We are sitting here peacefully. If we’re denied a meeting today, we’ll stay here, says Aleema Khan
Sisters of PTI founder Imran Khan sit outside Adiala Jail after a meeting was denied on Tuesday. Photo: X/PTI
Imran Khan’s sisters staged a sit-in outside Adiala Jail after they were denied a meeting with the PTI founder. Aleema Khan said the family was left with no option but to protest after being repeatedly stopped from meeting him.
“We are not doing anything illegal or unconstitutional. If we are stopped like this every week, what option do we have other than protest?” she said while speaking to the media near the factory check-post.
Sisters of the PTI founder, Aleema Khan, Noreen Khan and Dr Uzma Khan, along with senior party leaders reached near Adiala Jail for a scheduled family meeting. However, despite Tuesday, designated for family and lawyers’ visits, jail authorities informed Aleema Khan and senior PTI leadership at around 4pm that the meeting would not be allowed.
Warning that the family would not disperse if the meeting was denied, Aleema Khan said, “If they do not allow the meeting, let them not. We are sitting here peacefully. Today, we have even brought blankets with us.”
Read: Negotiations underway as PTI sit-in continues outside Adiala jail
Security at Adiala Jail was tightened, with additional police contingents deployed, water cannons stationed at Gate No 5, and barricades erected at multiple entry points, including Gorakhpur and the factory check-post. Markets in surrounding areas were shut down, petrol pumps closed, and public and private schools were given the day off. PTI workers also began arriving near the jail amid heightened security.
Aleema Khan said, the PTI founder’s demands were limited to constitutional principles. “The founder’s demand is the restoration of the Constitution, democracy and the rule of law,” she said, adding that Imran Khan had been incarcerated for over two-and-a-half years.
Questioning the repeated denial of meetings, she asked why the PTI founder’s family was not being allowed to meet him in accordance with the law. “The government should tell us why the family of the PTI founder is not allowed to meet him,” she said.
Referring to broader issues, Aleema Khan said the closure of Afghan trade had rendered many people jobless, while the judiciary had been pushed out of its constitutional independence. “Conditions in Pakistan are going from bad to worse,” she said.
Read More: Aleema warns silence will spare no one
Aleema also questioned restrictions imposed on conversations during jail meetings. “If there was a discussion about the army chief, what is the issue? The government should explain what political discussion my sister allegedly had in the previous meeting,” she said.
Noreen Niazi, speaking on the occasion, rejected allegations of violence and criticised police action. “We are not terrorists. PTI is a peaceful party. Water cannons were used against us and people sustained injuries. Punjab police are acting like a terrorist force,” she said.
Salman Akram Raja calls for wider solidarity
Senior PTI leader Salman Akram Raja said while speaking to the media at the factory check-post that expressing solidarity with Imran Khan’s sisters was not limited to lawmakers alone. “Coming here is not only the job of members of the parliament. Everyone who believes in democracy and the supremacy of law should be here,” he said.
He termed restrictions on conversation during jail meetings unlawful, saying no law permitted the silencing of an individual. “How can anyone tell a human being what they are allowed to talk about?” he asked.
Raja also referred to the deteriorating security situation, calling the APS tragedy deeply painful and warning that terrorism was once again on the rise. He added that promises made to people following the merger of the tribal areas had not been fulfilled.
He claimed that the clause barring political discussion in jail was introduced during the era of General Zia-ul-Haq and argued that it violated fundamental rights. The situation remained tense till the filing of this report, with the presence of heavy police contingents and continued protest near Adiala Jail.
