Protest staged in Texas for Dr Afia's release

By Raja Zahid A Khanzada

FORT WORTH, Texas: The “Peace through Justice Foundation staged a protest rally in front of Federal building in downtown Fort Worth Texas for the release of Afia Siddiqui.

A large number of men and women participated in the protest.

Peace through Justice Foundation President, Mauri Salkkhan, while addressing the crowd said that Afia has already spent 9 years in American jail and in our view she has been denied justice when she was awarded 86 years of prison.

He said, “We are in a protest rally in front of the courthouse as a similar court had given Dr. Afia this sentence.

Salkkhan said that Dr. Afia was also not given facilities as other prisoners.

The foundation president said that Carswell (FMC) Medical Center carries bad reputation where women had been subjected to rape, and a number of people found dead in suspicious circumstances. He said we are concerned as her brother was not allowed to meet with her and he had to see her through a video link in which only her face was seen. This has made us concerned as she might be ill.

We are concerned as it seems that FMC is hiding something. Dr. Afia Siddiqui’s family friend Andrew Russel also addressed the gathering where he said that he knows Afia family for last thirty years and he knows Dr. Afia when she was only 17 years old.

Salkkhan said that he has found Dr. Afia as a good Muslim and not the type of Muslim who come on TV and involve in violence and beheadings or involved in attacking through planes. People gathered at this event raised slogans for freedom for Afia Siddiqui.

The group had held similar protest rallies in the past in front of a military base and the same medical center where Afia Siddiqui is in captivity.

It was learned that Pakistan Consulate General also has sent a report on this case. Furthermore it is learnt that Afia Siddiqui may have developed cancer and she is not getting required medical attention.

The said group has staged several protest rallies to highlight this issue.