, and they found no financial irregularities, but there are a few things to 'tidy up' on the operational and institutional side, but nothing dramatic.

The girls school is a treat to see...the children are confidant and outgoing, the teachers happy in their work and delivering an above standard job. All in all, a useful NGO.

Thanks for the encouragement from Indian origin readers.

Anil & GT: Please check your messages tomorrow


madani Sahib and teshahji here is another one for you

by the late Mir's daughter Fatima Bhutto in The News

http://thenews.jang.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=83845

Please read it carefully..

Ras

I had stated earlier, I do not know where, that Pakistan may leap-frog India in the progress to democracy. This is quite commonplace in technology, but let me try to guess why it may be true for a social process.

A long time back, in India but in a region as uncivilized as that in Pakistan where Mai got raped, a woman called Phoolan Devi got raped. Rape has more to do with power, at times political power, than sex. Phoolan reacted against that dominant power structure by taking up the gun and mowing down hundreds (according to the press tens) of those who propped up that power structure. But she did not have any "alternative" as a replacement, she had the "same". This "same" helped her get elected to the Lok Sabha down the road and also got her killed in front of her "protected and exclusive" residence in Delhi. The "same" that she did not change, survived ... just like that which the romantic youth (getting killed in Swat and Waziristan) are willing to die for, guised in a different name. Of course, romantics like zeemax here, will build on the romance oblivious to the "ability for change".

Mai has done something different and something which is not "romantic" at all. She has tapped into "historical, i.e. long term assets for change" instead of the romantic "gun". She has tapped into "stuff" like schools. I do not know much about Pakistan, but I do know that in Chattisgarh (India) the guys who are the first to be killed by thec mafioso unions are "teachers" and doctors who "EXPLAIN THE DISEASE BEFORE PRESCRIBING DRUGS".

Good luck Pakistan.

Ras,

I meant .... "could I be of any financial help". Sorry for sounding crass, but that is all that I can do.

Ras,
Good luck for the event. I am her fan. Let me know (through chowk's personal mail system) if I can be of any help.

ahmedmadani sahib,
I may have got you wrong, and if so I would like to apologise. But why is it wrong to criticize or totally trash a country or nationality? I know that you have something up your sleeve, something that I am not seeing. Could you please let me know? If it is the "kashmir" "angle" then I understand and you need not reply.

Regards.

What's this; Fund raising for a woman falsely accusing some persons of the opposite gender as rapists?

I wish good success to fundraising etc.
Hope people donot just take opportunity to pain people pakistan as backward and feudal and oppressor of women and chance to criticise pakistan and present political system. It may be bad no need to bring problems in world stage , they need to be addressed to president and related officials. Not some where in usa these internal things which is going others peoples business and just opportunity to general when make mistake of remark about canada visa stuff. This is reason one should be like cautious of "do gooders" at cost of reputation of country for personal glory and money collection.

Ras:

On Dec. 8 (I can be fllexible for 9th), I am hosting a very small dinner at Amber India, Santa Row, for president and director of Women's World Banking. They are visiting from NY. Women's World Banking is world's largest micro-financing organization. Its member institute's are very active world-wide, especially in South Asia, Middle East including Jordan, Africa, South America and Eastern European countries including Bosnia. Later in January, I planning to organize an event to introduce silicon valley's south asian community to this finest micro financing instution.

Please let me know at (anilkapuria@yahoo.com), if you can help me invite Mukhtaran Mai to this small dinner at Amber India.

Good job, Ras! Hope you get overwhelming response. I also recommend not to make it an exclusively Pakistani affair - the empowerment of women ought to be considered a sub-continental issue.