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May I speak?<\/div>\n

<\/p><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

The mother of all PR disasters<\/a> had just begun earlier this month when a local Pakistani court ordered<\/a> the release of 12 men accused of gang raping 35-year old Mukthar Mai, a Pakistani woman from a rural village, in a well known<\/a> incident that prompted global concern. Soon after, as Mai prepared for a visit to the US at the invitation of a human rights group (a South Asian one), she found her own government \u2013 one that had quietly supported her struggle in the past \u2013 turned on her, placing her under house arrest and barring<\/a> her from international travel. In a New York Times opinion piece, Nicholas Kristof raged<\/a> against the \u201charassing, detaining \u2013 and now kidnapping\u201d of Mai. Kristof helped publlicize the case of Mukthar Mai when her rapists were originally convicted (and his readers chipped in $130,000 to Mai\u2019s village schools). Since Musharraf was away on a state visit to New Zealand, some hoped the incident was due to zealous underlings. However, Musharraf later admitted to ordering<\/a> the travel ban himself, alleging that foreign NGOs wanted \u201cto bad-mouth Pakistan\u201d over the \u201cterrible state\u201d of the nation\u2019s women (whoops, it happened again<\/a>). He said NGOs are \u201cWesternised fringe elements\u201d which \u201care as bad as the Islamic extremists\u201d. Somewhat expectedly, the treatment of Mai (and the release of her convicted rapists) turned out to be more bad-mouthing than Pakistan could handle. US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice personally intervened<\/a> to assure Mai\u2019s access to the US (you ain\u2019t seen bad-mouthing yet!). At first, the travel ban lifted<\/a>, though her passport was confiscated (and Pakistani authorities alleged it was held by her bodyguard). Finally, a government advisor admitted to holding the passport and informed Mai that it would be returned<\/a>. \u201cShe called me (and) said \u2018I am sending your passport,\u201d\u2018 said Mai from her home village of Meerwala in the Punjab region. Pakistan\u2019s embassy in Washington tried its best at damage control, stating Mai had not traveled to the United States because of \u201cthe illness of her mother,\u201d but would make the trip soon. Calling Mai \u201ca woman of great courage,\u201d the embassy asserted (unconvincingly) that the \u201cmisstatement of facts in her case\u201d had caused her \u201cgreat mental agony.\u201d Beyond that, Pakistan\u2019s Supreme Court then agreed to hear<\/a> the rape case after the local court\u2019s failure to resolve it, something Mai had begun to fight for despite the complexities<\/a>. Mai will attend the first hearing on the case June 27 in the capital, Islamabad, where she will be allowed to pick up her passport, wasting no time afterwards. Said Mai, \u201cI will go abroad after that.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/i><\/p>\n

Zahed Amanullah is associate editor of altmuslim.com. He is based in London, England.\n<\/p>\n

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