RAWALPINDI/LAHORE:
The family of the PTI founder Imran Khan, including his sons Suleman Khan and Kasim Khan, will be part of the protest movement called by him, his sister Aleema Khan said on Tuesday.
Aleema spoke to the media after her two sisters Uzma and Noreen Khan and party lawyers met the PTI founder in Adiala Jail. Aleema was, however, denied permission for the meeting. She told the reporters that Imran Khan would himself lead the protest movement from inside the jail.
“Imran Khan has said that he will lead the protest movement. He is free while in jail but we are prisoners despite being outside,” she said. “Our family will be fully involved in the protest movement. Suleman and Kasim have said that after [visiting] America, they will join the movement,” she added.
“Imran Khan has said that those who could not carry the weight of the movement should leave now,” she continued, adding that Imran wanted the movement to peak on August 5, when he would complete two years of incarceration.
Letter from jail
Senior incarcerated leaders of PTI have penned another joint letter, blasting the government for “destroying” key democratic institutions including the media, judiciary, and parliament.
The letter accuses the current rulers of betraying the very spirit of the Charter of Democracy, an agreement once signed by the leaders of the two major political parties, Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto.
The letter, by leaders currently incarcerated in Kot Lakhpat Jail, was jointly written by former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Dr Yasmin Rashid, Mian Mehmoodur Rasheed, Ejaz Ahmad Chaudhry and Omar Sarfraz Cheema.
“The Charter of Democracy was meant to ensure constitutional supremacy and judicial independence,” the PTI leaders wrote, “but it has been sabotaged by the very parties that initiated it, all for the sake of personal political gains.”
The letter argues that the path to pulling Pakistan out of its compounding crises lies in restoring the rule of law and upholding the supremacy of the Constitution.
They further alleged that the government has severely undermined democratic principles through legislative overreach and electoral manipulation. “The media has been stifled through the PECA ordinance, the judiciary targeted through the 26th constitutional amendment, and parliament rendered meaningless via Form 47,” the letter stated, adding that the people of Pakistan deserve full respect for their democratic rights.
The latest letter marks the second such communication in a week from the jailed senior leaders of PTI, who had earlier urged the party to engage in dialogue with the PML-N-led government.
