Aleema takes on Gohar, Salman over deaths’ claims

RAWALPINDI: PTI founder Imran Khan’s sister Aleema Khan had a heated exchange with party chairman Barrister Gohar Khan and Barrister Salman Akram Raja in the Adiala Jail courtroom over the claims about deaths during the party’s protest in the capital.

During the hearing of the Toshakhana 2 case, Aleema Khan took on Gohar and Salman over the number of deaths in the D Chowk protest. She questioned Gohar’s report of 12 casualties, but he stood by the figure, citing the need for verification to add further details.

She went on to ask Gohar if he knew how many PTI protesters had gone missing. Barrister Gohar said that they had formed teams which were working on it. At this point, Salman Akram Raja supported Gohar, saying that the party was busy gathering all the details and assured her not to let the matter drop. Gohar insisted he had confirmation of only 12 casualties and questioned how anyone could claim that hundreds were martyred without concrete evidence. Aleema asked him if he had visited the houses of the deceased and the wounded. Gohar said that Salman should be asked about it as he visited the house of a worker who fell from the container. Salman intervened and said how the activists appearing in the courts could be called missing.

Meanwhile, Aleema Khan said her brother wanted to show his card, but they asked him to wait and let them know about it first.

“Imran Khan said he is going to reveal his card soon, and we asked him to let us know about it first,” she said while talking to the media outside the Adiala jail in Rawalpindi.

“We told him not to do so; we already know what card he wants to play,” she added.

According to her, Imran Khan made a brief comment and left, saying it was not meant for public disclosure.

A few days back, after meeting her brother in jail, Aleema had revealed that her brother had told her that he still had the last card. She explained that the PTI founder boycotted the hearing of £190 million case because there was no media around. “Why I have been brought here when the media is not present,” she quoted her brother as saying.

Aleema said they felt bad when the party founder was brought for the anti-terrorism court hearing. The courts have been held for the past 12 months, she pointed out and added that today there was a spectacle as the £190 million scandal case was heard in a small room.

Aleema said that 70-80 people met the PTI founder today. “We were not allowed to go to the anti-terrorism court. Maybe they do not want the family to meet party founder,” she noted.

Aleema Khan expressed her satisfaction that indictments in the May 9 cases had begun. She stressed the importance of identifying those in custody and moving forward with charges against everyone. She accused the government of trying to erase evidence of the incidents.

She also expressed her concerns about missing persons in Pakistan, claiming to have knowledge about the matter. She called for lawyers to visit the injured first, alleging that victims were being threatened at their homes to refrain from testifying.

Separately, Awami Muslim League President and former minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed and PTI founder Imran Khan met during the hearing of the May 9 GHQ attack case in Adiala jail. Speaking to the media after the hearing, Sheikh Rashid said he met Imran Khan after a long time, the PTI founder hugged and kissed him. The former minister said he was very happy to meet the PTI founder and had a long chat with him in the courtroom afterwards.

On the other hand, Imran Khan took to X (formerly Twitter) and warned the government of launching a “civil disobedience” movement if his demands, including the judicial probe into the crackdown on party supporters, are not met.

He announced the constitution of a five-member negotiation committee comprising Omar Ayub Khan, Ali Amin Gandapur, Sahibzada Hamid Raza, Salman Akram Raja and Asad Qaiser.

The committee, he said, would negotiate with the federal government on two points — the release of “political prisoners” facing trial and the constitution of a judicial commission to probe the events of May 9, 2023 and a late-night crackdown on PTI protesters on November 26.

“If these two demands are not accepted, a civil disobedience movement will be launched from December 14,” the jailed premier said, adding that the government would be responsible for the results of this movement.

Imran also announced a “grand gathering” in Peshawar on December 13 to “pay homage to the martyrs” that, according to him, were killed during the PTI’s Islamabad protest.

He claimed that hunderds of PTI workers were “still missing,” urging the Supreme Court to take notice of the incidents and “play its constitutional role.”

“We approached the Supreme Court, Lahore and Islamabad high courts over serious violations of human rights, but no action was taken,” he added.