Wednesday, June 15, 2005

Meanwhile, in Pakistan



Remember the very upsetting story about a Pakistani woman, Mukhtaran Bibi, who was gang-raped as a punishment for her brother's behavior? This was one of those village council decisions, and it created quite a furor, especially outside Pakistan. Ms. Bibi didn't commit suicide as the local custom expected. Instead, she became a public figure, took the rapists to court and gave the money she won to the establishment of schools for girls and for boys.

The Pakistan government didn't like it, though, when Ms. Bibi planned to go abroad. She was placed under house arrest and her passport was confiscated. Even the Pakistanis don't want to wash their dirty linen in public. Though that's what I'm doing here, anyway, and arresting Ms. Bibi just makes it all much worse. The wonders of technology.

Supposedly Ms. Bibi is now out of house arrest and free to travel. But they forgot to return her passport...