Rawalpindi:
Pakistan Tehreek-E-Insaf (PTI) leaders warned on Monday that the party’s founding chairman Imran Khan could be moved to lonely inclusion after a few more hearings, accusing authorities of running a campaign to divert attention from his message.
The party also said IMRAN’s future messages will be delivered by his sisters to avoid similar redirections.
Aleema Khan, who spoke to journalists near Adiala Prison, said she expects “after a few more hearings, Imran will be moved to lonely inclusion”.
She claimed that a campaign against her had been launched to distract the public from IMRAN’s message and announced a change in how IMRAN’s communication will be forwarded.
“I want to be replaced by my sisters Dr. Azmi and Noreen Khan,” she said, adding that they “will convey his message so that attention is not redirected because of me.”
Aleema insisted that the move was aimed at attenuating attention to Imran. “It’s all an attempt to distract the attention of the founder.”
She said that only a few hearings are left in the Toshakhana-2 case and warned that “two or three hearings after that will be put in completely lonely inclusion”.
“We are struggling to get the founder out of prison … He is and will remain the party’s chairman. Forget he will be imprisoned for the next 10 years – Imran and we will never bend.”
Aleema told journalists that Imran had been warned that he could be arrested but that he was not worried. She said she and others worked to ensure his release and signaled a tactical change.
“In the next two or three hearings, my sisters will deliver IMRAN’s message,” she said, “so attention will not change because of me …”.
At the same time, PTI chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa chief minister Ali Amin Gandapur’s attitude and criticized the speed and implementation of political litigation. “Ali Amin Gandapur will remain chief minister as long as he has the confidence of the party,” he said, expressing hope of avoiding taking the Toshakhana case to the higher court.
In a speech near Adiala Prison, Gohar Khan said he had not yet met Imran, but expected a meeting the following day.
He highlighted court delays across the country and linked them to the party’s Supremo’s situation and said tens of thousands of cases in Pakistan were pending.
He demanded that IMRAN’s attempts be carried out with access for lawyers, media and the public like other cases, arguing that the way IMRAN’s attempt was only rushed with suspicion.
Gohar Khan repeated the party’s official attitude against terrorism and called for restraint in KP operations.
He called for De-Scaling and said he had been in contact with families affected by the recent events.
Gohar warned that public confidence in the judiciary was eroded by Imran Khan’s treatment and said there was no basis for suggesting that the prisoners’ sisters had incorrect contacts with any agency.
