THUMBPRINT KAMALA SANKARAM SUSAN YANKOWITZ
THUMBPRINT
LIBRETTO BY SUSAN YANKOWITZ
MUSIC BY KAMALA SANKARAM
© January 30, 2017 revised—Susan Yankowitz
SYNOPSIS
Thumbprint, a 90 minute chamber opera by composer Kamala Sankaram and librettist Susan Yankowitz, is inspired by the true story of Mukhtar Mai, a young illiterate peasant who was gang-raped as retribution for an alleged ‘honor’ crime by her little brother and who became the first woman in Pakistan to bring her rapists to justice.
This atrocity is the unlikely catalyst for Mukhtar’s transformation: Instead of committing suicide from the shame of her rape, as expected in her part of the world, she took her rapists to court. When offered a settlement, she instead asked for a school where girls in her village could be educated so that they, unlike her, would never know the humiliation of having to sign their names with a thumbprint.
From a woman who had not even known that her country had a constitution, she became a voice for the women ‘buried in shame/without a stone to mark their graves,’ and an international voice for human rights.
PRAISE
“Mukhtaran is a Rosa Parks for the new century: a woman simultaneously ordinary and extraordinary, who transcended her role and started a broad movement for justice. The most pressing moral challenge today is to overcome the brutality and inequality faced by women and girls in the developing world, and Mukhtaran has become a leader of that struggle.”
—NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
“Please don’t assume that it’s only a tale of heartbreak. Mukhtar Mai . . . proves that one woman really can change the world.”
—LAURA BUSH
“No nation can rise to the heights of glory unless its women are standing side by side with the men; we are victims of ugly customs. It is a crime against humanity that our women are shut up within the 4 walls of the houses like prisoners.”
—MOHAMMAD ALI JINNAH (the Father of Pakistan)
CAST
‘Thumbprint’ is conceived for 6 singers/actors and 6 instrumentalists. All performers except Mukhtar play several roles. The singing voices and styles may straddle opera and music-theatre.
MUKHTAR MAI — Soprano. Twenties.
MOTHER — Mezzo. 40-50.
FATHER — Bass baritone. 40+. Also: the Judge.
ANNU — Soprano. Teens or twenties. Mukhtar’s younger sister.
FAIZ — Baritone. Any age. Leader of Mastoi clan.
Also: Police Chief.
SHAKUR — Tenor. Mukhtar’s 12-year-old brother.
Also: the Reporter and Abdul.
(ON THE ROAD: MUKHTAR walks, bowed head, meditative, followed by REPORTERS)
VOICES OF REPORTERS
Islamabad News! BBC! Pakistan Human Rights Commission! Le Monde!
Hindustan Times! Daily Raj! Al Jazeera! Islamabad News! BBC!
Al Manzoor! Daily Raj! Daily News! Al Jazeera! Le Monde!
New York Times! Pravda! Hindustan Times! Egypt Daily News!
Punjabi Khabraan! BBC!
Saahiba Bibi, Bibi, Bibi
Can you tell us what happened, Mukhtar Mai?
Can you tell us what happened that night?
(The REPORTER from the Islamabad News detaches himself from the group, addresses her directly)
REPORTER
Mukhtar Bibi, Mukhtar Bibi
I am from the Islamabad News.
Please answer the question on every mind:
Where did you find your courage?
Where did you—?
(Suddenly FAIZ appears on the road—a flash forward)
FAIZ
Here is Mukhtar
Here is Mukhtar— (They come face to face—she sees something in his face that frightens her)
MUKHTAR
Here is Mukhtar . . . (turns away from him)
REPORTER, MOTHER, FAIZ
Where did you find your courage?
REPORTER
Tell us, tell us, Mukhtar Mai
Where did you find your courage?
(It is not clear if she is responding to him or communing with herself —or both?—but she leaves him and everyone behind as she walks toward home)
MUKHTAR
I am on the road. Allhamdulillah. Allhamdulillah.
REPORTER, MOTHER, FAIZ
Where did you find your courage?
MUKHTAR
I have faith in Allah, Compassionate King of the final day, Who has blessed us with beauty, The beauty of his world.
I do embroidery,
I teach Quran to children
And I do the chores that all girls do
Like my mother and her mother and her mother before her:
Clean the lentils, boil the rice, feed the chickens, sweep the floor, hang the laundry out to dry make chapattis before the sun is high . . .
(AT HOME: the clap-slap rhythmic beat of chapattis being shaped by Mother and Annu. Birdsong. Mukhtar walks into scene and joins in)
MOTHER, ANNU, MUKHTAR
The larks eat the grain and the crows are blamed Tee-oo, tee-oo, tee-oo, tee-oo, tee-oo!
The crows steal the fish and the loons are blamed Kaw kaw, kaw kaw, kaw kaw!
The cuckoo sings boo-ko-ta-koo
And the chukar makes love to the moon
Chukar, chukar, chu, chu chu-kar!
(MOTHER suddenly realizes that SHAKUR, her son, has not returned home)
MOTHER
Shakur! Shakur! Shakur!
He has been away so long . . .
ANNU
Maybe he stopped at the river to swim.
It is so hot! I wish I could do that, too!
MOTHER
Don’t be foolish Annu.
Girls are girls and boys are boys.
MUKHTAR, ANNU
(the equivalent of eye-rolling; they’ve heard this a thousand times)
Girls are girls and boys are boys.
MOTHER, ANNU, MUKHTAR
The larks eat the grain and the crows are blamed
Tee-oo, tee-oo, tee-oo tee-oo tee-oo!
The crows steal the fish and the loons are blamed Kaw kaw, kaw kaw, kaw kaw!
The cuck-oo sings bookotakoo
And the chukar makes love to the moon
Chukar chukar chukar!
Chukar chukar, chu, chukar!
ANNU
Please, Ammee, do not choose a husband for me
Who sounds like that crow!
MOTHER, MUKHTAR
Crow or goat, lion or mule,
Handsome or ugly, foolish or sly—
Pray Allah he be kind to you.
ANNU
But Ammee, what if he is kind and ugly?
MOTHER
Beauty is a light that shines from within.
MUKHTAR, ANNU (as before)
Beauty is a light that shines from within!
MOTHER
Crow or goat, lion or mule,
Handsome or ugly, foolish or sly—
Pray Allah he be kind to you.
ANNU, MUKHTAR
Pray Allah he be kind to you.
ANNU
But Ammee, what if his light shines but he is OLD?
MOTHER
A man is never too old for a girl with no dowry.
(That quiets them for a moment; then the cuckoo trills)
ANNU
Oh! I just heard the cuckoo! boo-ko-ta-koo –Bride, come to me –Boo–ko-ta-koo-
Who will he be, who will he be?
(Mukhtar joins her)
ANNU, MUKHTAR
Who will he be, who will he be
Who will he be?
MUKHTAR (in a changed tone)
Oh! I see! I see him, I do! Oo, ooh!
He laughs like a hyena And smells like the chickens in our coop.
He has hair in his ears
And none on his head
And his hands are as wet as soup. Oo, ooh.
ANNU Eu Eu! Eu Eu!
MUKHTAR
His nose meets his chin, He has boils on his skin –
Yes, all his beauty shines within!
Ooh, oh oo! Oh oo! Oh oo!
ANNU
Oh oo, eu eu, eu eu!
MUKHTAR, ANNU
Crow or goat, lion or mule,
Handsome or ugly, foolish or sly
Pray Allah he be kind to me.
Pray Allah he—
(The percussive MUSIC of the Mastoi cla breaks into the song.
VOICES OF FAIZ, ABDUL
Honor. Honor. Honor!
Everything stands still as the men approach)
MOTHER
(shoos Mukhtar and Annu away)
Go, go . . . !
(They flee, covering their heads, as the Mastoi enter.
(FAIZ is the leader; ABDUL is his sidekick and echo)
FAIZ
In the name of honor
We come with shameful news.
MOTHER (gesture of deference)
Faiz Mohammed.
FAIZ
In the name of honor
We have thrown your son in jail.
MOTHER
My son? Shakur?
FAIZ
Zina, zina!
He has committed zina
With a girl of our tribe,
With a girl of the Mastoi!
ABDUL
With a girl of the Mastoi!
MOTHER
This cannot be! He is only twelve years old—
FAIZ
Twelve or twenty—
He has committed zina!
She has named him—Shakur!
The boy who brought this shame to her.
Better a man cut off his own hand
Than touch a woman who does not belong to him.
ABDUL
Better a man cut off his own hand
Than touch a woman who does not belong to him. (From their hiding places:)
MUKHTAR, ANNU
Shakur, Shakur?
I cannot believe he would touch that girl . . .
FAIZ
He is too low to marry her. We have thrown him in jail. He shall be punished as the laws decree—
Whipped, lashed a hundred times, Even if it means his death!
MOTHER
No!
ABDUL
Even if it means his death!
MOTHER No! No!
Please, Faiz Mohammed.
What must I do to help my son?
FAIZ
You must send a woman, A woman of your tribe. You must send a woman to ask forgiveness.
MOTHER (prostrates herself)
Now, here, I will do it. I beg you—
FAIZ
No! The woman must come to US. She must come and ask forgiveness
Before all the men of the Mastoi
In the name of honor.
(From their hiding places:)
MUKHTAR, ANNU
I am afraid, I am afraid, I am afraid they will kill my brother, Afraid my mother will die of grief . . .
(MUKHTAR steps forward)
MUKHTAR
I will come. I will come, Faiz Mohammed I will come and ask forgiveness For my brother’s sake.
FAIZ
You, Mukhtar Mai?
(He is pleased)
Good. Let it be tonight.
MUKHTAR
I will be there, Faiz Mohammed.
FAIZ
Tonight, Mukhtar Mai.
But if you fail—
We will tear down your house
And slit the throats of the chickens and slit the throats of the goats— And of your little brother
ABDUL
And of your little brother!
FAIZ (as they exit)
In the name of Honor!
MOTHER (to their retreating backs)
Shukriya, thank you, Faiz Mohammed.
We will do what you say, She will be there, I swear— (breaks down when the men are almost out of sight)
Do not hurt him, Do not hurt my boy!
MUKHTAR
I will be there, I swear.
ANNU
Do not worry, Ammee. She will bring him home. (IN HER ROOM: Mukhtar prepares for her journey to the Mastoi)
MUKHTAR
I am afraid, I am afraid, Afraid they will kill my brother And my mother will die of grief. For myself, I have no fear.
I have done no harm to anyone I have faith in God
I know the holy Quran by heart And Shakur—Shakur!
I cannot believe he would touch that girl.
I will bring him home . . .
(From his jail cell, overlapping: alternately yearning and selfaccusatory)
SHAKUR
Home . . .
I should have come home . . .
The day was so hot I went to the river.
I jumped in the river, so cool . . . And when I came out, when I came out—
(can’t bear to even remember what happened)
—I should have come home I should have come home!
MUKHTAR
I will bring him home. I will do as they ask and bring him home.
(FATHER enters—maybe seen earlier on road, perhaps crossing paths with Faiz and Abdul)
FATHER
The Mastoi were here?
MOTHER
They took Shakur. They accuse him of zina.
FATHER
Zina? Shakur? It cannot be true!
MOTHER
True?
When the Mastoi say the sun shines at night, it is true. When the Mastoi say the moon shines by day, it is true. Truth dies in the mouth of power
FATHER
It is true, You are right.
Truth dies in the mouth of power.
ANNU
The Mastoi said If Mukhtar comes to them And begs for forgiveness, hey will set Shakur free.
FATHER
Good. That is the tradition. A woman must ask forgiveness. They follow the tradition. We will do the same. (to Mukhtar)
But you cannot go alone to the house of men. It is not proper.
MOTHER
I agree.
FATHER (warmly)
You agree?
My wife agrees with me!
I am a HAPPY man.
Come, Mukhtaran.
Let us do what must be done.
ANNU (to Mukhtar)
Wait. Take my shawl.
Then I will be there, too—
For Shakur—
And for you.
(A moment of affection: then the leave-taking)
FATHER, MUKHTAR
We will bring him home
ANNU, MOTHER
You will bring him home
(MUKHTAR puts on her hijab. MOTHER presses a copy of the Quran into her hands)
MOTHER
Allah goes with you.
Allhamdulillah
(ON THE ROAD: MUKHTAR walks and FATHER follows—the hymn accompanies them)
ANNU, MOTHER
Allah knows everything
Allhamdulillah
The sky is his window; He sees without eyes . . .
All beings on heaven and earth
Even the birds sing of his glory.
Alhamdulillah
There is good in this world for those who do good, but for those who do evil—
Allah will strip the glow from their face, Allah will rip the strength from their body and throw them to the flames of hell.
Allah knows everything.
Allhamdulillah
The sky is his window; He sees without eyes.
Allhamdulillah.
(FAIZ and ABDUL appear down another road. Their fierce music/ rhythms enter and grow louder, colliding with and eventually overpowering the hymn)
FAIZ
Allhamdulillah
There is good in this world for those who do good, but for those who do evil— for those who do evil— !!!
(FAIZ and MUKHTAR meet on the road as in the opening scene)
Here is Mukhtar.
(She lays down her shawl as a sign of submission and kneels)
MUKHTAR
If my brother has offended you
I ask pardon in his place. (FAIZ does not respond. She glances up at him—cannot read his expression; repeats, perhaps coached by her father in the background)
And Shakur, Shakur?
What will he do to Shakur? What more does he want?
I am at his feet . . .
If my brother has offended you
I ask pardon in his place.
I beg you: set him free!
(Again she looks up at him. Again he looks at her without response. She feels frightened, angry, hopeful, hopeless)
No, no. I see it in his eyes
He lied, he lied.
He will not forgive—
(controls her anxiety, repeats the apology even more submissively, bowing even lower)
If my brother has offended you, I ask pardon in his place and beg you: set him free.
(Dead silence: She raises her head.)
FAIZ
Shame!
Shame for shame, Woman for woman!
(calls to his men)
Here is Mukhtar
Do what you want with her!
(The men grab her. FATHER rushes to help; his way is barred)
(THE RAPE—change of music that becomes the signature of this moment.
A shaft of light isolates Mukhtar. Her shawl and the Quran fall to the ground as her clothing is symbolically ripped away.
MUKHTAR
They take me from darkness into darkness From night into another night. They take this petrified body, These collapsing legs— Is this me?
This is not me. I fall away from myself. Is this me? Is this me? This is not me.
(WOMEN—Images and/or voices suggest a village, or world, of women like Mukhtar)
She breathes, gasps at the violations, simultaneously inside the moment and watching it from a distance)
MUKHTAR, WOMEN
Day and night, night and day, Every girl fears this fate. It is like a vulture Flying right above our heads.
A man can come
And take you into darkness, break into your body take you into darkness—
Day and night, night and day, Every girl fears this fate . . .
(MUKHTAR is flung to the ground)
FAIZ
Now you are forgiven. Justice has been done. (throws the torn shawl to FATHER)
(ON THE ROAD again: Men join the women: all become VILLAGERS.
MUKHTAR stumbles past them toward home, supported by FATHER)
Take your daughter.
(FAIZ exits.)
FATHER goes to cover Mukhtar with the shawl. She recoils)
MUKHTAR
Do not touch me, Do not look at me.
I am disgraced, I am unclean.
VILLAGERS
Do not touch her, Do not look at her, She is disgraced, she is unclean. She has brought shame to her family Turn away, do not speak to her; She is disgraced, she is unclean. Tauba, tauba! God forbid her fate come to us.
MUKHTAR
(fragmented; jolts between thoughts) What is done cannot be undone I have brought shame to my family . . . People will spit on my mother and me . . .
My sister will never marry . . . What is done cannot be undone.
VILLAGERS
She has brought shame to her family
Do not touch, do not look at her. She is disgraced, she is unclean. Tauba, tauba! God forbid her fate come to us!
(The voices follow Mukhtar and Father down the road)
(HOME: Mother and Annu are waiting when Mukhtar and Father arrive)
ANNU
Mukhtaran . . . Mukhtaran?
MOTHER
. . . Shakur? Shakur?
You did not bring him home?!
FATHER
He is still in jail. They would not release him.
(MUKHTAR walks past them like a ghost)
MOTHER
What happened? What have they done to her?!
FATHER
They have done— They have done . . . the worst.
(MOTHER is horrified.)
ELSEWHERE: FAIZ and ABDUL voice the injunction of the Feudal Men: The Quranic edict is also in the minds of everyone)
FEUDAL MEN (FAIZ, ABDUL)
“If a woman commit lewdness Lock her up inside her house Until death releases her, As the Quran decrees.”
(LIGHT moves through night to dawn.
MOTHER and FATHER are outside Mukhtar’s room)
MOTHER
She has been in her room for two days
She will not eat or speak to me
I am afraid, I am afraid What will she do?
FATHER
What can she do?
The village knows her shame.
MOTHER
What is her crime? What is her sin?
That she is poor, and a girl?
FATHER
They are the rich, we are the poor.
What can be done?
ANNU
Ammee, people will spit on us!
People will spit on you
And on me, Ammee!
MOTHER
Spit can be washed away.
ANNU
I will never marry… A woman is like a shawl. Stained, she is ruined Forever.
(From Jail: SHAKUR participates in the family quartet. He does not know yet what has happened)
SHAKUR
They made a mistake, I did nothing wrong. I never saw that girl. I never touched that girl!
Let me go home!
FATHER
They are the rich, we are the poor.
What can be done?
They are the rich,
They crush the weak -
And we are the weak.
(ANNU picks up the ripped shawl from the floor)
ANNU
What can she do?
A woman is like a shawl
Once she is stained
She is ruined forever.
(IN MUKHTAR’S ROOM: She is alone, MOTHER nearby.)
MUKHTAR
Stained . . . ruined . . .
Forever.
Only I, I, can restore honor to my family—
And to do that, to do that I must die.
What sorrow, what sorrow
What sorrow to leave this earth
Never to see the fields at dawn,
Never to see the rising sun
All that I love
All those I love.
What sorrow, what sorrow . . .
MOTHER (interweaving)
Do not stay so alone
Please, let me help you
MUKHTAR
Never to hear the children’s songs, Never to know the jasmine nights,
All that I love
All those I love
What sorrow to leave this earth . . .
MUKHTAR, MOTHER
What sorrow, what sorrow . . .
MUKHTAR
What should I do? What should I do?
MUKHTAR
I will do the same as other girls
Who have shamed their families
MOTHER
Do not do the same as other girls
Who have shamed their families
MUKHTAR
Ammee, please, go to the store
MOTHER
Please, please, open the door.
MUKHTAR
Buy some acid
I will drink . . . die . . .
Restore your honor.
Buy me my death.
MOTHER
My honor?
My honor is YOU! (MUKHTAR opens the door)
How can you ask me to let you die?
My lovely daughter, my smiling daughter
Your pain is mine. Your tears fill my eyes.
I heard your first cry
How can you ask me to hear your last?
MUKHTAR
What is done cannot be undone. Please, buy me my death.
MOTHER
A mother gives life, She does not take it away.
I will not let you die.
MUKHTAR
How can I survive the shame?
MOTHER
You are stronger than you know
You can do more than you know
Remember your name— Mukhtar. Powerful. Mukhtar. Self-respecting.
I will not let you die.
Remember your name. Powerful, self-respecting—Mukhtar.
MUKHTAR
How can I respect myself?
I am unclean, shamed. Those men took everything from me. They killed my name, they killed my honor—
It is the same as though they took my life.
I must do the same as other girls
Who have shamed their families—
Remember your name—Mukhtar. Powerful. Self-respecting—Mukhtar.
MOTHER
You are NOT other girls. (as she exits)
MUKHTAR (alone)
Power . . . self-respect . . .
But my name and my honor . . . Those men took everything from me . . . And I have done no harm to anyone. I have done no harm!
Then why . . . why must I die?
The crime, the sin, is theirs. Theirs!
(moving toward a decision)
No . . . no . . . I will not die!
I am done with tears.
Allah is Almighty and could fight this fight for me.
If he does not, it is to teach me to fight for myself.
I have no money, no power—
But I have a voice—and I can speak. (sets out on road)
Those men should be punished!
I will go to the police
Speak out for what is right
And bring these evil men to justice.
(ELSEWHERE: FAIZ and his cronies laugh at MUKHTAR’s decision.)
FAIZ
Justice! She will ‘fight for justice!‘
(Laughter continues, erupts through scene)
Ridiculous! It is ridiculous.
A girl like her, Going to the police!
(The VILLAGERS join)
FAIZ, VILLAGERS
She should not have left home
She has brought this on herself
Innocence lasts a day, shame forever.
What is done cannot be undone.
Follow the tradition
Do what is expected End your shame with death.
MUKHTAR
I will not do that.
I will go to the police. I will not kill myself. If I must die I want my death to have some meaning.
FAIZ, VILLAGERS
Follow the tradition.
Do what is expected End your shame with death.
(MOTHER moves out of the group of VILLAGERS. She has been like most of them all her life. Now she is rethinking everything: a kind of meditation, in which ANNU soon joins her)
MOTHER
Do what is expected.
I believed that, too.
Follow the tradition.
I believed like you—
Why did I believe?
How could I believe?
A girl used by men is shamed
But the man will know no shame . . .
MOTHER, ANNU
A girl used by men must die
And if not, she is despised . . .
Why did I believe?
How could I believe?
(Suddenly the IMAM— not necessarily on stage— chants a sermon in the mosque. It amplified to reach the whole village)
IMAM
The crime, the sin, is theirs.
As your Imam, I beseech you
To do what is right,
Speak out for what is right
As the Quran says.
I call on Mukhtar Mai
To go to the police
And bring these evil men
To justice! (From their separate areas:)
FAIZ (laughing, as before)
They lie!
No one will believe them.
Mukhtar lies!
No one will believe her.
MUKHTAR, ANNU, MOTHER, FATHER
The sun shines by night,
The moon by day:
Truth dies in the mouth of power.
MUKHTAR
I will go to the police.
FAIZ
She will go to the police!
A girl who was shamed in front of everyone.
A girl who has never been outside her village.
And when you return, Mukhtar Mai? What will you do then?
Go back to teaching the holy Quran?
Who will send her child to you?
MUKHTAR
I am on the road.
FAIZ
You are disgraced, you are unclean.
MUKHTAR
I am outside my village now. I am on the road.
MUKHTAR
I am going to make my statement.
FAIZ
And when you return, Mukhtar Mai, What will you do then?
Pick up your embroidery? Who will buy from you?
FAIZ
Your statement?
You are the fate Every woman prays to escape— Dishonor. Shame. (They come face to face)
(walks toward her, with intention)
MUKHTAR
Dishonor? Shame?
That fate is called rape.
FAIZ
We took back our honor.
MUKHTAR
(steely; a real confrontation)
Honor? To satisfy your lust on a woman?
Use her and throw her away like a broken toy?
That is honor?
FAIZ
We follow the tradition. You should do the same.
MUKHTAR
I will make a new tradition.
FAIZ
You, a Gujar, the lowest of the low?
Follow the tradition!
MUKHTAR
I will make a new tradition.
In one hour on the stable floor
My old life died.
I am not the same woman
Who begged for your mercy.
I will go to the police.
(She tries to walk past him; he blocks her way)
FAIZ
No man has ever been punished for a crime of honor in Pakistan.
MUKHTAR
The crime, the scene is yours, Not mine, Faiz Mohammed. (She pushes past him, determined and shaken.
FAIZ watches her.
Just as she reaches the Police Station, he converts himself into the POLICE CHIEF.)
(In the POLICE STATION: The Chief does not even look up at her. She waits nervously. Finally:)
POLICE CHIEF
Yes? Your complaint
MUKHTAR (stammering)
Four men . . . from the Mastoi . . . They raped me—
POLICE CHIEF
You cannot say you were raped.
POLICE CHIEF
Who saw? Who was there? You must produce four eyewitnesses, four male eyewitnesses—that is the law.
MUKHTAR
Four men? Four male witnesses? (bursts out)
The men of the Mastoi— THEY are my witnesses!
MUKHTAR
It is true.
POLICE CHIEF
You, a Gujar, the lowest of the low, You accuse the Mastoi?!
Do not be foolish.
We know what happened. We have the report.
Sign. Sign here, Mukhtar Mai
(He shows her the typed statement — perhaps a video moment?—with a space for her signature.)
MUKHTAR
But what does it say?
(A long pause—the beginning of her epiphany: she begins to realize the extent and implications of her ignorance. The JUDGE looms up to dominate the scene. The paper he extends to her is blank)
JUDGE
Mukhtar Mai, your Imam has spoken to me.
You will sign this paper.
Sign here, Mukhtar Mai.
MUKHTAR
. . . there is nothing on the page . . .
JUDGE
I will write down what you say
But first you must sign. (when she hesitates)
We cannot indict these men
Unless you sign.
That is the law, Mukhtar Mai.
Sign the paper. Sign here.
MUKHTAR
. . . I do not know . . . I do not know how to sign.
JUDGE,
POLICE CHIEF
Use your thumbprint, like all the women. (THUMBPRINT: a revelatory internal moment.)
MUKHTAR
MUKHTAR
‘Use your thumbprint, like all the women . . . ’ I cannot write, I cannot read I know nothing of the world
Like all the women
Like all the women I was taught silence, I was taught fear Taught to hide my face and bow my head
Like my mother and her mother
And her mother before her . . .
JUDGE, POLICE CHIEF
Use your thumbprint!
Use my thumbprint, Use my thumbprint— (And she does—presses her thumb on an inkpad which turns it blue, and onto the blank—Page? Screen? Set? Judge? In a way, all the themes of the opera lie in the whirls of that thumbprint.
GAVEL—or its equivalent in Pakistan —a sound that can be used throughout the courtroom testimonies for punctuation and emphasis)
JUDGE
We charge the Mastoi And their accomplices
With the rape of Mukhtar Mai And order them held for trial.
(Brief eruption of background SOUND, echo of opening scene with REPORTERS—a good time to expand use of media)
VOICES OF REPORTERS
Islamabad News. Le Monde.
New York Times.
Pakistan Human Rights Commission.
Pravda. Daily Raj. BBC. Al Jazeera. Can you tell us what happened that night, Mukhtar Mai?
(The REPORTER detaches himself from the crowd, as earlier)
REPORTER
Islamabad News.
I am reporting from Meerwala, The home of Mukhtar Mai. The arrests of the powerful Mastoi Have stunned this small village.
(Mukhtar’s MOTHER responds to him)
MOTHER
People say she should not wash This laundry in public.
People say she is hurting Islam, That I should make her stop. Make her stop?
She is as stubborn as a goat! She will not jump when you say jump. Why would I try to shut her mouth When she has just begun to open it?
(A loud, percussive sound — the GAVEL or its equivalent: a call to order)
(COURTROOM: A series of cameo testimonies)
JUDGE
Court is in session!
(Those who will testify face the Judge)
You stand today before The Law.
Each of you is sworn to speak the truth
And I am sworn to make fair judgment. We call the first witness.
(SHAKUR steps into the distinct light of the witness area.)
SHAKUR
It is all my fault!
The day was so hot I went to the river I jumped in the river, so cool . . . And when I climbed out— when I climbed out—
(agitated, forces himself to say what he could not say before— a very different tone)
A man grabbed me
Pushed me to the ground
Beat me, accused me of zina
And threw me in jail.
I never saw that girl!
I never touched that girl! It is all my fault.
She still screams in her sleep— I should have come home!
MUKHTAR
You did nothing wrong It is not your fault.
FAIZ
The boy lies, the sister lies. Where are the witnesses? (Spotlight on FATHER.)
FATHER
I am her witness.
I was there.
I saw. I heard.
What no father should see or hear.
They dragged her away
Like a goat to slaughter
That is the fate of goats
And sometimes of daughters.
Allah forgive me
I didn’t see the crime
Until the daughter was mine.
They dragged her away
Held a gun to my head
I could not help her
With that shotgun at my head!
Allah forgive me
I never saw the crime
Until the daughter was mine.
Today I am not helpless.
I am here to get justice, justice for my daughter.
I am only a poor man
But I love my daughter,
And I speak the truth.
Justice for my daughter!
I want Justice for my daughter!
(Spotlight on FAIZ)
FAIZ
She paid a debt, A debt of honor
We accepted her payment
That is how it is done From generation unto generation That is justice, honor justice
This is the land where our fathers lie Their blood colors the earth and runs through my veins and the veins of my sons.
I am a link in the chain of our ancient tribe
I will not be the one to break it!
Mukhtar Mai asked pardon according to tradition
And we granted it according to tradition.
She knew the tradition— Everyone knows the tradition.
Eye for eye, burning for burning
You take my woman, I take revenge on yours. The ancient law of retaliation
From generation unto generation
That is why the Elders gave the order
That is why they gave us Mukhtar
That is justice, honor justice!
(MUKHTAR in a shaft of light— a variation on the light from the rape?)
MUKHTAR
Yesterday a girl of nine Was stoned to death
For holding hands with a boy. That is justice, honor justice?! (with great emotion)
They thought I would die of the shame I almost did They thought I would forget Put it behind me— I will never forget! What happened is part of me, Like my breath, my blood, The beat of my heart. I will never forget! (her testimony begins)
I have made no mistake.
I know who they are. (pointing out each one)
That one held me down.
He is blind in one eye.
That one, his brother, tore off my clothes
The old man—
One after the other
They take turns (drifting back into the experience)
They take me, They take ME—
FAIZ
Lies! Where are the witnesses?
You must produce—
MUKHTAR
The witnesses?
Ask the stones on the road
Where you dragged me.
Ask the stars in the night
You made for me— (a new realization—those unearthly voices or sounds speak to her, through her. They shift her out of the courtroom and into a new space of heightened perception)
MUKHTAR, VOICES
Ask the stars, ask the stones, ask the road
Ask the thousands of women buried in shame without a stone to show they lived, their names erased from memory . . .
VOICES OF WOMEN
Be my voice.
Speak what I cannot speak.
Say what I cannot say.
MUKHTAR
I will be your voice
Speak what you cannot speak
Say what you cannot say
(GAVEL—everyone faces the JUDGE)
JUDGE
Never before have Tribal Elders,
Who are sworn to protect our women
As though they were their own daughters,
Ordered a rape!
For this abuse of power
And the act of terror it inspired
We find the men of the Mastoi
And the Elders who conspired with them
Guilty of rape.
FAIZ
Guilty?! Impossible!
Where are the witnesses?
JUDGE
Witnesses are not needed
In cases of terrorism.
And this was an case of terror.
So that men will know that rape is a monstrous crime
We sentence you to death.
FAIZ
Death? This cannot be.
We followed the tradition.
If we are guilty, half of Pakistan is guilty, too.
You cannot undo tradition
In a courtroom.
JUDGE
The sentence is death!
You had strength and used it against the weak
You had power and used it for evil.
So that men will know that rape is a monstrous crime
We sentence you to death.
(Outside the Courtroom:)
REPORTER
Mukhtar Bibi, you are the first woman in Pakistan
To win a conviction against her rapists.
Where did you find your courage?
MUKHTAR
One voice sings, Thousands hear the song.
(The ROAD: Mukhtar walks in a new direction. The MINISTER OF JUSTICE meets her at a new juncture, a check in her hand.)
MINISTER OF JUSTICE
Mukhtar Mai, please accept this settlement
For the suffering you endured. (Mukhtar hesitates)
It is not a bribe. It is for you,
To spend as you choose.
Trust me, Mukhtar.
I am a Minister of Justice.
MUKHTAR (to herself)
A minister? A woman?
A minister of Justice—And a woman?
MINISTER
Look. I have signed the check. My title is below—Minister of Justice— (Mukhtar looks at the check, at the minister, stricken again by the embarrassment of her illiteracy.
REPRISE and development of Thumbprint aria)
MUKHTAR
I cannot write, I cannot read
I know nothing of the world
Like all women
Like all women
I was taught silence, I was taught fear
Taught to hide my face and bow my head
Like my mother and her mother and her mother before her
MUKHTAR (working it out)
. . . do not read . . . do not write . . . use your thumbprint . . . . . . use your thumbprint . . .
(bursts out excitedly)
A school! A school for girls!
Girls will learn to read and write!
Girls will learn to sign their names with a pen, and not a thumbprint.
Girls will learn to know their rights-
Clean the lentils, boil the rice feed the chickens, sweep the floor, hang the laundry out to dry . . .
(VOICES of other women support her)
MUKHTAR, VOICES
We cannot write, we cannot read
We know nothing of the world…
Like all the women
We hide our faces
Bow our heads
(From the same JAIL where Shakur was earlier held:)
FAIZ
What rights? Where will you find them?
What rights? Who will enforce them?
This will blow away
Like spit in the wind—
And what will happen then?
Where will your rights be then?
It will be the old tradition then!
MUKHTAR
I will make a new tradition. (confronting Faiz in his cell)
What you did was the worst thing
In my life
But it was also the best—
Because of you, my life has meaning. (She walks on.
A YOUNG WOMAN, face hidden, breathlessly joins her)
YOUNG WOMAN
I ran away— He caught me—
Threw acid on my face— And threw me out
Because I am ugly.
My father says a broken branch
Must be cut from the tree.
MUKHTAR
Do not be afraid. We are on the road.
I will stay with you The judge will write down what you say and you will sign with your thumbprint And when we are back in Meerwala You will study at my school.
(The REPORTER asks his question for the last time.
MUKHTAR (answers him)
REPORTER
Where did you find your courage?
MUKHTAR
In a dry season, Someone must be the first drop of rain
Let it be me, let it begin with me
(FINALE begins—a CHORALE of MUKHTAR with all the characters in the opera, WOMEN and MEN, too
CHORUS
Two hands plant the rice,
Two hundred mouths can eat
MUKHTAR
In a dark season,
Someone must be the first ray of light
Let it be me, let it begin with me.
CHORUS
One voice sings
One thousand hear the song
(And she is at the end of this road— in her SCHOOL. Other students soon join her)
My school!
I am the first student
In my own school
And this I know:
For the rest of my life, I will never need to sign my name with a thumbprint again.
MUKHTAR
Let it be me, let it begin with me.
(painstakingly forms the letters of her name, in Urdu and English)
Mukhtar Powerful Self-Respecting
(At the same time, other names appear throughout the theatre: on the screen, walls, floor, costumes —a global network of names: Text, video, stage, etc. Additional names can be found in appendix at end of libretto)
CHORUS
Dr. Shazia Khalid
Shaheen Baduri
Kainat Soomro
Zahida Perveen
Samira Bellil
Honorata Kizende
(And finally: Mukhtar’s name appears, in English and Urdu, shining in the galaxy of names)
CHORUS
Mukhtar Mai! Take picture of signature or scan
FIN
Additional names of women who have suffered
violence and rape (for visuals)
Jyoti Singh Pandey
Malala Yousafzai
Nirbhaya
Cheryl Araujo
Lauren Kyle
Stacey Thompson
Natalia Antonov
Samia Imran
Mathura
Soni Sori
Aruna Shanbaug
Natalia Antonova
Suzette Jordan
Yasmine El Baramawy
Thérèse Mwandeko
Linor Abargil
Anonymous
Oprah Winfrey
Alma Abdulrahman
Daisy Coleman
Senator Gretchen
Whitmer
Phoolan Devi
Timea Nagy
Eve Ensler
Bakira Haseˇci´c
Lauren Kyle
Grace Brown
Dianna Ortiz
Tyler Perry
Victim 9
Rozina
Mary J. Blige
Madonna
Betty Jean Owens
Woineshet Zebene
Sheila White
Emilie Autumn
Natasha Falle
Taylor Walker
Ashley Judd
Andrea Pino
Nujood Ali