Pakistani
women protest the rape of Sui doctor: Below, the Meerwala victim
Both Meerwala
Jury and Pakistan Army are Guilty of Premeditated Rape
By
Hozeifa A. Warraich
VILLAGE
MEERWALA, Pakistan, March 8: Three years ago, in February 2002,
a self-appointed panchayat, the unofficial local jury,
of the influential Mastoi tribe in this southern Punjabi village
ordered four men to gang rape a young woman as punishment for
her juvenile brother's alleged illicit conduct, a charge which
later proved to be baseless.
A
repugnantly weird, sinister interpretation of "honor"
served as law for the "jury". The so-called judges,
who happened to be plaintiffs and prosecutors as well, first handed
down the obnoxious "verdict", and then themselves executed
the repugnant "sentence" with much of the village passively
looking on.
To
compound the already boundless dishonor, it turned out that the
heinous episode began as an attempt to cover up yet another terrible
crime -- the sodomizing of the original accused, victim's 11-year-old
brother.
Somehow,
after a huge public outcry of disgust and loathing, six of the
14 accused were found guilty and sentenced to death by an anti-terrorism
court in August that year. They all went into appeal. Now, two-and-a-half
years down the road, a divisional bench of the provincial appeal
court has set all but one free for reasons of "insufficient
evidence" and "faulty investigations".
The
series of events is such a gross insult to our nationhood that
there are no words strong enough to condemn the perpetrators of
Meerwala, no punishment harsh enough for these monsters.
At
the same time, the real tragedy is that Meerwala is not an isolated
incident. Sadly, the victim Mukhtaran Bibi is neither the first
nor the last casualty of the savagery of the powerful in Pakistan.
In
fact, allegorically if not literally, the whole nation has been
going through more or less a similar ordeal since its inception.
In addition to quashing the judicial apparatus of the State, the
unwarranted authority wielded by certain factions has by now also
trampled the very soul and psyche of the citizens, transforming
them into conscienceless, soulless dummies. Meerwala case is actually
symbiotic of a bigger evil faced by the nation.
Moving
on from Meerwala to Rawalpindi, the principal command center of
the Pakistan Army, and by turning a few pages from the chequered
political history of the country leaves one immensely terrified
to discern that in a sense, an almost identical script is being
played even on the national level for last half a century.
Though
characters differ and the modus operandi employed by the panchayat
intermittently convened at the GHQ is more sophisticated, the
prime motive remains exactly the same: to perpetuate a cabal's
hegemony.
Even
a cursory glance makes it palpably evident that Meerwala is just
a mini replica of Rawalpindi, as far as miscarriage of justice
and sanctity of the constitution are concerned. The gang-rape
in Sui has blurred the few remaining dissimilarities in this regard
even in literal terms.
As
in Meerwala, the moment, the premier class -- the divine military
-- perceives any challenge to its supremacy or find its corporate
interests threatened from lower castes of the bloody civilians,
mechanisms to sort them out are set in motion by the "martial
jury". And the victims are neither allowed, nor are supposed
to protest.
With
the acquittal of the Meerwala rapists, Enlightened Generals are
now in good company of Moderated Mastois. Both can now boast about
fearing no consequences for their heinous crimes. Some roam free
due to lack of evidence other because of the whimsical definitions
of supreme national interests reinforced by the doctrine of necessity.
Otherwise,
the mind set of Mastois and GHQ-walas is frighteningly comparable,
their respect for the law of the land equally non-existent.
The
only conspicuous distinction left between the two is the obvious
enormity of the impairment inflicted by jurors of Rawalpindi.
The beasts and the victims from Meerwala may one day get their
respective share of justice. Alas, on the other hand, it does
not look very likely that the self-styled judges in uniform at
Rawalpindi would ever be held accountable for their (mis)deeds.
The
"Council of Supra-Patriots" have been plundering and
raping the land of pure in the most malicious manner, for the
last 50 years - with impunity. Only Almighty knows, how long,
the holy arbitrators -- our Corps Commanders along with a handful
of senior staff officers -- will keep on gathering under the Chief
Jurist -- the COAS -- to strip 140 million Pakistanis naked, for
protracting military's enveloping control.
Adding
insult to injury, khakis still disdainfully insist to be regarded
as venerable and brazenly expect blind obedience.
Rest
assured: No good can come out of the prevailing state of affairs.
There should be no mercy for the molesters, regardless of the
settings/venues of lawless commissions. We must not allow this
sordid spoof, these abuses, to continue any longer.
Not
to speak out against it would not only be wrong, it would also
ignore the threat it poses to us all. Meerwala and Sui must serve
as a wake-up call. We really have to decide now what we want to
stand for.
The
above-mentioned comparison is not meant to trivialize the personal
tragedy of that young lady, or to belittle the agony of her family
or to misuse the heartbreaking event. The only purpose is to metaphorically
highlight the repulsive similarities.
The
writer is a Pakistani from rural Punjab who is just beginning
a career in journalism and scholarship
