The proverb that one must have Prophet Noah’s (peace be upon him) age, Ayub’s (peace be upon him) patience, and Qaroon’s wealth to get justice perfectly portrays how Pakistan’s judicial system performs. However, Mai Jindo’s case adds one more resource to the list of the proverb: in addition to a steadfast commitment, unwavering courage, and untiring efforts, one needs to sacrifice one’s family members one-by-one at the altar of the elite institutions to get justice in this country. She played a vital role in securing justice for her two sons and a son-in-law with meagre resources. She is credited for turning the fate of the Tando Bahawal case. Thus, Mai Jindo, an old and poor farmer woman, achieved what other women could only dream of in the patriarchal society.

The Tando Bahawal incident took place on June 5, 1992, when a contingent of the Pakistan Army, led by Maj Arshad Jamil, raided Tando Bahawal, a village on the outskirts of Hyderabad, and kidnapped nine villagers. The captives included Bahadur and Manthar, sons of Mai Jindo and Haji Akram, her son-in-law. They were taken to the bank of Indus River near Jamshoro and gunned down.

Maj Arshad Jamil had been deputed in Sindh as a part of Operation Clean-up (also known as Operation Blue Fox), launched by the Sindh Police and Pakistan Rangers, with additional support from Pakistan Army and intelligence agencies, under a directive by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. The major and his jawans alleged that the villagers were terrorists who had links to the Indian Army and its intelligence agency—the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). They also claimed that they had recovered a large quantity of sophisticated weapons from them.

The incident took a turn when Mai Jindo vigorously rejected the allegations. She tried to convince a host of journalists to raise a voice for her sons, son-in-law and others who had been killed in this tragic incident. She insisted that the dead were neither dacoits nor terrorists. They were affiliated neither with the Indian Army nor the RAW. Instead, they were simple village farmers.

For her courageous stance against the army officer and personnel, she was threatened with death. She was also offered a huge sum of money and land. However, she rejected the lucrative offer and demanded justice for the innocent who had been murdered. She took the bold step of exposing the culprits at a time when the villagers were frightened to talk about the incident and the perpetrators.

While talking at a programme for the International Women’s Day at the Karachi Press Club on March 8, 2012, Mai Jindo said, “a woman can do anything she wants, if only she is committed to it.” Due to her paramount courage and obdurate determination, she is seen as a symbol of resistance against the oppressors because she, through her consistent and continuous exemplary struggle, successfully snatched justice from the unjust structure—thereby, the powerful culprits were punished.

Her efforts bore fruit, and she, with the help of some journalists, was successful in highlighting that some of the relatives of the major had actually tried to occupy the land owned by her family. They had then sought help from the major. Subsequently, the major, his jawans and the civilians involved in the crime were arrested.

The security forces personnel were tried by a military court. However, a separate charge-sheet regarding the civilian accused was submitted to an anti-terrorism court. The cases proceeded at a snail’s pace and for almost four years it seemed that justice was a far off dream.

Disenchanted with the justice system, Mai Jindo’s daughters – Hakimzadi and Zaibun Nisa – set themselves on fire outside the anti-terrorism court on September 11, 1996, a public holiday. They suffered from severe burns and were in critical condition when they were rushed to the Civil Hospital in Karachi, almost 20 miles away, as there was no other hospital in the province that had a burn ward/ centre at that time. Succumbing to the injuries, they eventually lost their lives. Thus, Mai Jindo and her family had to pay dearly for demanding justice.

Maj Arshad Jamil was sentenced to death for the extrajudicial killing of nine people. However, the sentence could not be carried out until the Supreme Court rejected his appeal against the death sentence, and the president rejected the mercy petition. Finally, on October 28, 1996, Maj Arshad Jamil was hanged in Hyderabad Central Jail. The jawans were sentenced to life imprisonment. However, the civilian accused were released.

Apart from the punishments to the culprits, the bereaved families were compensated through allotment of land in Thatta district in 2004. In 2006, the district government distributed compensation cheques of Rs 4.55 million among the relatives of the victims of the Tando Bahawal carnage.

Talking at a programme for the International Women’s Day at the Karachi Press Club on March 8, 2012, Mai Jindo said, “a woman can do anything she wants, if only she is committed to it.” Due to her paramount courage and obdurate determination, she is seen as a symbol of resistance against the oppressors because she, through her consistent and continuous exemplary struggle, successfully snatched justice from the unjust structure—thereby, the powerful culprits were punished. She stood as a lone fighter against the tyrants.

She is also credited with stopping the powerful from snatching the lands of poor farmers. Had she not stood, as a lone fighter, against the land grabbers, more farmers might have lost their lands to the usurpers.

People like Mai Jindo deserve to be a part of our textbooks. Our children should be taught the stories of their struggle and they should be hailed as our heroes.

The writer has a PhD in history from Shanghai University and is a lecturer at GCU, Faisalabad. He can be contacted at   mazharabbasgondal87@gmail.com. He tweets at @MazharGondal87