What Do Pakistanis See When They Look At Themselves In The Mirror These Days?

18 March 2011

By El-Hajj Mauri' Saalakhan

Assalaamu Alaikum (Greetings of Peace):
 
I begin with a question: How can Pakistanis look at themselves in the mirror and not feel absolute contempt for the tribal image they see glaring back at them?
 
As soon as I heard about the deal struck for the release of the CIA connected murderer, Raymond Davis, I made an inquiry into the terms of the agreement. Was Aafia Siddiqui's release part of the deal? The answer in one word: "No."
 
How disgustingly shameful this is! A foreign mercenary working under diplomatic cover can reportedly shoot two Pakistani citizens in the back (killing both in the process), and a court of law can find this murderer "Not guilty" - using the aggrieved families' acceptance of "blood money" under coercive circumstances, and in violation of the applicable terms of Islamic law, as a feeble justification.
 
Meanwhile, the same spineless and corrupt Pakistani government (and corrupted Pakistani court) that buckled under the yoke of their U.S. taskmaster, could not muster the wherewithal to insist that one of its own citizens currently being held under a brutal imprisonment regime in the United States - a committed Muslim woman who killed no one! - would be part of that "deal."
 
What Shame! What Shame! What Shame!
 
If there are Pakistani-Americans who have the conscience and courage to join other socially committed Muslims and non-Muslims for a demonstration scheduled for Ft. Worth, Texas (where Aafia is currently being held in solitary confinement) on Saturday, April 9, 2011 - then let us hear from you. Volunteers are needed to assist with the mobilization especially in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area.

The month of March marks three dubious anniversaries:
 
On March 16, 2000, Imam Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin became embroiled in a tragedy that today has him (a state prisoner) imprisoned in solitary confinement at a "supermax" federal prison in Florence, Colorado. 
 
On March 16, 2003, Rachel Corrie, 23, was brutally murdered in broad daylight by an Israeli soldier, using an American made (Catapiller) bulldozer as a weapon. Her crime? Trying to non-violently prevent the destruction of a Palestinian home in Gaza.
 
Also in March 2003, Dr. Aafia Siddiqui and her three children were the targets of a rendition operation in Karachi Pakistan. Aafia would be secretly held and tortured for the next five years overseas, before being brought half-dead to the United States in the summer of 2008 to eventually stand trial. Two of her young children would be returned to the family home in 2008 and 2009 respectively. (While the youngest child remains missing to this day.)
 
Insha'Allah, I will deliver an address at the West End Islamic Center of Atlanta (GA) for jumu'ah tomorrow, in which I will have something to say about all three of these tragic cases.
 
The next evening (following salatul maghrib), a little further south, I will be part of a special forum on Imam Jamil's case. The venue will be Masjid Qasim Bilal Al-Amin - located at 2425 Lark Dr., Montgomery Alabama. Insha'Allah, the title of my address will be:
 
WHEN SURVIVAL IS A CRIME!
 

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