Aleema denied meeting with Imran, two sisters allowed

RAWALPINDI: Two sisters of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan, along with his cousin Qasim Khan, were allowed to enter the Adiala jail on Tuesday, however, the third sister, Aleema Khan, was not granted access to meet him, prison sources said on Tuesday.

Tuesday is a designated day for Imran Khan’s family and legal team to meet him. His sisters and legal team arrived at Adiala jail but were stopped by police at the Gorakhpur checkpoint.

Speaking to the media, Aleema Khan questioned police actions, saying, “They should first explain why they are stopping us. We’re not going back. We’ll stay right here. It has been a month since we last met our brother, Imran Khan. Salman Akram Raja, Salman Safdar, and Zaheer Abbas are handling our cases -- if lawyers aren’t even allowed to meet, then who will discuss the cases?”

Later, Uzma Khanum and Noreen Khan were granted permission to meet their brother and proceeded inside Adiala jail.

Speaking to the media, Imran Khan’s lawyer Faisal Malik said that from the list submitted by Salman Akram Raja, only Naeem Panjotha and he reached the Adiala jail via different routes, but they were not allowed to go inside. Faisal Malik added that Salman Akram Raja was also stopped at a checkpoint. “We came here to consult with Imran Khan regarding the cases, but we are being forcibly denied entry.”

Meanwhile, Sunni Ittehad Council Chairman Sahibzada Hamid Raza has filed a contempt of court petition in the Islamabad High Court for not being allowed to meet Imran Khan despite a court order. Petitions filed by Aleema Khan, Shibli Faraz, and Omar Ayub are still pending for hearing.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) General Secretary Salman Akram Raja on Tuesday clarified that neither an American delegation met party founder chairman Imran Khan nor any backdoor negotiations were under way. While denying any backdoor parleys with anyone, he maintained that he did not know if anyone was talking on an individual level.

Speaking to the media outside Adiala jail, he said that two people have talked about running the party like a school, which is not worth considering and that talking about Sher Afzal is “unimportant”. He emphasised that the courts should implement their decisions.

“We are part of the judicial process and are filing more applications. Until Aleema Khan, Niazullah Niazi and I meet Imran Khan, all the things that happen until then are just speculations,” he contended. The PTI Secretary General said that Advocate Faisal Malik has been given detailed instructions by Imran Khan regarding important legal and political matters.

Separately, PTI lawyer Faisal Chaudhry has said that the founder has asked the party leadership to write a letter to the Chief Justice on what is happening after the passage of 26th Amendment.

Faisal Chaudhry said that the PTI founder was informed that party leaders and lawyers have also been stopped, according to the list, only two people could reach the jail, the rest were stopped.

Meanwhile, it was learnt that the party founder said that he was thankful for getting rid of Sher Afzal Marwat while expressing his anger over Marwat’s statement on the lawyers’ fees and statements regarding Aleema Khan. The PTI founder sent a message to the party leadership to end all differences. While he sent a strong message to Barrister Gohar for his “apologetic” attitude instead of being aggressive towards the government. Imran Khan also expressed reservations over the Mines and Minerals Bill and called Ali Amin Gandapur for a meeting to discuss the bill.