by Umair Hassan

Created on: September 30, 2009   Last Updated: October 02, 2009

When we talk about Pakistan and Muslim girls in general, what comes in mind straight away is that they cover themselves from head to toe, they don't go out alone not even to school, they are not allowed to talk with men, they get ganged raped and don't even get any justice; in short they don't have a normal life. Well this is not entirely a wrong statement but saying that it happens only with Muslim girls and in Pakistan is fallacious. Torture on women is not just a story of today. This injustice has been in to practice since forever.

Let's talk with some sense and show up the correct picture. Pakistan is not a developed country and there are minimal chances that it will be counted among the most civilized and progressive ones any time soon. The judiciary in the country is a mere joke, there is no system whatsoever, every politician knows how to fool their countrymen and that every single person from top to bottom is corrupt. After reading all this why would anyone expect that women would get their rights? The definition of a literate person in the country is that he/she should be able to write and read his name and even with such definition the rate is around 54.9% then just imagine what would be the rate if we only count those who are actually literate enough to understand the difference between right and wrong.

Hearing news about a girl getting gang raped in urban cities is shocking and some might also come on streets to protest but exactly how many cities are there to be named as urban. There is an abundance of towns and villages in all four provinces where people are uneducated and would let a girl get gang raped because her brother was accused of adultery with some girl. All would participate in this event and let the girl go home naked. This is the story of a person who received "woman of the year 2005" award. Her name is Mukhtaran Mai. She apparently had courage to stand for herself after such tragedy and fight for her rights. Today she is happily married and living her life with peace after making it sure that those accused are behind bars. This story got coverage around the world. This was just the case of one female victim; there are thousands of stories just like hers that need attention and solution.

Unlike Karachi, Lahore or Islamabad, there are places where there is a system of panchayat and they have there own laws about their villages. Every person living in that small town is bound to follow what is decided in it even the verdict is to let

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