Fifty-five at (Age) Fifty-Five: Cowtown Marathon for Aafia

I'm 55 years old, and today I ran my 55th marathon, the Cowtown Marathon in Fort Worth, Texas. It is also the 11th one I've dedicated to the cause of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui's freedom. Previously, I ran the following marathons for Aafia:

Washington DC Marathon (2016), Boston Marathon (2017), Rock N' Roll DC Marathon (2018), Chicago Marathon (2018), Boston Marathon (2019), Chicago Marathon (2019),
Fort Worth Marathon (2021), Chicago Marathon (2022), BMW Dallas Marathon (2022), and BMW Dallas Marathon (2023, unregistered).

I've been running since age 14, but it was only in the last decade or so that I galvanized the courage to run for the causes dear to my heart. I studied the heroic postures against White Supremacy by athletes like Tommy Smith and John Carlos (1968 Olympics). And those of Vincent Matthews and Wayne Collett (1972 Olympics). Also, I examined the actions of numerous Arab and Muslim athletes refusing to play against Israel. Like all of them, I believe it is the duty of athletes of conscience to use the sports arena to call attention to issues of social justice.

A marathon, 26.2 miles is not easy to run. And, there is no immediate gratification, either in the training, or on race day itself. Indeed it requires a mountain of sabr (patience) and perseverance, even when one doesn't feel good and would like nothing better than to stop running. Why, then, do I run for Aafia? I am convinced she is completely and utterly innocent. Her treatment at U.S. hands seems to be the worst dealt to any Muslim in U.S. custody.

And because it is written:
"And why should ye not fight in the cause of Allah and of those who, being weak, are ill-treated (and oppressed)?- Men, women, and children, whose cry is: "Our Lord! Rescue us from this town, whose people are oppressors; and raise for us from thee one who will protect; and raise for us from thee one who will help!" (Qur'an, 4:75)

That is why I run for Aafia, a woman who should never gave been locked up in the first place.

#FreeAafiaSiddiqui #FreeAllPoliticalPrisoners #FMCCarswell

National Prayer/ Healing Gathering for Newly Released Political Prisoner

By Nadrat Siddique

December 23 - Tonight I attended a Zoom National Prayer/ Healing Gathering for recently released political prisoner Dr. Mutulu Shakur. Over 100 people attended, including former U.S. political prisoners, prominent activists, journalists, professors, Peoples' attorneys, imams, and others. These included Imam Talib Abdur Rasheed, former political prisoners Sekou Odinga, Bilal Sunni-Ali, and Jalil Muntaqim; Jericho's Anne Lamb, Kamau Sadiki, Imam Jamil Al-Amin Attorney Maha Elkolalli, Attorney Naji Muhahid, Attorney Nkechi Taifa, and SF Bay Chronicle writer Wanda Sabir. 

The meeting was presided over by National Jericho Chairperson Jihad Abdul Mumit, himself a former political prisoner. Introductory remarks were made by Imam Talib Abdur Rasheed, who was recognized for his long-time support for political prisoners. Then, Dr. Mutulu Shakur, sporting his signature dreadlocks and beret, came on. Chants of "Allah-ho-akbar!", "Alhamdulillah!", "Free them all!", and "Free the Land!" broke out as he appeared on screen. Dr. Shakur's voice was slightly weak from chemo, but he was in high spirits. A litany of audience members expressed love for the brother, thanked him for his sacrifice, told him he was looking good, etc. This writer offered him salutations from the Pakistani community and the movement to free Dr. Aafia Siddiqui (via the Zoom's chat).

But, Dr. Shakur did not stay long, saying he had to rest. It was clear that the Warehouse had taken its toll on his body, although they could not break his spirit.

The Zoom was accompanied by an in-person meeting at Masjid Islah in Los Angeles. The masjid's imam, its members, as well as others from the local community participated, giving Dr. Shakur on the ground support. Alhamdulillah for masajid which stand in the true tradition of Islam, and are not afraid to stand with our political prisoners.

The meeting closed out with a beautiful Islamic prayer for healing by Imam Jihad Saafir, who quoted verses from the Qur'an and asked Allah to heal Dr. Mutulu Shakur, as well as to ease the pain of other political prisoners who are not physically free.

BACKGROUND

Dr. Mutulu Shakur was locked up in sordid conditions for 36 years. In 2019, he was diagnosed with bone cancer, but his appeals for compassionate release were denied. On December 16, 2022, he was finally released. He is now 72 and in the throes of Stage 4 bone cancer. 

A visionary with a dream to liberate his people, he co-founded the Republic of New Afrika. In 1979, he founded the Black Acupuncture Advisory Association of North America. In conjuction with this cutting edge organization, he effectively used acupuncture to heal young black men (and others) facing addiction; and went to the UN numerous times to bring the case of human right abuses against the U.S. Black population to that international body. For this, he was targeted by COINTELPRO, the counter intelligence program used to neutralize government opponents, from those in the Black liberation and indigenous rights movements, to environmental activists, socialists, and even Quakers. He was charged in the robbery of a Brinks armoured car, in which two people died. There was no evidence that Dr. Shakur had participated in the killing. Instead, the evidence pointed to an informant, who was involved in the incident, as the likely killer. However, this man took a plea deal, helped to convict Mutulu, and was paid $110,000. The trial was rife with bias, emotion, and illegalities, and Dr. Shakur was sentenced to 60 years. For years, his appeals were denied. In 2022, he was finally accorded compassionate release.

To learn how you can help Dr. Mutulu Shakur as he battles Stage 4 bone cancer, go to,

https://mutulushakur.com/support/

One Explanation for Pakistan Government's Inaction on Aafia

Despite massive support for Aafia amongst the Pakistani public, and the subsequent (perhaps opportunistic) campaign promises of the current prime minister, Imran Khan, to get her released, if he got into office, Aafia Siddiqui continues to languish in a U.S. jail for upwards of 18 years. The Pakistani government has yet to perform the most elemental step of formally requesting her release. The question arises: Why?

The simplest answer seems to be: The Pakistan government is even more complicit than the U.S. in Aafia's continuing detention. At least, the U.S. had expressed an interest at an official level at various points to conduct a prisoner exchange, or some such for Aafia. Although I'm no expert, I believe that under International Law, the Pakistani government and its principles can be taken before the International Criminal Court (ICC), for their role in Aafia's kidnapping, rape, and torture. The U.S., on the other hand, cannot easily be tried before the ICC or any other international body, as they are not signatories to these. 

So, Aafia's release would mean exposure of the Pakistani government's crimes, and open the door to an international inquiry/ litigation. Also, given the monumental support for Aafia across Pakistan, where she is considered the "Daughter of the Nation," reaction to the crimes against her, when and if she is finally released and the full, sordid details come out, is likely to be explosive. This may explain, at least in part, the Pakistan government's hesitancy in requesting Aafia's release.

--Nadrat Siddique 

Aafia Attacked by Fellow Carswell Inmate

On July 30, while prison authorities turned a blind eye, an inmate at FMC Carswell attacked political prisoner #DrAafiaSiddiqui. The inmate threw scalding hot liquid on her. Details are here.

This is absolutely unacceptable. Under the Geneva Convention, the authority holding a prisoner is responsible for her welfare.

Please call the prison to express concern about Dr. Aafia Siddiqui. Her registry # (prisoner #) is 90279-054. Phone for FMC Carswell is: (817) 782-4000.

If you can't call, write to the warden ASAP:
Michael Carr, Warden
FMC Carswell
PO Box 27066
Fort Worth, TX 76127

When writing to the Warden, please be sure to use the correct legal spelling of Aafia's name and her register number (Aafia Siddiqui, #90279-054). Mention the fact that you are concerned about the July 30 attack on her by another inmate, her physical safety, and her general health.

Also, please make du'ah for her, and ask the imam of your mosque to make du'ah for her after juma'ah prayers. JazaakAllah khair.

--Nadrat Siddique

Aafia Siddiqui Case: Does a Guilty Verdict Equal Guilt?

Recently, I had a discussion on Twitter with a young Pakistani man who bought into the propaganda that since Aafia was serving time in a U.S. prison, having been tried and convicted, she must certainly be guilty. 

Here is my response to him:

What exactly do you know of Dr. Siddiqui's case? Some of us were in the New York courtroom where she was prosecuted. Her trial was presided over by a Zionist judge, Richard Berman.

Berman did not allow any discussion of what happened to Siddiqui during 2003-2008. That's the entire period leading up to her appearance before a New York court for trial. That means (if one accepts the Judge's rationale), her alleged crime occurred in a vacuum. It also means that the manner in which Siddiqui, a conservative Pakistani woman, suddenly landed in a foreign country, Afghanistan, to (ostensibly) assault 4 - 6 U.S. soldiers, is irrelevant.

As independent investigations have revealed, Siddiqui was abducted, illegally detained, tortured, and raped (most likely at the U.S. base in Baghram) during that time period. So why would a judge not allow discussion of that period, except for bias and possibly malevolence?

If Berman had the integrity to allow such a discussion, it would have exposed the Pakistani authorities' part in hideous crimes against a Muslim woman, a mother of three, whose PhD research centered on child development.

Dr. Siddiqui was not the only one rendered during the period following the September 11 attacks. Hundreds of other innocents were similarly handed over to the U.S., simply because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time, because someone decided they wanted the bounty (offered by the U.S. at the time) associated with handing over certain population groups, or because a prisoner under torture falsely named them.

All of this started under Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf. He is a war criminal, and ought to have been brought before the International Criminal Court. May Allah's lanaat (curse) be on him.

Given the state of the U.S. Justice System, it's never a good idea to assume that guilty verdicts equal guilt, This is particularly true in the "War on Terror" era cases, where the defendant is a Muslim and the odds are stacked against him or her, with biased judges, hand picked juries, and a climate of fear-mongering, and Islamophobia.

Petition for Dr. Aafia Siddiqui

We, the undersigned, petition:

Donald J. Trump

Greg Abbott

Department of Justice

William Barr (Attorney General of the United States)

Eric S. Dreiband (Assistant U.S. Attorney General for Civil Rights Division, DOJ)

Ken Paxton (Attorney General of Texas)

Michael Carvajal (Director, Federal Bureau of Prisons)

Kathleen Hawk Sawyer (Director, Federal Bureau of Prisons)

Release or Home Confinement for Dr. Aafia Siddiqui from Coronavirus-Infected Prison

Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist, is serving an 86-year term at FMC Carswell. Carswell is a prison-cum-medical facility for female prisoners. Other than Seagoville Prison, which is also located in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and has 1,359 cases, Carswell has the largest COVID-19 outbreak of any U.S. prison. According to Bureau of Prisons own website, the number of reported cases there is 542. (Other sources place it even higher, at 571.) Carswell’s inmate population totals 1,357. That makes the current infection rate at the facility 40%. Three female prisoners, Andrea Circle Bear, Sandra Kincaid, and Teresa Ely, have died from the virus at the facility. Of these dead women, Circle Bear, a 34-year old Native American, was much younger than Dr. Siddiqui. So, the risk to Dr. Siddiqui is clearly grave.

According to the Appeal, a project of the Justice Collaborative, "There's no air conditioning; incarcerated women are confined to their cells; the commissary is closed indefinitely, so women are running out of basic hygiene products like soap and shampoo; the warden was nowhere to be found; women weren't getting necessary medical care; inedible meals arrived in brown sacks." The facility is also sorely lacking in cleaning supplies and PPE.

(Much of the information on conditions at Carswell originates with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, a local news outlet in the area, with no political agenda. The paper has been reporting on the situation there since April. The reports were later picked up by the local NBC affiliate, Time Magazine, and Newsweek.)

The bottom line is that Dr. Siddiqui, an MIT and Brandeis graduate, with no prior record of violence, and who was likely turned in by a vindicative, abusive ex-husband, has a greater than 40% chance of contracting Coronavirus while in U.S. custody. She is already in very poor physical, as well as mental health, having been denied timely medical treatment from a gunshot wound when she was captured in Afghanistan. The torture she endured while in captivity in Pakistan and Afghanistan exacerbated her physical condition. The death of her baby, Sulaiman, in the course of her arrest, and the imprisonment of her other two children, Ahmad and Mariam, along with her (they were each separately released years later), added to her grave mental trauma. 

Not one person was killed or injured in connection with the charges for which Dr. Siddiqui was convicted. And she was convicted in New York District Court, on the basis of ambiguous and highly contradictory testimony, due largely to the climate of fear and Islamophobia which existed at the time. Upon her conviction, she called for her supporters to stay calm, and to refrain from violence. She has continued to maintain her innocence throughout her 17-years of captivity.

Her sister, Dr. Fowzia Siddiqui, a Pakistan-based physician who holds a degree from Harvard University, has long spearheaded a national campaign in Pakistan, calling for her release. In Pakistan, the broad masses of people believe Dr. Siddiqui to be innocent, and the prevailing view is one of disbelief that the U.S., which touts itself as a supporter of women's rights, has accorded torture, solitary confinement, and now (the prospect of) COVID-19 to this Pakistani woman neuroscientist.

Supporters from the Aafia Foundation and other groups hold annual rallies outside FMC Carswell calling for her release. Human rights advocates in London, Durban, New York, Boston, and other cities worldwide regularly march calling for Dr. Siddiqui's release.

Countries like China and Russia are often associated with the jailing of scientists. The U.S. need not join their ranks. Dr. Siddiqui's release on humanitarian grounds from a COVID-infected prison would open the door to improved U.S.-Pakistan relations.

Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, is neither a threat to public welfare, nor a flight risk. She has suffered enough. We ask that she be released to home confinement with supporters in Maryland; or, that she be repatriated to Pakistan, where her elderly mother and her children have long awaited her. As COVID-19 ravages Texas prisons, particularly Carswell, Dr. Siddiqui’s life may depend upon it.

Sign the petition here.

Running the Boston Marathon for Pakistani Women’s Rights

(Or in particular, for the rights of an outstanding Pakistani woman political prisoner)

April 22, 2017

Letters to the Editor

The Boston Globe

PO Box 55819

Boston, MA 02205-5819

Dear editor,

Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist, once attended MIT on full scholarship. She completed studies in biological sciences, and went on to do her PhD in cognitive neuroscience at Brandeis University, successfully completing it despite being in an abusive marriage (with a Pakistani from whom she later divorced). Her PhD focused on helping dyslexic and otherwise learning disabled children. Today she languishes in a U.S. federal penitentiary, a political prisoner for whom tens of thousands of Pakistanis demonstrate regularly on the streets of London, Karachi, Islamabad, and Peshawar.

I am a Pakistani woman athlete who has run 31 marathons in nine years (including seventeen sub-4 hour marathons). The case of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, who had adopted Boston as her home for over a decade, was so compelling that I could not run America’s oldest marathon except in her name. So, on Patriots Day 2017, I ran my first Boston Marathon in an attempt to draw attention to the egregious human rights violations against this innocent Pakistani Muslim woman.

As I stood in the Boston Commons on race morning, waiting with other runners to board the bus to the race start in Hopkinton, I could picture the slight and slender Aafia among the other doctors, scientists, and health professionals who were among the 27,000 athletes running Boston this year. Instead, Aafia occupied a tiny holding cell at the United States Penitentiary at Fort Worth, completely cut off from her family and community, her health gravely impugned by 14 years of political imprisonment.

She was arrested in Islamabad in a joint U.S.-Pakistani intelligence operation in 2003, one of many innocents caught up in a broad net of politically-motivated, arbitrary, or misplaced arrests during the “War on Terror.” At first, Aafia’s captivity was kept a secret by her captors. This lasted about five years. In flagrant violation of the Geneva Convention, Aafia’s captors refused to acknowledge her presence within the prison system, allowing them to act with complete impunity towards her. She spent part of her captivity at the U.S. Air Force Base in Baghram, Afghanistan, where she was known as “Prisoner 650.” During this time, Aafia was denied proper medical treatment, and repeatedly tortured and raped.

Two of Aafia’s young children, Ahmed and Mariam, were arrested and imprisoned along with her in violation of Geneva Convention stipulations on the detention of children. Like Aafia, they were not entered in any prison registry. Much later, Ahmed and Mariam were released and ordered not to reveal anything about their captivity.

In 2008, Aafia’s captors finally acknowledged that they were holding her, and she was sent to the U.S. to face charges. Her trial was held in a Manhattan courtroom beset by fears of terrorism. She appeared in a wheelchair, displaying signs of having been tortured. Bizarrely, the 110-pound, 5’2’’ Pakistani neuroscientist was charged with the assault and attempted murder of seven U.S. servicemen in Afghanistan.

Despite grave contradictions in the prosecution’s case, and clearly exculpatory evidence in Aafia’s favor, she was convicted and sentenced to 86 years.

On Monday, I ran the Boston Marathon in honor of Aafia, who did so many great things while in Boston. The front of my race tee-shirt bore her image with the words “Free Dr. Aafia.” The back of the tee read “Prisoner 650,” a reference to the early period of Aafia’s captivity when she was held secretly in Baghram. Throughout the race, I met many wonderful race volunteers and runners who were students at MIT. I wondered how many of them knew of their government’s abuse of a Pakistani woman scientist who had sat in the same classroom as them.

Aafia’s case is a glaring example of the government’s disregard for due process, human rights, women’s rights, civil rights, prisoners’ rights, and children’s rights. It is my hope that women’s rights groups and civil libertarians in the U.S. will call for her release. These groups have vociferously and consistently opposed the oppression of Muslim women and girls in cases like that of Malalai Yousufzai, the Chibok girls in Nigeria; and in cases of honor killings. If they are act on principle and not politics, they must speak out for Dr. Aafia Siddiqui.

-Nadrat Siddique

We Did it for Aafia

By Nadrat Siddique

Training for a marathon (26.2 mile race) is a months-long process, very different from casual running for fitness.

In the lengthy preparation for a marathon, many things can happen to derail one’s training:  With 8 weeks left before the 2017 Boston Marathon (held in April), I developed a looming shin splint. I addressed it immediately, switching over to walking and low impact workouts at the gym for about three weeks.

Then, with 7 weeks left before Boston, I woke up one morning with shingles (I had chicken pox as a child). This lasted about two weeks.

Then, about 5 weeks before the marathon, my 26-year old stepbrother passed away. His sudden and tragic death deeply affected the family, and for me, brought back many memories of the death of my child, Hanzela, who died a SIDS death in his second month. At that point, I decided I really did not feel up to running Boston, either mentally or physically.

A week passed, then two, and I saw the mother of my dead stepbrother (my stepmum) heroically carrying on the motions of life, despite the passing of her beloved son, and I toyed again with the idea of running the illustrious marathon.

At this point, I’d run 31 prior marathons, and qualified for Boston many times. At the risk of sounding cocky, I had little to prove! The original—really the only—reason I’d wanted to run the race was to bring attention to the plight of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, the Pakistani neuroscientist nabbed in a joint U.S./Pakistani operation in Pakistan, raped and tortured by her captors, and ultimately sentenced to 86-years by a kangaroo court for a crime she clearly could not have committed. It particularly sickened me that neither the Pakistani government, nor any of the major Muslim organizations in the U.S. were actively seeking her release from what was a clearly politically-motivated and flagrantly unjust imprisonment. If I ran the Boston Marathon—held in the city where Aafia, a top scholar at MIT and Brandeis University—had excelled both scholastically and spiritually—it would have to be in her name. Once again thoughts of running Boston entered my head.

There were only two weeks left before the Boston Marathon when a tiny lump I’d had for three years on the side of my neck suddenly became inflamed. It turned out to be an inclusion cyst which developed an abscess. I tried ignoring it until after the marathon, but it only got larger and more inflamed. Then on Monday of the week prior to the marathon, I had a minor surgery for the cyst. Three days later (Thursday), I did a 15-mile run on a favorite tree-lined trail, with the gash on the side of my neck from the surgery, to see if I was up to the task of a marathon. I felt fine afterwards, and was egged on further to attain the seemingly unattainable.

On Saturday, I jumped in my car, packing little but my marathon outfit and some food items (I am a picky eater), and took off for Boston, arriving around 1:00 AM. The next day was Sunday, and I took the Boston subway to the mandatory bib number pickup at the John Hynes Convention Center, prayed a lot, and did little else.

Then, on Monday—Patriots Day in Boston—I ran the Boston Marathon wearing my long-sleeved black “Free Dr. Aafia Siddiqui” tee (prepared for me by brothers from Masjid Al-Islam in SE Washington, DC). I was the only Pakistani woman in the field of approximately 37,000 runners, and finished the very hilly course in 4 hours 4 minutes, despite high temperatures during the mid-afternoon race (Marathons are ordinarily held in the early morning to decrease the possibility of heat injury among the athletes. But in Boston, the runners in my “wave” did not start running until about 11:00 AM, and we did not finish until about 3:00 PM. I saw many runners being carried off in stretchers, likely as a result of the very warm weather. According to the organizers’ website, 810 people were unable to finish the race; the Boston Globe reported that 2,000 required medical treatment during or after the race.)

About an hour after finishing the race, I was in my car, and on the way back to Maryland, composing letters to the Boston Globe on Dr. Aafia Siddiqui in my head as I drove. I reached Maryland safely at 3:00 AM. God is Great.