Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, 38, a Pakistani neuroscientist, may be a criminal in New York – she was found guilty in September of the attempted murder of U.S. servicemen in Afghanistan and was sentenced to 86 years in prison.
Yet she is a folk hero in Pakistan, as I was discovered during a recent visit to a newspaper office in Islamabad. The editor-in-chief sat me in his office and berated me for the imprisonment of Siddiqui, telling me that she had been victimized by Americans and that she was just a slight thing and could not be guilty of the crimes that had sent her to prison. “They said she picked up a large rifle – this big,” said the editor, holding his arms up high as he stared across the room at me. “And she’s no bigger than you!”
I did not feel like it was the time or place to defend the U.S. justice system or the conviction of Siddiqui. Besides, I felt nowhere near as confident as the editor-in-chief about the subject. He is not alone in his anger over her conviction. In cities and towns throughout Pakistan, Siddiqui is celebrated, and the U.S. is vilified for the court’s decision to imprison her.
Recently, this nationwide wrath has taken on a new turn. Not only is the U.S. government being blamed for Siddiqui’s imprisonment, but so is the Pakistani government, as Foreign Policy reports.
Pakistani officials are furious: They say that they have worked hard to represent Siddiqui in the United States. Indeed, the Pakistani government reportedly paid $2 million for her legal defense in New York, as Dawn reported.
Pakistani officials say that they have fought hard for justice for Aafia Siddiqui, and they are now defending themselves against the accusations of her sister, Fauzia.
“We have made sincere efforts to help her legally and diplomatically and will continue to do so. We understand Fauzia Siddiqui’s grief but it is sheer fantasy to believe that Aafia’s imprisonment is because of the Pakistani government’s inaction or that the Pakistani government could somehow spring her from prison in the U.S.,” wrote Husain Haqqan, Pakistan’s ambassador to the U.S., in an email to Foreign Policy.
The fact that Pakistanis have shifted the blame for Siddiqui’s sentence from the U.S. government to the Pakistani government shows how difficult the situation is for officials in Pakistan. During my visit to Islamabad, one high-ranking official told me that he and his colleagues strongly prefer that American officials keep important communications secret, rather than dealing with issues in the public arena. For Pakistani officials, the more distance they have from U.S. officials, the better, and the less said publicly, the better.
The U.S. government is deeply unpopular in Pakistan, and its policies are criticized on a daily basis. This puts Pakistani officials in a tough position. Chances are they will eventually get blamed for whatever Americans do – and will be harassed by people in Pakistan. The case of Siddiqui is only the most recent example. The conflict within Pakistan over her case has a ripple effect: It makes negotiations between U.S. and Pakistani officials, and overall the U.S.-Pakistan relationship, even more volatile and dangerous.
