Daily Times

Dr Aafia Siddiqui’s name is as much associated with controversy and conspiracy as mystery and intrigue. The author, Dawood Ghazanavi, a solicitor, has chosen a complicated and sensitive subject to dwell upon. This book is explosive in its nature, lifting the veil on many facets of the Aafia Sadiqa’s life and facts hitherto mired in obscurity. They say the devil is in the detail. The details are at times disturbing, sometimes eye-opening and at other times shocking. The book is self-contained and self-evident. There is more to Aafia’s case than meets the eye. This book offers a compelling narrative and brings out a fresh perspective. It leaves the readers with a better understanding of the complex issues involving the case and helps them draw their own conclusions. Comprehensive and meticulously researched, the book aims at offering an objective legal analysis of the curious case, clearing the air of confusion and dispelling many a myth. The author does not pass judgments lest it should prejudice the minds of the readers. He provides the missing links in the chain of her story for the convenience of the reader by drawing on a lot of sources ranging from newspapers to the Trial Court proceedings to the hearing transcripts to the government and defence witness testimonies to the Court orders. He is at pains to weave together the threads of the whole matter to paint a thorough picture. Written in simple language, he takes us through events and put them in a proper context. This book needs to be gone through from cover to cover to arrive at an informed conclusion.

There is a string of core, fundamental and thorny questions that lie at the heart of this fascinating book: What did happen to her? Why did it happen? How did it happen? Why was she shot? What was the case against her in the Trial Court of Southern District of New York? Why was she kept in a US secret prison in Afghanistan during her disappearance from the year 2003-2008? Why did she depose in the Court despite strong reservations from her attorneys? Why did the trial Judge not relieve her attorneys from presenting her case notwithstanding the clear requests made by her time and again? Was it due to the humiliating strip search she had to go through? Or did she believe that her attorneys were not furthering her interests? Was she mentally competent enough to stand trial in the U.S.A.? Had her alleged affiliation with Al-Qaeda or other terrorists organizations been established? Why was she handed over to the U.S.A. by the then Afghan government? Why was she not repatriated to Pakistan? Why was she allegedly associated with Al-Qaeda? What was her alleged role? Why was she sentenced to 86 years in prison? Had the documents been declassified, would the outcome of the trial have been altogether different? Whether the punishment awarded to her is arbitrary, oppressive and excessive and flies in the face of evidence, law and sixth amendment of the US Constitution? Was she denied her fundamental right to due process? Did she forgive the Trial Judge, who conducted the trial and sentenced her to 86 years of imprisonment and two soldiers, who shot her? Did she suffer PTSD and excruciating mental and physical torture? Did the prosecution fail to establish beyond a shadow of a doubt that she shot an M4 Rifle? Why did she not prefer an appeal against the verdict? Did she lose confidence in the American justice system? Did the trial Court’s Judge, Richard M. Berman take a lopsided and jaundiced view of her case, or did he take a detached and impartial view thereof? And so much more.

The first chapter is dedicated to shining a light on the educational background of Aafia, covering a decade and one year. Coming from a highly educated family, she earned her PhD from Brandeis University. Her doctorate thesis was titled How children learn by imitation. Before applying for PhD, she had her graduation degree from MIT with a major in Biology. Interestingly enough, she worked with Nobel laureate Professor Noam Chomsky for one semester. While studying at MIT, she volunteered for children’s education. She won an MIT award for rendering services to education. The chapter goes on to mention that she gave birth to three children during the course of her studies.

Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, the mother of three children, suddenly found herself in the eye of the storm unleashed in the wake of 9/11. Her name found mention in the “most wanted” list of the fugitives. From 2003 to 2008, she went missing along with her three children. For 5 long years, rumours were doing rounds as to her disappearance, as nobody saw her and heard from her. Three prisoners, who served their sentences in Bagram confirmed to Yvonne Ridley, the famous British journalist that it was Aafia that was tagged prisoner No. 650. They were at one with each other in asserting that she was put to extreme torture during her incarceration. It was the case of the prosecution that she allegedly emerged with her son in Afghanistan outside the compound of Governor of Ghazni in 2008. (Judge Berman disbelieved it on account of insufficient evidence produced by the prosecution in this regard.) Subsequently, she was shot in Afghan police headquarter in Ghazni, when she allegedly attempted to shoot with an M4 rifle. She was then extradited to the U.S.A. by Afghanistan to be tried on as many as 9 counts relating to the alleged attempted murder. Curiously enough, she was not charged with terrorism-related charges. The jurors returned a unanimous verdict, holding her guilty on 7 counts, while she was not found guilty on two counts relating to the crime committed with premeditation. She was sentenced to 86 years in prison.

At the conclusion of the book, the author attempts to address the questions racking the minds of the readers while reading the book. Not only this, he shares his views with the readers. He is of the view that the whole narrative surrounding her story needs a sea change. As for him, if the leaders of Pakistan, the USA and Afghanistan put their heads together, they can find a way out of this seemingly intractable issue. Also, he maintains that if US repatriates her, this will go a long way towards achieving a two-fold objective: cementing of the relationship between Pakistan and the US and defeating the narrative constructed by the terrorist organisations. Lastly, he asks rhetorically, can the healing of the Pakistani nation ever be complete without the repatriation of Dr Aafia? He leaves it to the imagination of the readers.

The writer is a lawyer based in Lahore. He Tweets at @zaeem8825 and can be reached at zaeem.bhatti89@gmail.com