Police officers detain PTI supporters during a protest in Karachi. Photo: Jalal Qureshi/Express
ISLAMABAD/RAWALPINDI:
The Senate again fell into protest on Friday as the embattled Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) vociferously demanded a meeting with its jailed founder, Imran Khan, raising the alarm over his health as the “isolated” leader remains out of touch with the party.
The party leaders interrupted the proceedings with loud protests and shouted, “arrange a meeting with the founding chairman”.
The riot marked another day of agitation in Parliament, with PTI senators claiming authorities were deliberately preventing access to their leader and withholding information about his condition.
Meanwhile, earlier in the day, amid simmering tensions outside the Adiala Jail, the weary party leadership was time and again forced to fall back on sit-ins and protests that repeatedly end in crackdowns and detentions, failed attempts to Islamabad High Court (IHC) chief justice.
The party lamented that the meeting with its jailed leader had become an ordeal, with even legal counsel, family members and staff refusing access to the “reclusive” leader for a “two-minute, non-political” meeting on health.
Later, the issue dominated the session in the Parliament House, led by Senate President Yousuf Raza Gilani, leaving the Upper House struggling to conduct business.
During the session, Senator Ali Zafar warned that the PTI would not allow the house to function “until the federal minister answers regarding the founding chairman”.
Gilani informed the House that he had already discussed the matter with the Speaker of the National Assembly and secured a time for a meeting. “We will meet and resolve this matter,” assured Gilani.
The protest intensified as PTI senators pounded their desks to register opposition to the alleged denial of meetings and “a blackout of credible information” about their leader’s well-being. The leaders cited reports on social media alleging deteriorating health, which they said caused widespread concern among party ranks and supporters.
Federal Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Tariq Fazal Chaudhry dismissed the allegations and dismissed the circulating reports as “false and propaganda spread by Indian media and social media” and assured the House that Imran was “absolutely fine”, adding that a coordinated smear campaign was underway to create unrest.
Chaudhry added that the government was willing to raise the matter with the interior minister to address concerns related to visiting protocols.
Aleema moves IHC
Earlier, the beleaguered PTI’s campaign for access to its jailed founder landed in court again when Aleema Khan filed a contempt of court petition against the Adiala jail authorities for allegedly defying a binding IHC order allowing meetings with Imran Khan.
The plea came amid intensified tension outside the Adiala jail, where KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi and a group of PTI lawmakers had staged an overnight sit-in after Afridi was denied access to Imran for the eighth consecutive time on Thursday.
The PTI leadership claims that the refusal to allow meetings has turned into a systematic policy of political punishment despite clear legal directions.
The petition names Adiala Jail Superintendent Abdul Ghafoor Anjum, Saddar Beroni Station House Officer Raja Aizaz Azeem, Federal Home Minister Capt (retd) Muhammad Khurram Agha and Punjab Home Minister Noorul Amin as respondents.
According to the petition, Aleema “remains deeply concerned about her brother’s well-being, legal rights and humane treatment during his ongoing incarceration”.
The petition hinges on an Islamabad High Court (IHC) order on March 24 that restored Imran Khan’s twice-weekly meeting schedule.
Aleema is seeking contempt of court proceedings “due to the willful non-implementation of the orders passed by this Honorable Court, particularly with regard to the authorities’ failure to permit” scheduled meetings in accordance with the directive.
The plea alleges that “due to the continued non-cooperation” of the prison administration and “ongoing political victimisation”, Imran Khan and his associates were forced to file multiple writs before the IHC to enforce basic visitation rights.
Despite “clear and unequivocal directions” from the court, jail officials have “repeatedly denied access to the jailed PTI founder’s legal advisers, family members and associates”.
The petition recalls that the authorities themselves devised standard operating procedures (SOPs) on March 28 that designated Tuesdays and Thursdays for meetings with family, lawyers, friends and party members.
The plea states that even after the Warden of Adiala Jail gave an undertaking to the IHC on November 8 promising to abide by the scheme, the respondents continued to deny entry.
Matters further escalated on November 11 when PTI leaders who arrived at the jail to meet Imran were allegedly detained. According to the plea, the superintendent made them wait for several hours and then illegally detained them in police custody, in a conduct that “mocked the authority” of the IHC.
The petition alleges that the defendants are “intentionally defying” court orders and insisting that their actions constitute “serious contempt of this honorable court for which they risk being tried in a criminal trial.” It requests the initiation of contempt charges, punishment at law and enforcement of the judgment on March 24.
Attempt to meet IHC CJ rejected
Earlier in the day, Aleema Khan and CM Afridi went to the IHC to seek an audience with the court’s chief justice.
Speaking to the media outside the court, Afridi claimed that they were informed that the chief justice “did not want to meet them”.
Afridi criticized “a deliberate attempt to isolate Imran Khan” and said no one had been allowed to see him or his wife, Bushra Bibi, since October 27.
“Neither his sisters are allowed to meet him, nor his [party’s] leadership, neither lawyers nor doctors,” he said.
The KP chief minister also recalled a November 19 sit-in by Imran Khan’s sisters, alleging that the police “dragged [them] along the road by their hair, pressed down and disrespected,” despite their non-political roles and intentions simply “to see their brother.”
He said he and six others had pleaded with prison authorities for a short, non-political meeting, “just two or three minutes”, solely to inquire about Imran Khan’s well-being. “But we still weren’t allowed to meet,” he lamented.
Afridi accused the authorities of discriminatory behavior towards the PTI-led KP government, contrasting it with privileges extended in other provinces, such as the use of Pakistan Air Force aircraft for chief ministers.
“By such actions you create division. You cause anger and distance to grow,” he warned.
He alleged that an orchestrated strategy was deployed “to wall Pakistan’s strongest political party” by targeting its leader, his family and the KP administration. If the situation worsened further, Afridi warned, “neither side would be able to bring it under control”.
Announcing that the PTI would not allow the National Assembly and Senate sessions scheduled for Friday to go ahead, Afridi said the legislatures were “of no use if they could not deliver justice to their representatives”.
He promised that “business as usual will not continue after this” until Imran Khan’s visiting rights are restored.
The KP chief minister called on “all parliamentarians from across Pakistan” to hold a peaceful protest outside the IHC on Tuesday before marching towards Adiala Jail.
“The constitution and the law give us the right to protest,” he said, adding that if the right to meet Imran Khan was granted, “the PTI would not turn to protest”.
