Picture of the Day: Mukhtaran – Musharraf Book Race

Posted on November 15, 2006
Filed Under >Adil Najam, Books, People, Photo of the Day, Women
13 Comments
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Adil Najam

We are planning a more detailed review of Mukhtaran Mai’s book In the Name of Honor: A Memoir and also a post on the developments with the rape laws later tonight. Meanwhile, we have of course carried a lot on Gen. Pervez Musharraf’s book In the Line of Fire: A Memoir.

However, I can’t resist the temptation to put up this picture from an Islamabad bookstore, published in the Daily Times (15 November, 2006) that shows the two books displayed side by side. I will not over diagnose it right now, but I find the portraits of both Mukhtaran and Gen. Musharraf interesting depictions, especially when placed side-by-side. I would also love to find out which book the gentleman in the background in reading.

So do keep an eye on this space for more on Mukhtaran Mai’s book and also more on the rape law developments. But, meanwhile, ponder upon this news photo.

13 responses to “Picture of the Day: Mukhtaran – Musharraf Book Race”

  1. readinglord says:

    @bonobashi

    Please read this article also appearing in

  2. readinglord says:

    @bonobashi

    I have transferred the posts hereunder from another topic ‘What gives you hope…’ on the ATP as the Administrator opf the blog had objected to the discussion of Mai’s case on that thread which was not relevant to the topic.

    So if you all agree we keep up this interesting discussion on this thread which is quite relevant to the topic.

    #
    readinglord says:
    April 2nd, 2009 9:03 pm

    @bonobashi

    So dear bonobashi has also joined in as a fan of the Mai but the

  3. bonobashi says:

    @Readinglord

    Dear Sir, I have been hesitant to respond all these days, because of personal reasons.

    However, may I bring the following facts to your attention:

    1. The woman in question complained of rape; whether it was in the context of tribal feuds and a feeling that any lie is justified if it destroys the opposing side is irrelevant.

    In fact, in the context that you mention, it is almost impossible for a woman to admit having been raped, even in genuine cases, for fear of social ostracism, by her own people as much as by her enemies. For her to fabricate such a story in order to pursue a feud is a very far-fetched possibility. Your earlier posts are not logically consistent nor sociologically tenable, I regret to say.

    2. The proper place to try the perpetrators and to sentence them or to release them is a court of law. I humbly submit that All Things Pakistan is not a duly constituted court of law under the laws of Pakistan, nor are you or I or any other reader or commentator empowered to come to a judgement on the matter.

    3. Of late, not once but several times you have raised the issue of her marriage to an already married person, in terms which makes it appear that the act reveals a moral turpitude in her character which invalidates her original complaint. I find it hard to understand your logic. Is it your case that the sexually promiscuous are subject to rape by anybody and everybody, and that they have surrendered their rights to the punishment of perpetrators of these crimes through their moral laxness? This is bizarre, to say the least, and slanderous at even a casual reading.

    I am unaware of the law in Pakistan. I am well aware of the law in India. It has been ruled again and again by Indian courts from the lowest to the highest that a woman’s previous (and logically subsequent) moral character is of no consequence in judging a case of molestation, of sexual harrassment or of rape. Even a whore, it has been ruled, has rights under the law. There is no such creature as an outlaw in jurisprudence.

    I hope it is not your intention to project this woman’s second marriage as a token of her loose morals, nor to impugn her character and infer lasciviousness with this flimsy evidence. I am sure that such is not your intention, and that your written words have betrayed your true purport, because such an intention would be preposterous.

    In the city of Calcutta where I now live, a single shout by a woman that she has been treated with disrespect by a man in a public place could possibly end with the death of the man concerned, or the men, for that matter. That is not to gainsay that crimes against women take place; it is only to state that the public climate of opinion is harshly against the perpetrators.

    I mention this so that you will understand my sincere personal request that you refrain in future from describing yourself as being from Calcutta, as you have done in another post. Your views, dear Sir, are yours and you have a perfect right to express them; similarly we have a right to dissociate ourselves from them.

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