A US court did not uphold justice and sentenced Aafia to 89 years in prison
News Time
This was on October 30, 2020, when Babar Awan, an adviser to Prime Minister Imran Khan, informed the Upper House during Question Hour in the Senate that Dr Aafia Siddiqui, a US prisoner, had signed a mercy petition. Dr. Aafia’s sister Dr. Fauzia said about the government’s claims that they have no such information and we did not ask for mercy for Dr. Aafia but pardoned the sentence, and there is a difference between the two. The remaining sentence may be commuted under presidential powers, according to the sentence. The US president has been forgiving people who have been convicted by a court. Former President Trump also resigned from the presidency, pardoning 84 people. They were all involved in heinous crimes. They included four US soldiers who publicly killed dozens of innocent Iraqis in Iraq and whose pardon was strongly protested by the UN chief for war crimes and human rights. In the case of Aafia Siddiqui, the US government committed the worst human rights violations. President Trump pardoned the perpetrators, but unfortunately, those pardoned did not include the innocent Aafia Siddiqui, who is serving a sentence for uncommitted sins. The truth is that the US President did not consider any mercy petition for him because the government of Pakistan has not raised his issue with President Trump.
Her own sister says that Dr. Aafia signed the petition twice, once during the Obama administration in December and the second time in December 2019, but both times the government took no significant steps or efforts to secure her release. The government took Aafia’s signed petition from us saying that if you send it individually, it will not have the importance of sending a petition by the government. I have been asking the government for months now but I have not received any answer. Then I contacted the Pakistani Consul General to give us the computerized number of the application so that we could follow it. The Consul General said that the Pakistani embassy had sent the application to the jail authorities as an appeal for mercy. She is missing from the prison warden. Dr Aafia said that government members were not aware of the difference between the two such petitions. The legal way to follow them is also different. Why did the government of Pakistan do that? Did they do all this on purpose or did they not want to bring Dr. Aafia alive to Pakistan? In fact, from our ruler Pervez Musharraf to Nawaz Sharif and Imran Khan, everyone is so scared of America that they are afraid to even speak for Aafia Siddiqui. On the occasion of the election, Aafia’s freedom is used as a slogan and when she comes in the government, her name is also mentioned.
On the other hand, the most oppressed woman, Aafia, endured years of torture in Afghanistan’s prisons. After her release, Western journalist Juan Ridley testified that Aafia’s screams resounded in prison. US authorities tortured him in Afghan prisons but announced his arrest on July 17, 2009. After six years of the worst violence in Afghanistan, he was arrested in 2009 on charges of snatching a rifle from a US soldier and attacking and shooting him. However, at the time of her arrest, she was seriously injured by a gunshot. Evidence of this false accusation was insufficient, but it showed their innocence. But the US court did not uphold justice and sentenced Aafia to 89 years in prison. The sentence is not a black mark on the US Department of Justice and Justice, but a full-blown ink. Then on the occasion of International Women’s Day, the government did not speak for the release of Aafia Siddiqui and progressive women and NGOs did not raise any voice. If anyone remembers Aafia, it is the same religious parties and NGOs. It was Oz who called her sister on stage and reiterated her demand for Aafia’s release.
The West today speaks of women’s rights, even though it is largely responsible for the suffering of women in today’s world. Syria, Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan and Kashmir have the highest number of women victims. One day talking about women’s rights can save the oppressed women of these countries from oppression. The question is why the government of Pakistan did not make serious efforts for Dr. Aafia? Why did the rulers forget their promises to the nation? This is how Aafia’s birthday passes in March. No one from the Pakistani embassy goes to see him. Nor is it directed by the government to go and meet Aafia. It should be reported. Talk to their mother, sister and daughter on the phone. An appointment should be made. After all, there is a concern about meeting and consular access to Kulbhushan, who was a spy. The Indian embassy was worried about him and then summoned his mother and wife from India. Raymond Davis was the killer, but his country’s embassy guarded him and released him. But the Pakistani governments have left Aafia helpless. They seem to find it difficult to even mention Aafia’s name or they are afraid that the US government may get angry with them.
