Federal, Punjab govt should give preference to Dr Aafia case; people should vote the party that pledges to Aafia cause
US want to release Aafia, but Pakistani rulers do not, decries Fauzia
-says federal, Punjab govt should give preference to Dr Aafia case; people should vote the party that pledges to Aafia cause
Lahore, March 17 (PR): Aafia Movement leader Dr Fauzia Siddiqui here Sunday disclosed that the government of the United States of America wants to release the Pakistani mother, Dr Aafia Siddiqui, but the Pakistani rulers, themselves, are the main hindrance in this regard.
Addressing a crowded press conference at Lahore Press Club (LPC) here on Sunday after visiting the Joseph Colony, Badami Bagh, she said that the prime minister still holds powers and could write a letter to the US authorities to secure the release of Dr Aafia Siddiqui. She said Dr Aafia could be repatriated within hours if the prime minister of Pakistan who would continue to hold this post till coming of the caretaker setup could write to the American government even now.
Dr Fauzia said our rulers had got many chances to get Aafia released, but they deliberately spoiled all these opportunities. She said our rulers preferred American dollars to the national honor. She said Raja Pervez Ashraf still has time to win the honor of playing a role in release of Dr Aafia before stepping down.
She urged the people to vote the parties who pledge for the cause of Aafia and include her release in their manifestos. She said Dr Aafia has completed a decade of imprisonment but our rulers and politicians are least concerned. She asked how these politicians would go to the doors of people to beg votes.
She said Aafia Movement has expressed full support and solidarity to the affected Christian community of Lahore. She said those involved in this crime should be immediately arrested and punished as per law. She said she has visited Lahore to share the sufferings of her Christian brothers and sisters. She said she was devastated to witness the massive destruction of their homes. She said the white color in Pakistani flag is the symbol of the religious minorities and it is our national duty to safeguard their due rights. She said it in unfair to punish, collectively, a whole community for the crime of an individual. She demanded that all constitutional rights of the minorities should be recognized and the affectees of Lahore tragedy be given justice.
She said she had never offered swapping of the CIA contractor Raymond Davis for Dr Aafia. She said Raymond Davis murdered three innocent Pakistanis on our own soil and still managed to go home, while the innocent Aafia is still in the US prison despite passage of ten years.
She said the Pakistani Parliament completed five years but failed to bring back Dr Aafia. She said this would remain a blemish on the face of our parliament. She said the outgoing parliament during its last five years did nothing but giving the nation corruption. She said for the first years of the kidnapping and illegal detention of Dr Aafia, the dictator General Musharraf was responsible; however, for later five years of her detention the people are holding responsible the elected government, opposition, civil, political and security leaderships.
Dr Fauzia said the Aafia Movement is becoming an international movement and protests and demos for Aafia release are being staged in more than 50 countries. She said the peace loving people of the whole world are perplexed over illegal detention of Pakistani mother Aafia, and human rights and women rights movements all over the world are raising a strong voice for her release.
