Mukhtar Mai, the Pakistani woman whose defiant response to being gang-raped by order of a tribal court brought her worldwide attention, was denied a chance to speak at the United Nations on Friday after Pakistan protested that it was the same day the country’s prime minister was visiting. Ms. Mai had long been scheduled to make an appearance called “An Interview With Mukhtar Mai: The Bravest Woman on Earth” in the United Nations television studios, sponsored by the office for nongovernmental organizations, the Virtue Foundation and the Asian-American Network Against Abuse of Human Rights.But on Thursday night the organizers were informed that the program would have to be postponed because of Pakistan’s objections. Efforts by the New York Times to secure comments of the visiting Pakistan’s Prime Minister and the UN officials in this regard proved futile exercises. Back Ground: In 2002, a village council in Pakistan sentenced Ms. Mai to be gang-raped for the supposed misconduct of her brother. Pakistani women in such circumstances often commit suicide, but Ms. Mai instead successfully challenged her rapists in court. She gave the compensation money she received to schools in her remote district. On a previous visit to New York in November, Ms. Mai, also known as Mukhtaran Bibi, was hailed in a video tribute by Laura Bush at a Lincoln Center banquet as a person who “proves that one woman really can change the world.” This was not the first time that Pakistan’s government had interfered in Ms. Mai’s travels. President Pervez Musharraf blocked her from taking a trip to the United States in June and then relented last fall when Glamour magazine honored her as its “Woman of the Year.” In an interview, Ms. Mai said: “I feel disappointed. I was not going to say anything bad about Pakistan. I was just going to talk about my work and what people are doing.” Read More: The New York Times
