Veteran politician and esteemed lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan. PHOTO: FILE
LAHORE:
Senior lawyer and former federal minister Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan on Saturday blasted the state of governance and the treatment meted out to incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan, alleging deliberate isolation, judicial silence and dangerous political consequences.
Addressing a news conference at the Lahore Press Club, Ahsan said the situation unfolding in the country was evident to everyone and termed the reported deterioration of Imran Khan’s eyesight deeply troubling.
He claimed that the former prime minister had lost 85 per cent vision in one eye and alleged that he had been kept in solitary confinement for the past 60 days to conceal the issue.
He said a former prime minister had effectively been cut off from the world and was unable to meet his lawyers or family members. “Where have the judges gone? Where are the courts?” Ahsan asked, adding that it appeared another movement for the restoration of the judiciary might become necessary.
Ahsan said he had known Imran for 60 years as a friend and neighbour. He alleged that both the judiciary and parliament were complicit in the present situation and warned that injustice would carry consequences. “It should be remembered that on the Day of Judgment, there will be an eye for an eye.”
Ahsan said the chief justice should have sought a report the very next day regarding the former premier’s health.
He maintained that Imran Khan should be granted bail on medical grounds, noting that in other cases, people had left the country on the basis of fabricated medical reports. He demanded that the causes behind the reported loss of eyesight be made public.
Calling for political intervention, Ahsan urged President Asif Ali Zardari to play a role in resolving the crisis. He said Zardari was a politician capable of bringing all sides together and said leadership was required to prevent further deterioration of the situation. He said that despite being deprived of his name and party symbol, the PTI founder had secured the highest number of votes. “They took away the PTI’s election symbol, yet it received the most votes,” he said.
Regarding the foreign policy, Ahsan alleged that troops were being sent to Palestine at Trump’s behest and claimed such deployments would serve to suppress resistance against Israeli occupation.
