Veteran politician and esteemed lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan. PHOTO: FILE
LAHORE:
Senior lawyer and former federal minister Aitzaz Ahsan on Saturday slammed the state of governance and treatment meted out to incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan, alleging deliberate isolation, judicial silence and dangerous political consequences.
Addressing a press conference at the Lahore Press Club, Ahsan said the unfolding situation in the country was evident to everyone and termed the reported deterioration of Imran Khan’s eyesight as deeply disturbing.
He claimed the former prime minister had lost 85 percent of his vision in one eye and had been kept in solitary confinement for the past 60 days to cover up the problem.
He said a former prime minister had been cut off from the world and unable to meet his lawyers or family members. “Where have the judges gone? Where are the courts?” asked Ahsan, adding that it seemed another movement for the restoration of the justice system might become necessary.
Ahsan said he had known Imran for 60 years as a friend and neighbor. He claimed that the judiciary and Parliament were complicit in the current situation and warned that injustice would have consequences. “We must not forget that on Judgment Day, it will be an eye for an eye.”
Ahsan said the chief justice should have asked for a report the very next day regarding the former prime minister’s health condition.
He argued that Imran Khan should be released on bail on medical grounds, noting that in other cases people had left the country based on fabricated medical reports. He demanded that the causes of the reported loss of vision 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 who could bring all parties together and said leadership was needed to prevent further deterioration of the situation. He said although he was deprived of his name and party symbol, the PTI founder got the highest number of votes. “They removed the election symbol of the PTI, but it received the most votes,” he said.
Regarding foreign policy, Ahsan claimed that troops were being sent to Palestine at Trump’s request and that such deployments would serve to quell resistance against the Israeli occupation.
