ISLAMABAD: Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Ishaq Dar drew a sharp rebuke from the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf after he cited the example of Aafia Siddiqui’s detention in the United States in an attempt to emphasise on rule of law in response to a question regarding Imran Khan’s imprisonment.
Speaking at an event hosted by an American think tank, Senator Dar argued against politicising legal cases and called for the uniform application of the law. “I think we should not politicise anything,” he said.
“For example, if I say that Aafia Siddiqui is here for decades and going to be — God knows — till when. So I think I will be unfair.
If your due process of law has resulted in that action, the same applies to everybody. So there’s no exception.”
In a statement issued on Saturday, the PTI condemned the remarks as “shameful and false”. The party alleged that Mr Dar’s comparison amounted to a justification of both convictions. It called the statement an act of “malice against the daughter of Pakistan and the most popular leader of the country”.
“Aafia Siddiqui was abducted from Karachi in 2003 and falsely sentenced to 86 years in the US. Her only crime being a Pakistani and a Muslim,” the PTI claimed.
The PTI also highlighted what it called a contradiction in the government’s stance, noting that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif recently met her sister in Islamabad and “gave assurance that efforts will be made to provide justice to her”.
The party said Mr Dar meant “just like Aafia was rightly sentenced, Imran Khan was also sentenced.”
In response, Ishaq Dar posted on X that his remarks were taken ‘out of context’, reaffirming PML-N’s continued support for Aafia’s release, while stressing respect for every country’s judicial process.
Published in Dawn, July 27th, 2025