American blogger and Pakistan explorer Cynthia D. Ritchie’s explosive allegations of rape against Rehman Malik has not elicited a response from the former Pakistan home or interior minister.

Then-Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has summarily rejected the charge that he molested Cynthia D. Ritchie at the Presidential Palace in Islamabad.

She has also accused then Pakistan Health Minister Makhdoom Shahabuddin of physically assaulting her on a different occasion. Cynthia D. Ritchie was said to be really close to Makhdoom Shabuddin at the time of the incident.

EX-PAK PM GILANI DENIES

Former Pakistan Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has it was a disgrace to respond to the allegation of sexual assault leveled by Cynthia D. Ritchie. He said Cynthia Ritchie should be ‘ashamed of herself’ for crying rape and deliberately dragging Opposition leaders into a scandal. Cynthia D. Ritchie has not filed a complaint with the police but made these charges on social media.

“A person of my stature cannot think of it. I may have gone to Presidency to meet the president or with a delegation, and how could such nonsense thing happen there,” he said as his party battled with the questions raised by Cynthia D. Ritchie in a video on Facebook.

“Can a prime minister ever commit such an act at the Aiwan-e-Sadr,” he asked, “Who gave her the right to accuse politicians like this?”

“I am not worried about what was said about me. I am more concerned about the baseless accusations leveled at Shaheed Benazir,” Yousaf Raza Gilani said responding to the allegations against him. Cynthia D. Ritchie has made several remarks about the assassinated Prime Minister and PPP icon Benazir Bhutto’s sex life and her fascination for sex toys and young boys.

REHMAN MALIK SILENT

Rehman Malik, the powerful former interior minister, however, has been conspicuously absent. He has not responded to media’s calls to his residence and his personal mobile phone has been switched off since Cynthia D. Ritchie went live on Facebook to accuse him of raping her in 2011 after she was offered a drink laced with sedatives.

She said one night in 2011, she was at Rehman Malik’s official residence where she was received with flowers and offered a drink.

Rehman Malik, then interior minister, then raped her. On different occasions, she claimed, Yousaf Raza Gilani and Makhdoom Shahabuddin, physically manhandled her at the official residence of then-President Asif Ali Zardari in Islamabad.

Occurred at IM’s house in min enclave 2011 around the OBL incident. I thought it a meeting about my visa but I was given flowers/ a drugged drink. I kept quiet – who in PPP gov’t would help me against PPP IM?

Recently they attacked family; I’ve had it. Ready to face any accuser https://t.co/KkGSKTERQs

— Cynthia D. Ritchie (@CynthiaDRitchie) June 5, 2020

CYNTHIA PRIDE OF PAKISTAN

Cynthia D. Ritchie’s charges have drawn support from many on social media as #CynthiaPrideofPakistan trended on Twitter soon after she spoke about the sexual assault. Members of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) have come out in support of her.

The other Opposition party, the Pakistan Muslim League (N) has not revealed its stance and is feared to be the next target of Cynthia’s plan to expose the Opposition. She has promised to expose PML(N) as well. She has made it clear that PPP leaders were not the only ones who indulged in sexual exploitation of women.

Cynthia D Ritchie said, “My story is deeply emotional. Even my family has not known until now. I’ve tried to be positive & promote the softer side of Pakistan but have also experienced the very bad. I wish to tell my truth one time so that women, transgenders, locals can understand they are not alone.”

“This is not an indictment of PPP, as I have been mistreated by men from various parties,” she posted this on Twitter, adding, “However the majority of my cases, including two more (I) have not mentioned were either Pakistani lobbyist or second-tier PPP.”

“Many loved BB, and the original message I was trying to convey was this was disgusting language used by men about BB who seem to be obsessed with raping women or enjoy telling fantasized stories of rape to women. The rape culture must stop. Women must work together to educate children re: what’s not ok & defend themselves against predators,” she wrote.

Cynthia D. Ritchie got introduced to Pakistani politics via a fellow Texan, who was a federal minister, during the time she first visited Pakistan in 2009. He introduced her to health minister Makhdoom Shahabuddin and she went on to assist home minister Rehman Malik.

She had access to the power corridors in Islamabad at all times and began working in Pakistan for Pakistan. It’s not clear in what capacity she worked for Pakistan, but she is rumoured to be a communications consultant for hire.

She has been a filmmaker and even worked with an NGO backed by the World Bank. She was a tourist to begin with but fell in love with Pakistan has been there for over a decade. On various occasions, there have been murmurs about Cynthia D. Ritchie being a foreign operative. This led to many ministers distancing themselves from her.

She bounced back after the regime change in Islamabad. She was equally popular and influential even during the rule of Nawaz Sharif’s PML (N) government. Once Imran Khan’s PTI government took over, her popularity peaked. She has been active on social media as a defender of Pakistan and its military.

Cynthia D. Ritchie regularly targets the Opposition parties with damning documents and popular support. For an American, she has a substantial grip on the goings-on in Pakistani politics and security establishment. She does not hide her access advantage as she freely posts documents that could not be obtained by an average citizen.

The last two weeks have, however, been different because Cynthia D. Ritchie has gone after the icons of the Opposition Pakistan People’s Party at the regional and national levels. She has accused them of financial corruption and moral depravity.

NO RESPONSE FROM US EMBASSY

The level of discourse spiraled downwards once she accused late Benazir Bhutto of having guards rape women. A PPP leader filed a case against her and demanded her deportation. Cynthia D. Ritchie then followed it up with much more dirt on PPP leaders and this culminated in the Facebook Live where she revealed she was raped by none other than the home minister of Pakistan in 2011.

While she has received a lot of support in Pakistan, her own country and the US embassy have not reacted. The United States embassy is quick to act in case of an assault on a US citizen on foreign soil but in this case, the embassy has kept mum.

Cynthia D. Ritchie has said she had spoken to embassy officials in 2011 as well when the alleged rape took place. She said they were then caught up in the whole Osama bin Laden drama as he was recently killed in Abbottabad, near Islamabad. This has made many express disbelief as the rape of a US citizen is far too serious a matter to be ignored by the US embassy.

The embassy officials, however, have not spoken even after she made this public on Friday.

Among Pakistanis too, while there is support for her, there are those who doubt her story. Like many did in the #MeToo cases, the timing, that she is raising this nine years later, is being questioned. The main allegation against her is that she is a double agent like David Coleman Headley, the Pakistani-US citizen who played a key role in the Mumbai attacks of 2009.

He is serving a 35-year prison sentence back in the US after a deal reached with US agencies. Cynthia D. Ritchie, who has been a suspected foreign operative, is now alleged to be on the roles of Pakistani spy agency’s PR wing, ISPR.

Senior journalist and peace activist Marvi Sirmed said: “Whatever Ms Ritchie is accusing PPP leaders of merits investigation. There must be a transparent and thorough investigation. The official of the US Embassy should also be investigated who asked Ms Ritchie to be silent. Questions should be asked and answered. Investigation demanded.”