Mufti Menk begs people to raise voice for Dr Aafia

Renowned Islamic scholar Mufti Menk urged his followers to raise their voices for Pakistani neuroscientist Dr Aafia Siddiqui, who is serving an 86-year prison sentence in the United States under deplorable conditions.

Dr Aafia Siddiqui’s sister, along with her team, is actively campaigning on social media to highlight her plight and build pressure on U.S. authorities to consider her release.

As part of the campaign, a petition demanding justice for Dr Aafia has been circulating online, aiming for one million signatures. So far, the petition has garnered over half a million signatures.

Zimbabwean scholar Mufti Menk also joined the cause by taking to X to support the campaign and urged his followers to sign the petition in solidarity with Dr Aafia Siddiqui.

“URGENT. Today I'm begging you to help me! Please take a moment to sign this petition to free this sister. We need one million signatures and we're running out of time.” his post read. 

A Pakistani delegation presented a clemency petition to the White House for the release of Pakistani neuroscientist Dr Aafia Siddiqui in December.

This initiative followed the Islamabad High Court’s directives to engage with US lawmakers and officials on the matter.

Earlier, in October 2024, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had written a letter to President Biden, appealing for clemency on humanitarian grounds, citing Dr Siddiqui’s deteriorating health.

In 2010, Pakistani neuroscientist Aafia Siddiqui, who had studied in the US, was found guilty of attempted murder and assault by a New York federal district court and sentenced to 86 years in prison.

These charges arose from an interrogation by the US authorities in Ghazni, Afghanistan. Siddiqui denied all allegations against her.

At the age of 18, Siddiqui went to the US for higher education and earned a PhD in neuroscience from Brandeis University.

According to media reports, the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks in 2001 brought Siddiqui to the attention of the FBI due to her alleged financial contributions to proscribed organisations.

She was accused of acquiring $10,000 worth of night-vision goggles and military manuals.

American authorities suspected Siddiqui's affiliation with a banned militant outfit during her time in the US.

She disappeared in around 2003, along with her three children, in Karachi. Five years later she turned up in Pakistan's war-torn neighbour, Afghanistan, where she was arrested by local forces in Ghazni.