Major Rally in Support of Aafia on Kashmir Day
February 6,2011
Govt urged to take bold steps for Aafia’s release
KARACHI: There would be no difficulty in bringing Dr Aafia Siddiqui back home, if the government takes some bold steps. Senator Talha Mehmood expressed these views during a press conference at the residence of Dr Aafia on Saturday after meeting her family. Mehmood said that the government should follow the spirit of the United States government, which is supporting its citizen in an overwhelmed manner despite the fact the he shot two Pakistani citizens. The present government can gain complete trust of the Pakistani nation by taking a bold stance over Dr Aafia’s issue, he said. Senator said that the Senate Standing Committee wants to visit the US to meet all those who are concerned with Dr Aafia’s case in order to pursue it. A proposal has been sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the committee is awaiting the response in this regard. He regretted that till date not a single delegation had been sent to the US nor an official request had been made in Dr Aafia’s case. The senator was of the view that Raymond Davis was a trained commando, not a diplomat and the way in which he killed the Pakistani citizens supports the viewpoint. To a question about diplomatic passport of Davis he said that after surfacing of controversial statements about the passport in media, it seems that the government is supporting Davis. On the occasion, Asmat Siddiqui, mother of Dr Aafia said that she could not curse the concerned Pakistani officials and rulers, who were responsible for the situation, because she felt that all Pakistanis were her children. Dr Fouzia Siddiqui said on the occasion that the US government, which is trying to free its spy on the pretext of Vienna Convention, had already set examples like this before various times. If Dr Aafia had committed a crime in Afghanistan then why didn’t the US officials provide access to Pakistani diplomats to Aafia in Afghanistan, she said, and added that it was an open violence of the convention. The US did not follow the convention at that time, she added.
EXPRESS News
