Achakzai accuses the government of resorting to “revenge measures even against women and children”
ISLAMABAD:
Top leaders of Tehreek Tahaffuz Aeen-e-Pakistan (TTAP) on Wednesday deplored the alleged mistreatment of PTI founder Imran Khan’s sisters lodged outside Adiala jail, expressing full solidarity with them.
Addressing a joint press conference after meeting them in Bani Gala, the opposition alliance expressed serious concerns about the country’s political climate, the future of democracy and “repeated violations of constitutional boundaries.”
PTI leaders including Salman Akram Raja and Shahid Khattak were also present along with the former prime minister’s sisters.
Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen Pakistan (MWM) Central President Allama Raja Nasir Abbas Jafri has termed the alleged attack on the PTI founder’s sisters outside Adiala jail as “tragic and inhumane”.
He expressed concern that the current political situation has placed not only the masses but also the “guardians of the Constitution” in a state of deep anxiety.
“Whoever founded Pakistan would be ashamed of the current situation,” invoking the country’s founder, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
Referring to the 27th Amendment, he warned that hasty constitutional changes risked weakening the structure of the state, adding that TTAP had “serious reservations” about the changes underway.
Similarly, the movement’s leader, Mehmood Khan Achakzai, accused the government of resorting to “revenge measures, even against women and children”, calling them unprecedented and shameful.
He further deplored the “obvious and undemocratic violations of human rights”. “It was because of elite mentality that East Pakistan was broken, and today the same attitudes are once again pushing the state towards evil.”
Achakzai stressed that the country’s crisis could only be resolved if all political forces adopted a common and principled position.
He announced that if all parties agreed on five basic points, he would personally obtain formal signatures from Imran Khan.
“Not intimidated”
The PTI founder’s sisters – Aleema Khan, Uzma Khan and Noreen Khan – also spoke at the press conference, condemning the alleged violence against women and saying they would not be intimidated.
They thanked TTAP leaders, saying the support of Achakzai and Allama Nasir Abbas Jafri had given them strength during an exceptionally difficult time.
Relaying Imran’s message, the sisters said Imran urged the nation to “get ready” as the time has come for “freedom or death”, accusing authorities of placing him in solitary confinement and subjecting women, children and lawmakers to violent treatment outside Adiala prison.
They added that they had long avoided speaking publicly, but that the situation had reached a point where silence was no longer possible.
Aleema said they were only exercising their legal right to demand a meeting with their brother, but “the PTI founder was placed in solitary confinement” and even a peaceful protest was suppressed by force.
She said their protests never harmed anyone, but they were repeatedly denied permission to meet with him. “Last week, my sister, who is a doctor, was detained for several hours,” she explained.
“We were sitting on the pavement. First, the lights were turned off, then water was released. We sat in the water. First, the media personnel were pushed, then the KP ministers were pushed,” she said, recounting scenes from Tuesday evening.
She added that a 12-year-old boy who warned them that water would be released “was also arrested.”
She claimed that women were “dragged by their hair” and “had their shawls torn off,” after which men and women were “locked together in the same prison van.”
“This country is also ours. Why are we treated like this?” she asked.
