Qazi demands govt bring back DR Aafia, her kids

Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Qazi Hussain Ahmad has demanded of President Asif Ali Zardari and the PPP government to ensure the immediate repatriation of Dr Aafia Siddiqi and her minor children to Pakistan from the illegal custody of the American agency, FBI.

It is not just the question of fundamental rights of an individual or a family in agony, but the question of dignity of the nation, Qazi said in a letter to Zardari. Copies of the letter were also provided to the media on Monday.

Besides Zardari, the letter was also sent to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Adviser to Prime Minister on Interior Rehman Malik and Dr Fauzia Siddiqi, sister of Dr Aafia Siddiqi.

Qazi said that whether the government admitted or not, it was widely believed that Aafia, along with her three children, was abducted by the Pakistani intelligence agencies when she was on her way to the Karachi airport, and was then handed over or probably sold to the American authorities in Afghanistan.

This unfortunate daughter of Pakistan was sought by the US FBI only for “possible information” without any terrorism charges ever levelled against her anywhere in the world, Qazi said.

“Irrespective of whether she is guilty of any crime or not, the question is can a Pakistani national, let alone a woman with three small children, be handed over to another country without going through due judicial process, since there was no FIR, no charges of any nature or trial inside the country?” Qazi asked.

He said that it was hard to believe that the Pakistani authorities had stooped so low as to sell one of the honourable daughters of the nation to the armed forces of a country considered an enemy in public perception. The people of Pakistan will like to see the faces of all those involved in this heinous crime one day, he said.

Qazi expressed his anguish over the reports that Aafia was brutally tortured, reportedly raped by the US armed forces’ personnel, shot by a US soldier, and was deprived of her basic human dignity, besides removal of one of her kidneys.By our correspondent

LAHORE: Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Qazi Hussain Ahmad has demanded of President Asif Ali Zardari and the PPP government to ensure the immediate repatriation of Dr Aafia Siddiqi and her minor children to Pakistan from the illegal custody of the American agency, FBI.

It is not just the question of fundamental rights of an individual or a family in agony, but the question of dignity of the nation, Qazi said in a letter to Zardari. Copies of the letter were also provided to the media on Monday.

Besides Zardari, the letter was also sent to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Adviser to Prime Minister on Interior Rehman Malik and Dr Fauzia Siddiqi, sister of Dr Aafia Siddiqi.

Qazi said that whether the government admitted or not, it was widely believed that Aafia, along with her three children, was abducted by the Pakistani intelligence agencies when she was on her way to the Karachi airport, and was then handed over or probably sold to the American authorities in Afghanistan.

This unfortunate daughter of Pakistan was sought by the US FBI only for “possible information” without any terrorism charges ever levelled against her anywhere in the world, Qazi said.

“Irrespective of whether she is guilty of any crime or not, the question is can a Pakistani national, let alone a woman with three small children, be handed over to another country without going through due judicial process, since there was no FIR, no charges of any nature or trial inside the country?” Qazi asked.

He said that it was hard to believe that the Pakistani authorities had stooped so low as to sell one of the honourable daughters of the nation to the armed forces of a country considered an enemy in public perception. The people of Pakistan will like to see the faces of all those involved in this heinous crime one day, he said.

Qazi expressed his anguish over the reports that Aafia was brutally tortured, reportedly raped by the US armed forces’ personnel, shot by a US soldier, and was deprived of her basic human dignity, besides removal of one of her kidneys.