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Yet another Victim of Rape, Fighting for Justice

2 weeks ago, the shocking interview of 23 years old rape victim Sonia Naz , shocked the whole country. She told her ordeal with tears to the reporter of English daily “The News” in which she alleged that police officer in Faisal Abad raped her and brutally torture her for more than two weeks in custody. Her ordeal started when she entered into the National Assembly to get the help of legislators to recover her husband from police custody, who was arrested by the police on corruption charges along with 12 other officials of the Excise department in Faisalabad. The other accused were released by the police, but her husband gone missing. When she entered into parliament, the police arrested her on the orders of Speaker and send to the prison. The police later released her after investigations. She was arrested again by the Faisal Abad police to punish her for making statements against them. The police officers want to get a statement from her in their favor and stop her appearing on media. She remained in the illegal custody of two police officers, after rape and severe torture; she was let to go on the condition that she will remain silent. Her in-laws refused to accept her and forced to go away with two children. The police also forced her in-laws to lock there house and leave the city. This is not the first incident of such nature. The police in Pakistan are regarded as the most brutal, criminal and corrupt force. Custodial tortures, deaths, fake encounters and rapes are the usual practices and traditions. Now many police officers have their own private torture cells, where they torture people to get bribes. The government has formed the committee consisting of police officers to investigate the case.

General Musharaf made a fiery speech in the regional conference on violence against women in Islamabad on 7th September, in which he said “we have to Eradicate Feudalism and Tribalism to control violence against women in the country. But this eradication will be through education and enlightenment. The Tribalism and Feudalism are the root causes of violence against women. How one could expect justice from law enforcers of a feudal mindset in violence cases. This is the fight to change hearts and minds of the people, to emancipate and enlighten them. I am disappointed with individuals and organizations who usually tried to project Pakistan as a country where violence against women was commonplace. May God give them wisdom. I would support NGOs highlighting women related violence in Pakistan, but if they raise the issue only to malign Pakistan’s image, then I will oppose them with all my power and will”.
General Musharaf has raised some important questions and half truths. He told half truth when he speak against tribalism and feudalism. The fact is that he ignores the role of Capitalism and Islamic Fundamentalism in the repression on women. The second fact is that the military dictators and respective so called democratic regimes are responsible to strengthen the feudalism and tribalism. General Musharaf himself is enjoying the support of Feudal Lords and Tribal Chiefs. All the main Feudal Lord families and Tribal Chiefs have representation in the Federal Cabinet and Provincial Cabinets. Military Generals are not only protecting the rotten feudal and tribalism since last 58 years, but also strengthen their social, political and economic position in the rural areas. General Musharaf has all the powers and authority to abolish feudalism and tribalism, but he will never do that because he needs their support. There is also another fact that military has become a leading land holder in Pakistan. They are certainly the leaders in the property business. It is not in their interest to abolish feudalism. It will be very difficult for the establishment to manage and control the politics. So it is not enough just to criticize or point out the root cause, but important thing is to change the conditions and system, which are responsible for the discrimination and exploitation of the working class women.

Despite all the claims and fiery speeches made by the present regime about the women rights but the fact is that there is no difference in the conditions of the working and poor women under the present regime compare to the other regimes in the past. There are more than 12to 15 rape cases reported cases in the news papers every day, most of them gang rapes. Every day many couples approach the courts to get protection against police excesses for being married with their own consent. The military regime of General Zia-ul-Haq introduce the most reactionary and discriminatory laws against women. He introduces the most barbaric legislation on the name of Hudood Laws in 1979, which was directly aimed at the women activists. He used religion to give him legitimacy to repress the masses. His military regime introduces different policies to segregate the women from social and political activities. He spread male chauvinism on the name of Islamisation of the society. But General Musharaf has did very little to change these policies and laws against women.

General Musharaf on many occasions has expressed his anger with the individuals and organizations which are highlighting the sufferings and horrific conditions in many areas of the country faced by the women. He has abused them for destroying the image of Pakistan and bringing bad name to the country. These statements shows that he know nothing about the realities and on ground situation. Miss Fareeha Rafique rightly said in her article in the NEWS on 11th September “Pakistan. Home to the Bomb, terrorists and injustices against women. This is what we are generally known by to the world. The unfortunate but true reality. More often than not when we are picked up by the international media it is for a news report related to one of the above. Where young blind girls(Safia Bibi), pregnant women and little girls get raped, where women are even raped while in police custody. Where little boys are raped by the religious teachers in Madrassas(religious schools). Honour killings in this country show no abating, adolescent girls are married off to old men, and adults who dare to marry without parental consent need decrees from court to validate the marriage as legally acceptable. We have also been unable to shake off the controversial Hudood Laws. And every few months comes along a rape case that is splashed in the press, in the corridors of Justice. This is not to say that a rape case comes up every few months, one that deserves introspection by the media due to some reason or the other comes up, few months. This really brands us as a nation of violence loving perverts,( the bomb, terrorism, sexual crimes)”.

It is little wonder that of all forms of violence against women , from acid throwing , to stove burning cases etc all, rape cases are the most oft-subdued crime in society. This most horrific infringement on an individual’s self respect, dignity and body is best silenced, is what victims and their families mostly believe. With all the stigmas attached to raising one’s voice, seeking justice is not always the first thing, or priority on the mind of victims. Given the strangely twisted notions of honour and shame that most people like to abide by, even in the supposedly emancipated educated echelons of society, no wonder then the victim risks being victimized.

According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), “for every case reported, there are two that go unreported, by estimates. 8 rape cases are reported every day, of which five are committed on minors, and of reported cases, two thirds are gang rapes. Pakistan has among the highest rates of violence against in the world, with up to 80% of women target of physical, sexual or verbal abuse”.
Shuttling between the police , Sharia courts( Islamic Courts), and at times NGOs as well, women or parents of minors really don’t have much of a choice in seeking an impartial judgement.

Earlier this year, when Mukhtar Mai was blocked from traveling to the United States on the invitation of a women’s rights group. President Musharaf said he feared the negative publicity would tarnish Pakistan’s reputation. The government then reversed the ban after criticism from Washington. May be President need not have vented that fear! How can you tarnish an already tarnished reputation?

Nothing will change under the capitalist and feudal system. Musharaf government tried to reform the existing system, which has proved as failure and increased misery. Working class needs to fight not only for their rights but also shoulder to shoulder with working class to change this rotten system. Full emancipation from exploitation, violence and all sort of discrimination can not be achieved under capitalism. The real freedom and emancipation can only be achieved in Socialism. Democratic Socialist society will guarantee the full freedom and equal rights to the working and poor women. To establish the Democratic Socialism and to over through the existing system, it is necessary that working class should unite itself to over come the bias on the basis of gender, religion, caste, race , language and nationality. Women will not be fully emancipated unless the whole working class will not be fully emancipated from the shackles of capitalism.
Rukhsana Manzoor SMP translated from monthly “SOCIALIST” the paper of SMP.

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