ISLAMABAD - Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi yesterday assured Dr Aafia Siddiqi’s sister Dr Fauzia Siddiqi that the government will make all efforts to bring her sister back to Pakistan.
Dr Fauzia called on the Foreign Minister here to discuss the plight of her sister. “They exchanged views on bringing back Dr Aafia Siddiqi to Pakistan,” said a foreign ministry statement issued after the meeting.
The Foreign Minister apprised Fauzia Siddiqi of the government’s efforts regarding Aafia Siddiqi’s case, said the statement. “He also issued special instructions to Pakistan’s Consulate General in Houston regarding Dr Aafia Siddiqi’s matter.
Dr Siddiqui was arrested and interrogated by US officials in Afghanistan when she grabbed a rifle and opened fire, shouting ‘death to Americans’ in 2008. In 2010, she was convicted of seven counts of attempted murder and assault of US military personnel.
She is serving her 86-year sentence at the Federal Medical Center, Carswell in Fort Worth, Texas in the US. Since her conviction, Pakistan is trying to bring her back to Pakistan under humanitarian grounds but has so far failed.
Qureshi’s meeting with Dr Fauzia Siddiqi came after Dr Fauzia Siddiqi sent a special message to Prime Minister Imran Khan, seeking support against her “illegal imprisonment.”
The Consul General of Pakistan at Houston Aisha Farooqui had met Dr Aafia Siddiqi on October 9 where she conveyed a message for the premier.
“I want to get out of prison, my imprisonment in the US is illegal as I was kidnapped and taken to the US, Imran Khan had supported me in the past also. I have always considered him as one of my biggest heroes and wish to see him as the Khalifa (caliph) of all Muslims,” she said. Dr Siddiqi also warned the premier to beware of the ‘munafiqs’ (hypocrites) around him.
She criticized the opponents of Imran Khan saying those opposing the PM for his past mistakes should stop the campaign because under the Islamic law he was innocent.
Dr Siddiqi was born in Pakistan in 1972. In 1990, she went to study in the United States and obtained a PhD in neuroscience from Brandeis University in 2001. She returned to Pakistan for a time following the 9/11 attacks and again in 2003 during the war in Afghanistan.
In June 2018, a confidential report prepared by Pakistan’s consul general in Houston of her visit to Dr Siddiqi had claimed she was subjected to physical and sexual abuse during her ongoing detention.
The report recommended diplomatic authorities to take up the case at the highest levels to find a way for her repatriation so that she can serve her remaining sentence in Pakistan, where her modesty and privacy would not be interfered with.
Last month, Dr Fauzia Siddiqui had met Federal Minister for Human Rights Dr Shireen Mazari to discuss ways to bring her sister back home.
The federal minister had then said that the government was trying to bring Dr Siddiqi back to Pakistan. Dr Mazari had said: “We are well aware of the problems and anguish of Dr Aafia Siddiqi’s family.”
Foreign Office spokesperson Dr Mohammed Faisal said the issue of Dr Siddiqi was discussed with US Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Alice Wells during her recent visit to Pakistan.
“The issue was taken up with the American side very effectively during the recent visit of Ambassador Alice Wells. It is a very sensitive issue and we are treading very carefully in the matter,” he maintained.
The US, he said, had promised to ‘look into’ Pakistan’s request to ensure human rights to Dr Siddiqi. US Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Alice Wells was in Islamabad from November 6-7, originally for talks on Afghanistan and terror financing.
