Screenshot of PTI founder Imran Khan’s sisters Aleema Khan and Naureen Khan at a press conference outside Adiala jail on Monday.
RAWALPINDI:
The sisters of incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan, along with senior party leaders, staged a three-hour sit-in on Adiala Road on Tuesday after being denied permission to meet him and his wife, Bushra Bibi, despite a court order allowing the visit.
According to party sources, a delegation including Imran’s sisters Aleema Khan, Dr Uzma Khan and Noreen Khan, along with lawyer Salman Akram Raja, Punjab Leader of Opposition Moin Khan, Senator Faisal Javed and other senior PTI leaders, reached Adiala jail for the scheduled meeting.
However, police stopped them at two security checkpoints, preventing access to the prison.
After being denied entry, Aleema Khan and other members of her family sat protesting on Adiala Road with PTI workers, blocking traffic for several hours. Large contingents of police have been deployed in the area to maintain order.
Speaking to the media, Aleema Khan said, “Pakistan needs its founder to remain united. They imprison the people’s representative and buried Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s Constitution – the very party that claims his legacy is destroying it. Justice is dead and the situation is only getting worse.”
Meanwhile, lawyer Salman Akram Raja verbally clashed with police at the Dahgal checkpost after being denied passage. “Who gave you the order to arrest us? Is this a joke?” he shouted to the police.
“You people in uniform are behaving like thugs. Even the Islamabad High Court should hear this, no court has ever allowed its orders to be reviled in this way. The High Court itself is complicit in this contempt.”
Raja complained that the PTI had filed “dozens of petitions” seeking access but had received “no clear instructions” from the court. “For seven months, these mockeries have continued,” he added.
After three hours of chanting slogans and negotiations with the police, Aleema Khan announced the end of the protest, after which traffic on Adiala Road was restored.
