Mukhtar Mai

Karen Hughes praised the great courage shown by Mukhtar Mai and agreed with her message of ending oppression with education. She said she believed strongly in the mission of educating women, particularly young girls. “I believe, she is a symbol of courage around the world and a very important and powerful voice for Pakistan in showing that she has a great deal of courage to share her experience, in the hope that she might help others.”

She recalled that in her testimony before Congress, she had praised Mai’s “courage to speak out and say that rape is a terrible crime and not a matter of honour”. She said she wanted to come and meet Mai and was grateful to the Pakistan embassy for having provided her with that opportunity. She added that she was hoping to visit Pakistan “fairly soon,” where she hoped to be able to meet Mai again “and learn more about what she is doing”.

Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher said, “I admire her courage and what she has been doing, and we wish her all success” in the kind of work she is engaged in “and the kind of changes she is trying to bring about for the Pakistani society”.

Ambassador Karamat, in his welcoming remarks, called Mai a courageous woman who had shown great spirit, character and determination in the face of adversity, and, in the process, become a worldwide symbol of oppression against women.

He said it was “absolutely wonderful” to find that “she is also doing some great work for women and children in Pakistan”. He stressed that she had government support in her efforts, as well as the support and goodwill of many organisations across the world.

“Pakistan, really, is becoming a model for empowerment of women in our part of the world,” he said. “We have 33 percent representation for women in local government now and 20 percent in provincial and federal legislatures. We have a National Gender Reform Action Programme, spreading over four years, and funded by Rs 400 million. Pakistan also has a National Fund for the Advancement of Rural Women, which extends micro-credit, vocational training and employment opportunities for women who figure very importantly in our human resource development, and more importantly, the education reform programme. There is a National Commission on the Status of Women, which is working, and we now have a law on honour killing.”

Mai is due to receive an award from an organisation calling itself Vital Voices at a ceremony to be held at the Kennedy Centre on Thursday, which will be attended by Senator Hillary Clinton, who will present her with the award. She is also to receive an award from Time magazine in New York.

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