KARACHI - Aafia Movement Pakistan leader Dr Fowzia Siddiqui here on Wednesday greeted the nation on the passage of Right of Access to Information Bill by the Senate and asked the PML-N government to also fulfil the promise it had made about the release of Dr Aafia Siddiqui.
In a statement, she said the state minister for information should update the nation on the latest situation with respect to Aafia’s release. She hoped that the repatriation of Aafia would augur well for the nation and the country.
Fowzia said in the beginning of this year the American lawyers of Aafia were very hopeful for her repatriation. “As Aafia is a Pakistani citizen, either the president or prime minister of Pakistan is supposed to write a letter to the US administration for the repatriation of Pakistan’s daughter.
She lamented that she knocked every door, but nobody from the corridors of power wrote a simple letter.
Fowzia said that Aafia movement leaders had also asked the government to provide them copies of any letter written in connection with Aafia by the present or former government, and had also sent a formal application to the foreign office under the Freedom of Information Act, but they used delaying tactics and let the tenure of former US president Obama completed by January 20, 2017 before providing any answer.
She said this showed that both the PPP and PML-N governments had made false promises with the nation for Aafia’s release.
She said, “We not only need new laws but also their implementation. Under the constitution of Pakistan all citizens enjoy basic rights, but our ruling elite is not ready to give ordinary citizens these constitutional rights.”
She demanded the PML-N government to fulfil the promise it had made about the release of Aafia Siddiqui, at the earliest.