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
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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.

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Progress
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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
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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
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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

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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
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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.

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Way forward, or Dead End?
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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