Police officers detain PTI supporters during a protest in Karachi. Photo: Jalal Qureshi/ Express
ISLAMABAD/RAWALPINDI:
The Senate was again protesting on Friday as the embattled Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) clamored for a meeting with its jailed founding president Imran Khan, raising alarm bells about his health as the “isolated” leader remains out of touch with the party.
The party leaders interrupted the process with loud protests and shouting: “Arrange a meeting with the founding president.”
The uproar marked another day of unrest within Parliament, with PTI senators alleging that authorities were deliberately preventing access to their leader and withholding information about his condition.
Meanwhile, earlier in the day, amid simmering tensions outside Adiala Jail, weary party leaders, forced time and again to resort to sit-ins and protests that repeatedly end in repression and arrests, made unsuccessful attempts before the chief justice of the Islamabad High Court (IHC).
The party lamented that meeting its jailed leader had become an ordeal, with even its lawyers, family members and associates denied access to the “isolated” leader for a “two-minute” “apolitical” meeting on health.
The issue later dominated the session held in Parliament, chaired by Senate President Yousuf Raza Gilani, and left the upper house struggling to conduct its business.
During the session, Senator Ali Zafar warned that the PTI would not allow the chamber to function “until the federal minister answers about the founding president.”
Gilani informed the house that he had already discussed the matter with the Speaker of the National Assembly and secured an appointment for a meeting. “We will meet and resolve this matter,” Gilani said.
The protest intensified when PTI senators banged their desks to express their opposition to the alleged denial of meetings and “a blockage of credible information” about their leader’s well-being. Leaders cited social media reports alleging deteriorating health, which they said was causing widespread concern among party ranks and supporters.
Rejecting the claims, Federal Parliamentary Affairs Minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry dismissed the circulating reports as “false and propaganda spread by the Indian media and social media” and assured the house that Imran was “absolutely fine”, adding that a coordinated smear campaign was being carried out to fuel the 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 the IHC
Earlier, the embattled PTI’s campaign to gain access to its jailed founder landed in court once 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 against the backdrop of escalating tensions outside Adiala Jail, where KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi and a group of PTI legislators had staged a late-night 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 gatherings has become a systematic policy of political punishment, despite clear judicial instructions.
The petition names Adiala Jail Superintendent Abdul Ghafoor Anjum, Saddar Beroni Station House Officer Raja Aizaz Azeem, Federal Home Secretary Captain (retd) Muhammad Khurram Agha and Punjab Home Department Secretary Noorul Amin as respondents.
According to the petition, Aleema has “remained deeply concerned about her brother’s well-being, legal rights and humane treatment during his incarceration.”
The petition hinges on an Islamabad High Court (IHC) order on March 24 that restored Imran Khan’s twice-weekly meeting schedule.
Aleema seeks contempt of court proceedings “for willful non-compliance with the orders passed by this honorable court, particularly with respect to the authorities’ failure to authorize” meetings scheduled in accordance with the directive.
The statement alleges that “due to persistent non-cooperation” from the prison administration and “constant political victimization”, Imran Khan and his associates were forced to file multiple court petitions before the IHC to enforce basic visitation rights.
Despite “clear and unequivocal instructions” from the court, jail officials have “repeatedly denied access to lawyers, family members and associates” of the imprisoned PTI founder.
The petition recalls that the authorities themselves devised Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) on March 28, designating Tuesdays and Thursdays for meetings with family, lawyers, friends and party members.
The plea claims that even after the superintendent of Adiala jail submitted an undertaking to the IHC on November 8, committing to abide by the agreement, the respondents continued to deny access.
Things escalated further on November 11, when PTI leaders who came to the prison to meet Imran were allegedly detained. According to the allegation, the commissioner “made them wait for several hours and then illegally detained them in police custody,” in conduct that “ridiculed the authority” of the IHC.
The petition maintains that the defendants are “willfully failing” to comply with court orders and insists that their actions constitute “a grave contempt of this honorable court, for which they may be prosecuted in criminal proceedings.” Requests the initiation of charges for contempt, sanction in accordance with the law and the execution of the ruling of March 24.
Attempts to meet with IHC CJ rejected
Earlier in the day, Aleema Khan and CM Afridi went to the IHC to seek a hearing with the court’s chief judge.
Speaking to the media outside the court, Afridi said they had been informed that the Chief Justice “did not want to meet them”.
Afridi criticized “a deliberate attempt to isolate Imran Khan”, stating that no one had been allowed to see him or his wife, Bushra Bibi, since October 27.
“Neither his sisters are allowed to join him, nor his [party’s] leaders, nor 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 way held by the hair, pushed down and disrespected”, despite their apolitical roles and their intention simply to “see their brother”.
He said he and six others had pleaded with prison authorities for a brief, non-political meeting, “just two or three minutes”, solely to inquire about Imran Khan’s well-being. “But they still haven’t allowed us to meet,” he lamented.
Afridi accused the authorities of discriminatory behavior towards the PTI-led KP government, comparing it to privileges granted in other provinces, such as the use of Pakistan Air Force planes for prime ministers.
“Such actions are creating division. Resentment and distances are being caused to grow,” he warned.
He alleged that an orchestrated strategy was being deployed “to put Pakistan’s strongest political party against the wall” by attacking its leader, his family and the KP administration. If the situation deteriorates further, Afridi warned, “neither side will be able to control it.”
Afridi announced that the PTI would not allow the National Assembly and Senate sessions scheduled for Friday to take place, saying that legislatures “are of no use if they cannot deliver justice to their representatives.”
He vowed that “things will not be business as usual after this” until Imran Khan’s visitation rights are restored.
The KP chief minister called on “all parliamentarians, from all over Pakistan” to hold a peaceful protest in front of 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 resort to protest.”
