RAWALPINDI: Aleema Khan, sister of former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan, declared on Thursday that their family and the party would “continue to stand firm until the PTI founder is released”.
Speaking to the media outside the Adiala jail, she criticised the ongoing legal proceedings against Imran Khan and highlighted the challenges faced by his family and legal team.
Aleema asserted that the Toshakhana case against Imran was “illegal”. She expressed concern over the lack of transparency, stating, “No one has been allowed to go inside yet. We don’t know what’s happening inside.”
She also revealed that Imran informed his lawyers he was being held in a cell for 22 hours a day and has been deprived of his newspaper, books and television. “He asked the lawyer to inform the public that he is being treated in an inhumane manner,” she added, questioning the justification for such treatment.
Addressing the recent threats, Aleema stated that Imran Khan’s two sons, Kasim and Sulaiman, are not afraid of arrest upon coming to Pakistan.
“Our children are not afraid. They say even if they are arrested, it doesn’t matter to them,” she affirmed, adding that Imran Khan believes it is his sons’ right to advocate for their father. She stressed that a meeting between the sons and their father is a constitutional right and that a petition seeking high court permission may be filed.
The government cannot afford any global embarrassment, she remarked, suggesting, the rulers are making Pakistan an “international spectacle”.
Senator Barrister Ali Zafar, also present, echoed Aleema Khan’s concerns about the legal process. He emphasized that a trial cannot proceed without the presence of family and lawyers. “Cross-examination is going on and witnesses are being presented inside. This trial is an illegal and undemocratic process,” Barrister Zafar stated.
Aleema concluded by conveying Imran’s message to PTI leaders Ali Amin Gandapur, Barrister Gohar and Salman Akram Raja: to “launch a vigorous movement”.
She reiterated the family’s resolve, stating, “We will remain steadfast until the founder is freed.”
Meanwhile, the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC), Islamabad, acquitted 11 PTI workers arrested in a case related to the Sangjani Jalsa.
During Thursday’s hearing, the 11 PTI workers were presented before Judge Abul Hasnat Zulqarnain after completing their four-day physical remand. PTI lawyers Sardar Masroof Khan and Fatehullah Burki argued that no progress had been made in the investigation despite the 10-day remand period and that the charges were baseless.
Expressing dissatisfaction with the police investigation, Judge Zulqarnain remarked, “What investigation has the police conducted so far? I don’t understand what the police are doing. What is the IG Islamabad doing?”
Subsequently, the court discharged all the accused in the case. However, the PTI workers had already been sentenced to six months in prison by the Code of Conduct Courts under the PAPO Act in a separate proceeding.
Meanwhile, PTI leader and former provincial minister Raja Basharat was briefly detained by Rawalpindi police before being subsequently released. The incident occurred shortly after his appearance at the election tribunal for the NA-55 case. Meanwhile, PTI patron-in-chief and ex-premier Imran Khan has said that he does not see any meaningful momentum building for the movement planned for August 5.
In a message from Adiala jail, which has been posted on his X account, he wrote, “Let me make this absolutely clear: every member of the party must immediately set aside all internal differences and focus solely on the movement planned for August 5th. I do not see any meaningful momentum building behind this initiative at present”.
He wrote that he was waging a battle against a 78-year-old system, and his greatest success is that despite unprecedented oppression, the public stands firmly with him. “On February 8 (2024), the people expressed their trust in Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf by voting for you even in the absence of an electoral symbol,” he said.
He cautioned that it will be nothing short of disgraceful and condemnable if PTI leaders waste time on internal conflicts at this critical juncture. Anyone found engaging in factionalism within the party will be expelled. “I am fighting for the future of our generations, and every sacrifice I make is for that cause. To create rifts within the party at this time would be a direct betrayal of my mission and vision. Never in the history of Pakistan has any political leader been subjected to the treatment that I am currently enduring. Nawaz Sharif committed corruption worth billions and was nevertheless granted every possible comfort in prison,” he noted.
The level of oppression and authoritarianism is such that even the water I have for ablution is filthy and contaminated with dirt, unfit for any human being, he said.
“Books sent to me by my family have been withheld for months. Access to television and newspapers has also been suspended. I have spent countless hours re-reading the same old books, but now even those are no longer available. All my basic human rights have been violated. Even the minimum facilities accorded to ordinary prisoners under the law and the jail manual are denied to me,” he claimed.
Despite repeated requests, Imran said he has not been allowed to speak to his children. Political meetings have also been restricted; he is only permitted to meet certain ‘choice individuals’, while all other interactions are barred.
