NEW YORK: She may be shy and unread but Mukhtaran Mai has a sharp mind that equips her to match wits with anyone. And she demonstrated that in full measure at a public meeting here on Sunday.

Challenged by a critic as to how she could justify her recent visit to the White House in search of support for the rights of women around the world when its occupant had waged wars in which thousands of women have been killed, Mai raised her eyes, looked hard at her detractor and quipped, “I live in a small Pakistani village, but I ask you (those who live here) what have you done for the women who are being killed? Have you been able to stop the wars?”

She thus turned the argument around with the skill of an accomplished diplomat. The repartee was delivered with devastating effect; the woman who posed the question was left speechless and looking embarrassed as the packed Cooper Union hall exploded into thunderous applause.

Overall, Mukhtaran Mai conducted herself with quiet dignity during her maiden trip to the United States in sharp contrast to some government-sponsored individuals who descend here every now and then, with usually fun and shopping uppermost in their mind. Mai remained focused on her objectives: to seek help for the promotion of women’s education in Pakistan and to raise funds for the survivors of earthquake victims in NWFP and Azad Kashmir. The results are expected to be positive since she has aroused so much interest in her mission.

The news media, too, gave her good marks; she received extensive coverage and her face has become one of the more recognizable ones. But the organizers of her visit deplored some distorted reports filed by correspondents of a section of Pakistani press who were not seen at any of her functions. “These gentlemen had preconceived notions about Mai and what they wrote was simply a figment of their imagination,” one of them said.

An instant celebrity, Mai, who was dubbed “The Bravest Woman in the World” by Glamour Magazine, remained humble and endeared herself to the people she came in contact with. Dressed modestly in shalwar kameez covering her head with a long dupatta, she kept her eyes down in respect.

She received high tributes from US First Lady Laura Bush, who introduced her in a video at the Glamour magazine award ceremony to the former Irish president Mary Robinson; actresses Goldie Hawn and Catherine Zeta-Jones; wife of the former vice president, Tipper Gore and Congresswoman Sheila Jackson who sat on her dinner table. She also met US assistant secretary of state, Christina Rocca. Mai clearly stole the show at Glamour magazine award ceremony as she was accorded two standing ovations — one when she mounted the stage and another after she vowed to “fight oppression through education.”

Notable is also the fact that she never attacked the government on foreign soil, despite attempts to draw her in. But she did blame the “feudal system” in Pakistan for the poor situation of women, something that those even in government cannot deny.

With her stunning act of defiance and her ongoing activism, says Amna Buttar, M.D., of the Asian-American Network Against Abuse of Women, Mukhtar has “single-handedly changed the attitudes toward rape and women’s rights in Pakistan, and given hope to survivors.” Mukhtar says, “It’s because of the support of the world that I feel brave.”

This is what Glamour magazine wrote of her: Mukhtar Mai: The bravest woman in the world

Mukhtar Mai is barely literate, yet Nicholas D. Kristof, the New York Times columnist, says of her, “There is no one person who has been more courageous—or more effective—in the struggle for women’s rights in the developing world.”

“Three years ago, four men from her village in Pakistan gang-raped Mukhtar, then 33, to punish her brother for an offence they believed he’d committed.

“Her honour destroyed, she was expected by her community and even her own family to kill herself in shame. Instead, she marshalled deep reserves of dignity and strength to show her village what honour really is. Over her own father’s initial objections, she went to the police, ultimately facing her attackers in a trial that put the four men in jail (an appeal that could free them is still pending).

“When the government rewarded her with $8,300 in compensation, she chose not to flee with her cash, but to remain in her hometown and use the money to start the village’s first-ever schools, even as her rapists’ tribesmen continued to threaten her.

“If women aren’t educated, it’s hard for them to speak up for themselves,” she has said. And only education, she believes, will stop future generations of men from abusing women (she has even enrolled her rapists’ children). Since her story became public, Mukhtar has received tens of thousands of dollars from the international community for her schools; thousands of Pakistani women have travelled to her remote village to tell their own rape stories and receive help—or simply to thank her for her bravery.”