Basic HTML Version
34
(Yvonne Ridley writes from Karachi, Pakistan on the case of Dr Aafia Siddiqui, who has
been sentenced by the US to 86 years in prison. Yvonne discusses her case, raising
issues in relation to the War on Terror and Pakistani society)
For years I’ve struggled to find a reason why Dr Aafia Siddiqi is still languishing in
a prison in Texas. Set aside my views that she is innocent and a victim of a gross
miscarriage of justice who epitomises all that is wrong with the War on Terror. Why
has she not been transferred to a prison near her home in Karachi where she can
serve the remainder of her sentence near her family and in her country of origin?
I have seen a couple of Pakistani Prime Ministers and their cabinets reduced to
tears over the plight of a woman who has become known as ‘The Daughter of the
Nation.’
Seeing a grown man cry, thumping the table and demanding justice for Aafia was
very moving the first time; a little wearing the second and third time; and now I just
despair at this charade.
Empty promises have been made to her despairing family
that she will be returned.
I don’t even think the Americans are interested in holding on to her anymore; I’m
reliably informed they’d be quite happy to let her go. She has, after all, served her
purpose and proved to be a useful instrument for the architects who wanted to
maintain a fear factor over the War on Terror.
Now that their intelligence agencies have established that a neuroscientist is
concerned with the biology of the nervous system and has nothing to do with
nuclear weapons and bombs (I kid you not) they are no longer bothered about
holding on to her. So why is Aafia still in Texas? Why has she not been put into a
prisoner transfer programme? The answer is probably found among the pages of
the national media…most Pakistani men simply do not value their women and the
evidence is there for all to see.