04 May 2010By El-Hajj Mauri'
Saalakhan
Dr.
Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani national,
came to the United States as an 18 year old and began
her freshman year at the University of Houston
(Texas). Aafia later matriculated to Boston’s MIT, and
eventually acquired a PhD. at
Brandeis University.
She was known and respected for her academic
excellence, charitable work, and her commitment to
Islam.
After the tragedy of
September 11th,
Aafia Siddiqui
and her former husband, Dr. Amjad Khan, came under
suspicion and decided to leave the United States as a
result of the corrosive Post 9/11 atmosphere (in many
quarters) towards Islam and Muslims.
Later, after an unfortunate
separation and divorce, Aafia decided to return to the
U.S. in order to pursue work in her academic and
professional field.
At some point in 2003, then U.S.
Attorney General John Ashcroft publicly
identified Dr. Aafia Siddiqui as a person the U.S.
government believed to be an “Al-Qaeda
facilitator.”
In March 2003, after departing
her family’s home in Karachi (Pakistan) to visit an
uncle in
Islamabad,
the taxi that she and her three young children were
traveling in was stopped by persons believed to be
Pakistani agents, and then they were made to
disappear.
After FIVE YEARS of secret
imprisonment, Aafia Siddiqui was mysteriously
released on the streets of Ghazni (Afghanistan),
re-arrested, and in the moments leading up to her
interrogation in a police compound, Aafia was shot and
almost killed. After emergency treatment, Aafia was
brought to the United States and held under a brutal
maximum security regime for almost two
years before being placed on trial in a federal court
in
New York City.
Despite the U.S. government’s
earlier description of Aafia Siddiqui as someone
believed to be an agent of Al-Qaeda, NOT ONE
TERRORISM CHARGE was leveled against her in the
forthcoming
criminal indictment.
She was charged with attempting to kill U.S. personnel
in Afghanistan in July 2008 (after she mysteriously
re-appeared following five years of secret detention,
aka “rendition”).
Despite blatant inconsistencies
in the testimonies of the government’s star witnesses,
and despite the material evidence that was solidly
in the defendant’s favor, Dr. Aafia Siddiqui was
found guilty on all counts, in what could aptly be
described as a 21st Century version of “jury
nullification.”
There have been massive
demonstrations in most (if not all) of
Pakistan’s major cities demanding the
return of this 38 year old mother, now dubbed the
“daughter of Pakistan.”
If Dr. Aafia Siddiqui receives
the maximum penalty on the day of her sentencing, the
sentence will be LIFE without the possibility of
parole.
May 6 is an opportunity for
committed Muslims and other concerned citizens to have
their voices heard in opposition to this
state-orchestrated travesty. If not now,
when?!
-------------------------------------------
ENDORSERS of The May 6 Mobilization
(in alphabetical order)
American Muslim Alliance (AMA),
Community Masjid of Atlanta (Georgia), Families United
For Justice in America (FUJA),
International Action Center (New York),
International Family & Friends of
Mumia Abu-Jamal (Philadelphia, PA),
Islamic Circle of North America (NY
Chapter), JERICHO, Justice For Aafia Coalition (U.K.),
Majlis-Ashura of
New York,
Masjid At-Taqwa (Brooklyn, NY), Masjid
Mujahideen (Philadelphia, PA), Mosque of
Islamic Brotherhood (Harlem, NY), Movement in Movement
Artist & Activist Collective (New York),
Muslim Alliance in
North America
(MANA), Muslims Consultative Network (New York),
Pakistan USA Freedom Forum (New York), Project
SALAM (Albany, NY), The Fahad Hashmi Support Committee
(New York), The
Fort Dix 5 Support Committee
(Philadelphia, PA), The Free Shifa Support Committee
(Atlanta, GA), The Newburgh 4 Support Committee (New
York), The New
York Coalition to
Free Mumia Abu-Jamal,
The Peace Thru Justice Foundation (Silver
Spring, MD), The Tarek Mehanna Support Committee
(Boston, MA), WESPAC Foundation (Pleasantville, NY)
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EsinIslam.Com
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