MUKHTAR MAI: STRUGGLING AGAINST THE PUNJABI FEUDAL SYSTEM

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 LAHORE 000190 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM PGOV KWMN PK SUBJECT: MUKHTAR MAI: STRUGGLING AGAINST THE PUNJABI FEUDAL SYSTEM REF: LAHORE 155 ¶1. (SBU) Summary. The Mukhtar Mai Women's Welfare Organization (MMWO),named for the survivor of a gang rape ordered by community leaders as vengeance for a family honor violation, is at a crossroads. As it fights the feudal system and its oppression of women, it struggles with sustainability, effectiveness, and the foreseeable results of controversial activities by the organization and its leadership. End summary. - - - Background --- ¶2. (SBU) In 2002, members of the Mastoi clan accused a young man of raping a Mastoi girl in Meerwala, Tehsil Jatoi, Muzzafargarh District, Punjab Province. To pay for his alleged crime, a group of Mastoi elders ordered that the young man's elder sister, Mukhtar Mai, be gang-raped. Several men meted out the punishment. Instead of quietly vanishing in culturally-acceptable "shame," Mai and her family filed charges against her assailants. Mai became a symbol for women's rights issues in Pakistan and throughout the world, particularly after New York Times author Nicholas Kristof picked up her story. The Government of Pakistan awarded Mai 500,000 Pakistani Rupees (approximately USD 8,600),which she used to open Mukhtar Mai Girls' Model School. Determined to fight gender-based violence (GBV),in 2003 she opened the Mukhtar Mai Women's Welfare Organization (MMWWO) in Meerwala, to provide shelter, legal aid and counseling to survivors of GBV. -------------- Progress -------------- ¶3. (SBU) On September 4, Mukthar Mai, accompanied by Samson Salamat, MMWWO manager, and Naseem Akhtar, MMWWO Chief-of-Staff, provided an overview of the organization, school and their advocacy work during an introductory meeting with PO. Despite continued political pressure, in 2008 MMWWO provided assistance to 700 survivors of, and victims of ongoing, GBV. MMWWO assists most clients via a telephonic help line and in-person consultations. In a few especially egregious cases, it has intervened more actively. Its mobile transportation unit rescued at least ten women in the past few months from domestic violence. It also recently began providing shelter and the services of three attorneys to Assiya Rafiq, a teenage girl who claims that, while reporting to police that she had been sexually assaulted, was taken into custody and gang-raped by the police, reftel. - - - Operational, Capacity, Sustainability Challenges - - - ¶4. (SBU) While MMWWO is intended to fill a serious need, especially for vulnerable women and girls living in this extremely conservative part of southern Punjab Province, it faces a number of challenges. Since its founding in 2003, MMWWO has developed no domestic revenue sources. It relies exclusively on donations from the international community. The Bureau of Democracy, Labor and Rights (DRL) funded a multi-year capacity-building grant, coordinated by the International Rescue Committee (IRC). Two years into that grant, MMWWO has established a Board of Directors, instituted a computerized financial system, and provided financial management training to the staff. Despite the organizational advances, however, IRC noted in its July 2009 quarterly report that MMWWO staffers were not coordinating with IRC's consultants as often as recommended. IRC consultants observed during a site visit that women and children in the shelter were despondent. There were no scheduled activities aimed at rehabilitation, skill-building, or treatment. MMWWO staffers monitoring the helpline often did not listen to callers' stories, but instead rushed them to make a decision. The report noted that IRC's consultants had repeatedly raised these issues with MMWWO during training and prior site visits, to no apparent affect. - - - Competing for Funding with Local Religious Leaders - - - ¶5. (SBU) Salamat described the challenges MMWWO faced in establishing a primary school, which he said was the only school in the village. He asked that Post intervene (with unspecified authorities) to end opposition from local religious leaders to their school. When we asked for details, Akhtar explained that friction had developed when MMWWO launched a door-to-door campaign to enroll female students. MMWWO specifically visited LAHORE 00000190 002 OF 002 the homes of girls who were attending schools operated by local mosques, encouraging their families to withdraw them from the religious schools and enroll in the MMWWO school. The clerics operating the mosque schools protested MMWWO's tactics. MMWWO then began negotiations with the clerics, trying to coordinate MMWWO's secular class schedule with the mosques' religious class schedules, so that children could benefit from both programs. Akhtar and Salamat said they had not yet reached an agreement. Note: The government provides stipends to schools based on reported student attendance. Thus, recruiting students away from mosque schools threatened the clerics' income. Post acknowledges that there is rampant fraud in the payment system, with "ghost schools" collecting income for non-existent students, but we presume that MMWWO intends to seek government funding only for students they actually enroll. End Note. Salamat told us that Canada's International Development Agency (CIDA) has partially-funded operating costs for a school, but its current grant is coming to a close in November. Salamat asked us whether the USG could pick up the portion of the costs CIDA has been underwriting, as CIDA had not committed to fund beyond 2009. - - - Sad Association of MMWWO Leader's Family in Feudal Honor Killings - - - ¶6. (SBU) Salamat and Akhtar also pressed for USG intervention on behalf of Akhtar and her relatives, specifically to fund their relocation to avoid contact with police investigators. Five years ago, Akhtar's female cousin had married against the wishes of her extended family. Salman noted that since marrying the cousin, the husband had repeatedly taunted Akhtar's family for insufficiently protecting her honor, creating further bad blood. On or about July 30, Akhtar, Salamat and Mai were in Lahore on MMWWO business. Akhtar's family members telephoned them while they were on their way home to Muzzafargarh from Lahore, reporting that two members of Akhtar's family had gone to the couple's home, and a gun fight broke out. The couple died of gunshot wounds, other members of the husbands' family were injured, and his family had filed reports claiming several of Akhtar's male relatives were involved. ¶7. Muzzafargarh police arrested Naseem's brother and cousin in connection with the murders. Police were seeking another brother named in the other family's complaint. Akhtar's entire family had gone into hiding to avoid police questioning or arrest, and police had been visiting MMWWO's offices, harassing staff, seeking information about Akhtar's relatives. Salamat claimed that the police were targeting Akhtar because they wanted MMWWO to stop its work. Naseem added that political leaders and feudal landlords were exploiting the situation through the police. Note: After our meeting, we contacted Muzzafargarh District Police Officer (DPO) Hussain Habib about the case. The DPO assured us that the police continued to maintain a guard to protect Mai and MMWWO, and acknowledged that there was an active murder investigation against specific male members of Akhtar's extended family. End Note. -------------- Way forward, or Dead End? -------------- ¶8. (SBU) Comment. MMWWO is meant to fill a great need in Southern Punjab to prevent GBV and more broadly support women's rights in the context of a culturally conservative and feudalistic environment. It was founded by a survivor who chose to fight the system, instead of succumbing to it. MMWWO's focus appears to be more on raising funds than on improving its services- understandable, if those funds might disappear, but its ineffectiveness may itself be a barrier to raising more money. As Mai and her organization fight against the injustices of the feudal system it appears, unfortunately, that some of that fight has to begin at home. Some of its current problems are self-inflicted, albeit partly by association. MMWWO leaders are belatedly finding a way to compromise with local clerics, instead of attempting to take students away from them. We believe that the feudal powers would see the Akhtar family "honor killing" as an opportunity to discredit MMWWO. We think it is unlikely, however, that two members -and only two members- of Akhtar's family went looking for a gunfight with a rival family. We speak frequently with MMWWO leaders and do what we can to respond to their requests, which are as frequently for money for their organization, or themselves personally, as for political intervention. Post continues to appropriately support MMWWO by intervening with local authorities to ensure its work is not obstructed by those in power who would, undoubtedly, like to silence MMWWO's courageous and media-savvy founder. End Comment. CONROY