Sisters of PTI founder Imran Khan sit outside Adiala jail after a meeting was rejected on Tuesday. Photo: X/PTI
RAWALPINDI:
After dispersing a PTI sit-in protest outside the Adiala jail in the wee hours of Wednesday, authorities in Rawalpindi booked hundreds of people, including former prime minister Imran Khan’s seven-year-old sisters, under the country’s anti-terror law.
Imran’s sisters – Aleema Khan, Noreen Khan and Dr. Uzma Khan – along with senior party leaders came to Adiala Jail on Tuesday for a scheduled family meeting with the jailed PTI founder.
However, the jail authorities informed Aleema Khan and senior PTI leadership around 16.00 that the meeting could not be allowed. Imran’s family members and PTI leaders staged a sit-in outside the jail in protest against what they called an illegal denial of their right to meet the PTI founder.
According to eyewitnesses, the riot police started around 3 am on Wednesday a crackdown and used high-pressure water cannons to disperse the sit-in near the Factory Checkpoint outside the jail amid clashes with PTI supporters.
Senator Allama Raja Nasir Abbas and Aleema Khan were also caught in the water cannon spray. Police also began rounding up the protesters who had sought shelter in nearby streets or thrown stones at officials and detained 14 of them.
Police soon cleared Adiala Road, lifted all barricades and containers and restored traffic.
Police later registered a First Information Report (FIR) against hundreds of people under various sections of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), 1997. According to the FIR, around 300 to 400 PTI supporters gathered outside the jail following the call of Aliya Hamza.
“They constantly raised slogans against the government of Pakistan and state institutions, blocked the road and caused serious inconvenience and distress to the public.
“Police officers repeatedly, calmly and politely asked them to disperse, explaining that their actions were a danger to patients, commuters and residents in the area.”
It claimed that despite warnings, several people in the crowd abused police officers, tried to grab and assault them, tore uniforms and prevented officials from carrying out their lawful duties.
They also encouraged others to take the law into their own hands. Some unidentified persons also attacked the Adiala police mobile vehicle with stones, sticks and sharp objects, causing damage to the vehicle.
“The illegal mob also vandalized property, tried to scale walls and sprayed political slogans. Some persons prepared petrol bombs and threw them at the police with the intention of causing harm, resulting in fire on the road spreading fear and panic in the area.”
According to the FIR, the police managed to arrest 14 of the alleged rioters, while other people managed to escape amid chaos in the wake of the attack.
On Wednesday morning, the police presented these PTI supporters in an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) presided over by Justice Syed Amjad Ali Shah. The court granted the police’s request and remanded the defendant in custody for three days.
Amnesty International later condemned the use of water cannons at the PTI protest. In a post on X, it said the authorities’ repeated use of water cannons against peaceful protesters outside the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi is a clear violation of their right to peaceful assembly.
“The Pakistani authorities must respect people’s right to peaceful protest and stop the disproportionate and punitive use of force,” it said. Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Muhammad Sohail Afridi also expressed his concerns over the crackdown on X.
Protest to repeat next week
After the dispersal, Aleema Khan stated that protesters would return on Tuesday, December 23, if their demands, particularly regarding a requested meeting, were not met.
Aleema Khan said the PTI founder’s demands were limited to constitutional principles. “The founder’s demand is the restoration of the constitution, democracy and the rule of law,” she said.
She questioned the repeated denial of meetings and asked why the PTI founder’s family was not allowed to meet him in accordance with the law. “The government should tell us why the family of the PTI founder is not allowed to meet him,” she said.
