Screenshot of PTI founder Imran Khan’s sisters Aleema Khan and Naureen Khan during a media talk outside Adiala Jail on Monday.
RAWALPINDI:
The sisters of jailed PTI founder Imran Khan, along with senior party leaders, staged a three-hour sit-in on Adiala Road on Tuesday after they were 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 Opposition leader Moin Khan, Senator Faisal Javed and other senior PTI figures, arrived at Adiala Jail for the scheduled meeting.
However, the police stopped them at two security checkpoints, preventing access to the prison.
After being denied entry, Aleema Khan and other family members sat in protest on Adiala Road with PTI workers, blocking traffic for several hours. Strong police contingents were deployed in the area to maintain order.
Addressing the media, Aleema Khan said, “Pakistan needs its founder to remain united. They have imprisoned the people’s representative and buried the Constitution of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the same 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 officers at the Dahgal checkpoint after he was denied passage. “Who gave you the order to stop us? Is this a joke?” he yelled at the officers.
“You men in uniform are behaving like thugs. Even the Islamabad High Court should hear this; no court has ever allowed its orders to be insulted in this manner. The high court itself is complicit in this contempt.”
Raja complained that PTI had filed “dozens of petitions” seeking access but did not receive “clear instructions” from the court. “For seven months, this mockery has continued,” he added.
After three hours of chanting and negotiating with the police, Aleema Khan announced the end of the protest, after which traffic was restored on Adiala Road.
