Dr. Tahmina Rashid from Bangladesh on Mukhtaran Mai's ordeal.

Perceptions

Sir: Had Mukhtar Mai been allowed to go abroad it would have served the purpose of the regime. She had nothing against the regime. So why did the all-powerful President Pervez Musharraf – remember him showing his fists in the parliament? – shiver at the thought of her attending a seminar? Why did he think she was going to malign his liberal achievements and that too in the United States?

Musharraf is right in saying that Pakistan is a victim of poor perceptions. But the fact is that reality is not so good either. Amnesty International reports that in Pakistan a woman is raped every two hours. Stopping victims from sharing the ways to deal with the plight of women, making them leave the country or banning organisations working for social reform will not solve the problems. Human rights cannot be dismissed as foreign agenda.
DR TAHMINA RASHID
Bangladesh