August 14, 2008	Thursday	Sha'aban 11, 1429

LAHORE, Aug 13: The arrest of Dr Aafia Siddiqui on Wednesday created ripples in the Punjab Assembly when a treasury member, Abdul Rehman Rana, drew attention of the house towards the issue and the treatment she has been meted out by the Americans.

Mr Rehman stood on a point of order as soon as the proceedings got underway after the recitation from the Holy Quran at 11.10am – about an hour and 10 minutes late from its scheduled time – and claimed that the doctor was stripped naked for “body search” before being allowed to meet her relatives.

He said the advocates of human rights were violating basic rights and their action should be condemned in the strongest terms, by all and at all levels. Any US official coming to Pakistan got red-carpet welcome, he said, adding the American treatment to a Pakistani national, especially a woman, should be an eye opener.

He said the Americans were mistreating a woman against whom no allegations had been proved even after five years of her detention. This, he added, was a condemnable act and the house should at least express full sympathies with Dr Aafia and her family.

Responding to the point of order, Law Minister Rana Sanaullah said “curse” be on the rulers who handed over Dr Aafia to the Americans for fiscal benefits. It was good luck of Dr Aafia that her case got noticed, otherwise there were many more still missing, he added.

He said the then opposition had condemned Musharraf's confession in his book “In the Line of Fire” that he handed over Pakistani nationals to American for money. The political forces ruling Pakistan would not now allow even a single unfair, unjust and illegal step, he vowed.

The minister assured the house that the federal government had taken notice of the issue and the provincial government would support it in that regard.

Senior Minister Raja Riaz Ahmad stood on a point of order and appreciated foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi for taking up the case demanding immediate repatriation of Dr Aafia and her three children. The federal government has already announced legal assistance for Dr Aafia and pledged all available resources to bring her back to Pakistan.