What is terrorism?

Aafia Siddiqui is not a Terrorist
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The case involving the incarceration of Aafia Siddiqui remains murky. Siddiqui is not a terrorist but a victim of religious persecution. The US government is very keen to protect its citizens in every part of the world, but some of their interventions can be torturous. Thousands of Muslims residing in Pakistan and Afghanistan were abducted, detained and tortured in the quest to unearth the mastermind of the 9/11 attack (Zakaria, 2015). The US government falsified evidence that was used to sentence Siddiqui to 86 years’ imprisonment.
Following the 9/11 attack, the US intelligence bodies in conjunction with the Pakistan special forces launched a worldwide search for terrorists. After her abduction in Karachi, Siddiqui disappeared only to resurface five years later (Zakaria, 2015). At first, the US had denied claims that they were holding Siddiqui captive for the five years that she went missing. After Siddiqui resurfaced, the US government convicted her for abetting terrorism. It is alleged that Siddiqui married a nephew of the mastermind behind the 9/11 (Davis, 2006). However, Siddiqui was undergoing through a state of psychological turmoil following the birth of her third born child and a break up with her husband. The marriage seems made up considering that family members denied claims of such a union.
Siddiqui has a Ph.D. in neuroscience from the MIT. She could have been an invaluable asset to the Al-Qaeda in their quest to attack the US and other western nations.

The fact that she was one of the few educated women still loyal to her religion could have prompted the US government to suspect her (Davis, 2006). However, her area of specialty did not correlate with what ensued during the 9/11 attack. Furthermore, Siddiqui could not walk around with materials used to assemble a bomb. She tried to remain off the radar as much as possible. According to Siddiqui, she was raped and her children tortured to force her to sign her to write the documents presented before the court.
During Siddiqui’s trials, she was never given an opportunity to narrate her side of the story. Instead, the jury ignored her testimonials and termed them as untrue and irrelevant to the case. The judge mandated with the role of hearing the case, Berman, ruled in favor of the government. The Pakistan government hired lawyers to represent Siddiqui in the case where she was accused of attempted murder (Zakaria, 2015). It remains unclear why the Pakistan government would be willing to hire the nation’s best lawyers and yet they never hesitated to extradite her. Siddiqui disliked the lawyers sent to represent her on claims that it was a cover up to show the innocence of the Pakistani government.
Some of the accusations levied against Siddiqui are murky and unreliable to warrant a jail sentence of 86 years. Till date, many people still question the narration of how Siddiqui fired at an American soldier almost killing him (Zakaria, 2015). At the time of the incident, Siddiqui was tortured by the oppressive interrogators and hardly had any energy left to turn the situation to her favor. High-profile criminals are often chained and placed in restricted areas. It is therefore unclear how a weak and feeble being could have managed to carry out the shooting.
ISIL is at the heart of most terror attacks directed towards the west by Islamic states. ISIL’s attempt to trade Siddiqui for American captives that they are withholding is a kind gesture aimed at winning the heart of Pakistan and Afghanistan. ISIL is an organized insurgent group that is opposed to the religious persecution of Muslims especially by the western superpowers. Additionally, Siddiqui may have valuable information which the ISIL needs to expand their dominance and influence.
References
Davis, J. (2006). Women and terrorism in radical Islam: Planners, perpetrators, patrons. Retrieved May, 11.Zakaria, R. (2015). Women and Islamic militancy. Dissent, 62(1), 118-125.