“What about the women regularly abused in the countryside by landlords and powerful elements of the rural bureaucracy? What about the small girls brought to a Karachi hospital recently who were found to have been brutally assaulted? Did they go through rape to get a Canadian visa or Canadian citizenship? And if conditions in the country are so bad that to leave it, women are ready to go to the extent of concocting stories of being dishonored, then too we should be prepared to shed tears if we have any”, an editorial in Dawn asked off its readers.

Numerous women’s activist groups and some editorials have expressed indignation in response to the Pakistani President’s comments:
You must understand the environment in Pakistan. This has become a money-making concern. A lot of people say if you want to go abroad and get a visa for Canada or citizenship and be a millionaire, get yourself raped

However, there has been no response to these comments either from the administration, the nationalists or larger Pakistani civic society.

The Pakistani President went on to dig himself deeper into his hole by comparing these cases with those in Europe or the USA. He forgot a significant point that the same article in Dawn also highlighted.

In none of the rape cases in these parts, the government has actively sought to disrupt the process of justice and gag the victims. The Pakistani government has done exactly that.

When the administration encourages – nay perpetrates – injustice, what need exists for an enemy across the border? From whom will the nuclear arsenal protect the people? These are unasked questions. But they need answers.

It is quite interesting that in the past few months as Pakistani women’s groups, such as ANAA, had been voicing their concerns about the processes of justice vis-à-vis Mukhtaran Mai and Dr. Shazia, many Pakistani expatriates – and I have seen numerous letters – had condemned such activities saying that this was against Pakistan’s national interests and that these radical groups should stop presenting Pakistan in a bad light.

It was significant that none of these groups considered that the co-option of justice did not put Pakistan in a bad light. More importantly, none of these groups have had anything to say about the callous comments of the head of the state. Do these comments not portray Pakistan in a bad light? Are they not anti-national?

However, it is not clear how much these expatriate groups, caught up in their own maelstrom of guilt, insularity and nostalgia, influence Pakistani politics and the direction of the nation. More important is the psyche of and the reactions from those who live in Pakistan.

Does this make sense to them? Are their women and daughters safer when the government itself will protect the rapists and arrest the victims? Is this the process to build a stronger nation of Pakistan?

The BBC carried an interview with Sumar Mallah, a fisherman whose five-year-old daughter was raped and killed on 5 September. Mr Mallah said: "The police and the rapists have been insisting that I accept money and forget about my daughter. I will never settle for money. I want justice."

What do the rest of the people of Pakistan think?

- Sanat Mohanty

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