Why is a Brilliant MIT Graduate Serving 86 years in a Texas Prison?

Words by Iman Javaid

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This is a rare vintage poster for the National Dance Ensemble from Pakistan when they made their grand debut performance in New York City in 1973 at the Hulu Theatre in Madison Square Garden. The show featured celebrated Kathak dancer Nahid Siddiqui who rose to fame in the 70s but in the late 70s, martial law was declared in Pakistan and dancing was banned. She left Pakistan and relocated to London but was told she couldn't dance anywhere in the world without the permission from the government of Pakistan. Siddiqui defied these rules though and continued to dance. "How can you ban beauty?" asked Siddiqui. (Available now)

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Why is a Brilliant MIT Graduate Serving 86 years in a Texas Prison?

Dr. Aafia Siddiqui

Sentenced in September 2011, a Pakistani neuroscientist and a mother of three, Aafia Siddiqui, is imprisoned in a Texas facility for 86 years. It's more than a lifetime for most of us. Born to Muhammad Salay Siddiqui and Ismet Farooqi, how did a brilliant MIT graduate end up in a criminal facility in the US, hundreds of miles from home?

Aafia Siddiqui arrived in the US on a student visa in 1990 to study at the University of Houston and later transferred to MIT. After graduating from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with honors, she completed her Ph.D. in Cognitive Neuroscience. With multiple grants and journals to her name, Aafia was also involved in charity work and volunteering for the needy in Texas.

Regarded as a polite and humble person by her colleagues, how a girl with a bright future ahead of her wound up with Al-Qaeda and the Taliban has been a mystery over the years. There have been different versions of the story coming from people in the press and all the parties included; the defense attorney and the prosecutor, Siddiqui's family, and the governments of both USA and Pakistan.