Dawn raid drags Pakistani family from home

The Siraj family nightmare began on Jan. 8 when 24-year-old Matin Siraj was convicted and sentenced to 30 years behind bars on charges of “terrorism” resulting from entrapment by an NYPD-paid informant.

Jan. 16 protest outside detention center. Photo: DRUM

The next day, at dawn, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents raided his family’s home in Queens, N.Y., and dragged off his mother, father and sister.

The Siraj family is being held captive by the U.S. government, which uses the double-speak of a war “against” terror to wage a war of terror against Pakistani and other Muslim, Arab and South Asian immigrants in this country.

A bus filled with loved ones and community supporters from civil and human rights organizations traveled on Jan. 16 to the Elizabeth Detention Center in New Jersey, where Shahina Parveen and her daughter Sanya Siraj faced an immigration judge in a hearing closed to the public.

Siraj’s father, Abdul Rehman, faces an ICE administrative decision that has not been scheduled.

DRUM (Desis Rising Up & Moving), a community-based social justice organization of working-class and poor South Asian immigrants in New York City, organized the demonstration to support the Siraj family.

Inside the Jan. 16 hearing, the judge set the bail so high—$20,000 for Shahina Parveen and $15,000 for 19-year-old Sanya Siraj—that it was, in reality, ransom.

Fahd Ahmed from DRUM stated, “Setting such an unreasonable bond is clearly another political tactic to keep our communities fearful and silent. The Siraj family, as another victim of the U.S. government’s ‘war on terror,’ is being targeted for their outspoken cries for justice on behalf of their son.”

He added that the family remains “steadfast and courageous in speaking the truth as the government continues to try to break their spirits.”

That bravery and conviction resonated in a message that Shahina Parveen sent to her supporters from behind the coiled razor wire of detention: “This is a systematic targeting of Muslims, a political attack on a peaceful family—and we have been caught in the middle of it. We have not gotten any justice and will continue to speak the truth. We will continue to struggle with patience and courage.”

Desis Rising Up & Moving stated in a Jan. 16 media release, “DRUM, as a community-based organization that works with Muslim and South Asian immigrants and has seen the targeting of this community before and especially after 9/11, is calling on all concerned individuals and organizations to support the immediate release of the Siraj family.

“DRUM, alongside countless civil and human-rights organizations and concerned citizens, will continue to expose the ongoing injustices of the ‘War on Terror’ against this family and all targeted communities.”

For more information, contact Fahd Ahmed, DRUM, 940-391-2660 or Kavitha Pawria, 718-216-0756.