* Aafia’s sister Dr Fauzia leads protest, says all allegations
‘baseless’, US court proceedings ‘fraud’

By Hussain Kashif

LAHORE: Dr Aafia Siddiqui’s sister, Dr Fauzia Siddiqui on Tuesday mobilised hundreds of young students from key educational institutes across the city to protest against the detention and torture of Dr Aafia who is currently in US custody.

The protest rally was organised by the Insaf Students Federation (ISF) of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and was held in front of the US Consulate.

Dr Fauzia addressed the students and spoke of the horrors of Dr Aafia’s detention at the US jail. Talking of the indignities meted out to her sister, she said, “She was stripped off her clothes and the Holy Quran was placed at her feet.” The emotionally charged participants of the rally chanted anti-US slogans and demanded the government to sever all diplomatic ties with the United States and send the US ambassador.

Baseless allegations: She termed all allegations against Dr Aafia “baseless” and the judicial proceedings in the American court “a fraud and bogus”. She demanded the US government to immediately withdraw all charges against Dr Aafia and repatriate her back to Pakistan. Simultaneously, she also urged the government of Pakistan to take concrete measures to protect the life and dignity of her sister.

“Her only crime was that she was a Muslim and a Pakistani… Why are all human rights organisations across Pakistan and the world silent over such a massive issue of human rights violation? What law on earth allows the arrest of an innocent woman and her children without any charges?” she questioned. Fauzia strongly criticised the so-called Pak-US friendship, saying the “Americans were the enemy of Pakistan. No friend ever kidnapped daughters of their friends or attacked them with drones”. She said Pakistanis were a peaceful nation and not a nation of terrorists. “We will raise our voice till Dr Aafia and all other missing girls are recovered,” she added.

The students started their march in front of the Punjab Assembly building at the Mall Road and moved towards the American Consulate. They carried banners, placards
and black flags and chanted anti-US slogans.

ISF Lahore President Hassan Niazi, Secretary Farrukh Habib and Secretary Information Sheikh Naseer also addressed the students and assured Dr Fauzia that they would continue their struggle for her sister’s release. They warned the US government that although they were currently protesting peacefully, the situation could change in the future.

Hundreds of female doctors and nurses of the Fatima Jinnah Medical College, Young Doctors Association (YDA) along with the students of the Mohammadon Anglo Oriental College, Aitchison College, the Forman Christian College, University of Lahore, the Superior University, Lahore University of Management Sciences, Punjab University and various other colleges and universities participated in the rally in huge numbers. While the rally was taking place, the city police had cordoned off the entire area leading to the US Consulate as a precautionary measure. Later, the protestors dispersed peacefully as
Dr Fauzia left for Karachi.

SOURCE : Dailytimes.com.pk

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