India and Pakistan's Code of Dishonor - New York Times

India and Pakistan's Code of Dishonor - New York Times: "India and Pakistan's Code of Dishonor




By SALMAN RUSHDIE
Published: July 10, 2005

IN honor-and-shame cultures like those of India and Pakistan, male honor resides in the sexual probity of women, and the 'shaming' of women dishonors all men. So it is that five men of Pakistan's powerful Mastoi tribe were disgracefully acquitted of raping a villager named Mukhtar Mai three years ago. Theirs was an 'honor rape,' intended to punish a relative of Ms. Mukhtar for having been seen with a Matsoi woman. The acquittals have now been suspended by the Pakistan Supreme Court, and there is finally a chance that this courageous woman may gain some measure of redress for her violation."