- CM Afridi cites persistent failure to implement court orders.
- No conceivable basis for mistreating the immediate family members.
- Urgently calls for accountability for those responsible for mishandling visitors.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi has urged his Punjab counterpart Maryam Nawaz to hold them accountable for mistreating Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan’s sisters and ensure implementation of court orders for meetings with the former prime minister.
In a letter to CM Maryam, Afridi highlighted that “clear and binding” legal directions governed Imran’s visitation rights, allowing close family members and nominated persons to meet him on certain days.
“Despite the unequivocal nature of these instructions, repeated reports indicate persistent non-implementation by authorities responsible for compliance,” complained the KP CEO.
The letter also refers to the brief detention and alleged ill-treatment of Khan’s sisters – Aleema Khan, Noreen Khan Niazi and Uzma Khanum – by the authorities after they hey refused to end their sit-in near the Central Jail Rawalpindi on Adiala road after not being allowed to meet the PTI founder.
The sisters of the jailed PTI founder, along with dozens of party workers, staged a sit-in on Adiala Road after being denied permission to meet him and his wife, Bushra Bibi.
Meanwhile, police asked Khan’s sister to clear the road, but negotiations failed and Aleema refused to call off the sit-in. The police then sprayed water on the road and detained around 8 to 10 PTI activists, including Khan’s sisters.
Aleema has been visiting her jailed brother in Adiala and has acted as a key conduit to convey Imran’s messages to PTI workers through the media.
Elaborating on the incident termed “disturbing” by CM Afridi, he said these persons were “apolitical private citizens” who are only seeking to meet their brother in accordance with the court’s directives.
“[….] there is no imaginable legal or administrative basis for obstructing or mistreating immediate family members whose presence is neither political nor disruptive. Their obstruction, physical restraint or temporary detention is therefore completely unacceptable,” the letter reads.
The KP provincial chief, while lamenting that “such actions create a clear impression that judicial directives are being disregarded” and that the situation was “unsustainable and incompatible with basic expectations of due process, the rule of law”, urged CM Maryam to ensure that a safe and dignified area for authorized visitors is ensured.
He also called on the Punjab government to identify and hold accountable those responsible for obstructing, insulting or physically abusing peaceful visitors, including Imran’s family members, issuing clear and enforceable directives to jail and police authorities and establishing a transparent mechanism to ensure that future meetings are facilitated in an orderly, respectful and lawful manner.
Moreover, the KP CM noted that any deviation from court-mandated procedures or disrespectful treatment of his immediate family “becomes a matter of direct institutional concern”, saying that as he could not remain indifferent when the dignity of a former head of government and his legal rights were compromised.
“I am therefore compelled to demand that these matters be dealt with promptly, decisively and in full accordance with judicial directions.
“I would appreciate yours [CM Maryam] Pay attention to the above so that the dignity of all concerned is upheld and the rule of law remains intact,” concluded CM Afridi.
