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did not want such a system to be applied in Pakistan. How could they tolerate
that our new generation grow up to be self independent with a high self esteem.
Her Curriculum was a comprehensive Islamized version of the research theories
of the biggest universities like Harvard, Oxford and MIT. She learnt the Quran by
heart with translation and exegesis. She was undoubtedly an encyclopedia of
Quran.
If one asked her about any incident mentioned in Quran, she used to give all the
verses mentioning that incident with their background. She memorized Quran in
America when she was writing her thesis there.
Payam e Haya: Tell us something about her childhood.
Dr. Fowzia Siddiqui:
She was fond of dolls and balloons. When any balloon
got busted she used to cry a lot and balloons are destined to bust. But she had to
get balloons and then cry when they busted and my mother used to console her
saying that this world is mortal so its things cannot last forever. And dolls were
her soul mates; she has so many dolls of every size and shape. She used to take
care of them as if they were living beings.
Elder brothers always tease the sisters so our brother knew the best way to make
her scream was to take her doll and hold it upside down. Here he did this and
there Aafia started screaming, leave her! All her blood will pour into her head.
Payam e Haya: When do you get Aafia’s phone call and how often?
Dr. Fowzia Siddiqui:
There is no specific schedule or timings; they do it when
they wish. When there are huge processions and strikes they make the calls
regular; for instance when there was post cards campaign they allowed daily calls
for a month. Similarly when American Embassy in South Africa was surrounded
by the protestors they made Aafia contact us quite often.
So, it is the public pressures after Allah’s will which is keeping her alive. Allah
Almighty has given her lifeline in the hands of people as when the Americans
feel that people are following her case, they make the phone calls to keep her in
contact with us and when they see silence, they too quit the calls.
Payam e Haya: How the women can help you in this matter?