RIGHTS-PAKISTAN: Women Defy Militancy, Patriarchy

The challenges and contradictions facing Pakistani women were never so apparent as now. While striding ahead in a country that gave the world its first female, Muslim prime minister, they also face the threat of terrorism which claimed her as a victim.Bhutto was assassinated on Dec. 27, 2007 as she emerged from an election rally. Many attribute her murder to the extremists fighting the state in the name of religion. The ongoing militancy raging in the tribal areas of the country’s north-west along the Afghan border, as well as the Taliban’s inroads in the settled Swat Valley just a hundred miles from the capital Islamabad, have led to over 100,000 girls being forced to discontinue their education.

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Instead, Mukhtar Mai had the innate courage and wisdom to focus not on herself but on others. She used the ‘compensation’ cheque provided by the government to build the first school in her village. Her courage inspired young women from nearby villages to flock to her school as teachers where they also earn some much needed income. "I realised that those who supported me were the educated people," says Mukhtar, explaining why she felt education was so important. "Before this, women had no other option but to work in the fields."