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Mai’s UN event cancelled under pressure from Pakistani officials

By Khalid Hasan

WASHINGTON: An event honouring Mukhtar Mai at the United Nations was cancelled after Pakistan’s UN Mission lobbied hard, arguing that it would be embarrassing for Prime Minister Sahukat Aziz to be at the UN at about the same time as Mai.

This correspondent has established, despite denials by the Pakistan’s UN Mission in New York and even the prime minister, that the Pakistani authorities had something to do with the cancellation of the Mukhtar Mai event.

Dr Joan Larevere said in an email on Sunday: “We were phoned and e-mailed by the United Nations non-governmental organisation (NGO) Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) office late on Thursday, January 19, and informed that the event had to be postponed at the request of the Pakistani mission to the UN. The Pakistani prime minister was conducting a press conference at the UN concurrent to Mukhtar Mai’s event, and it was deemed too embarrassing to have her speaking at that time. We do not know who issued this request from the Pakistani mission. We do not have direct contacts with their office. We understand that they were in contact with the DESA office. We received verbal communication from Ms Michele Federoff and e-mailed communication from Ms Meena Sur in that office.

I believe they were in touch with the Pakistani mission. Virtue foundation and DESA arranged it (the Mukhtar Mai event), and wanted Soledad O’Brien to interview Mukhtar onstage.”

Dr Amna Buttar of the Asian American Network against Abuse of Human Rights (ANAA) told Daily Times in another message: “Towards the end of December 2005, Virtue Foundation and the UN donations office approached me as the actress Anne Hathaway and the foundation wanted to give money for earthquake relief, but through ANAA and Mukhtar. I told them that Mukhtar was coming to New York city and they asked if they could arrange something at the UN. That is how things got in motion. The programme was as follows: a six-minute documentary on Mukhtar; a presentation by me; interview with Soledad O’ Brien and a Q&A session. The Virtue Foundation people tell me that they did a final walk-through on Thursday afternoon and everything was good. That night at 8pm, they were informed that the event had to be postponed as the Pakistani prime minister would be speaking at the same time and it would be embarrassing for him. Organisers tell me that they tried to go to the highest office they could to keep the event on, but were told that the Pakistani mission insisted cancelling the event and the UN had to honour a head of the government’s request. I am told that the Pakistan mission officials said that they would all lose their jobs if the event wasn’t cancelled.

“The Virtue Foundation called me on Friday (January 20) in the morning to tell me that the event had been cancelled.”

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