Close family members of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf founder Imran Khan, along with party activists and supporters, were briefly detained and later released on Tuesday after protesting the denial of their meeting with him at Adiala Jail.
Among those detained were Imran's sister Aleema Khan, his cousin Qasim Niazi, PTI Punjab leader Alia Hamza, and Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) chief Hamid Raza and others. The protesters staged a sit-in during which some PTI activists engaged in stone-pelting.
The Adiala Jail administration and Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari rejected the PTI leaders' claims, calling them outright lies. They said that the family and lawyers were allowed to meet Imran Khan, along with his wife, Bushra Bibi, as per the scheduled plan.
Under the schedule, Imran is expected to meet with his lawyers and family every Tuesday. Tensions escalated when three of Imran's sisters, his cousin Qasim Niazi, Alia Hamza, Hamid Raza and eight women activists staged a protest against the jail officials for not allowing them to meet with the PTI founder.
Speaking on this occasion, Aleema Khan said that she didn't understand why they were not allowed to meet with her brother. "It's been three weeks; they are not letting us meet with Khan. Even today, the police have been deployed so that we cannot meet him," she said.
She said that they had come from Lahore for the meeting. "Today is the day of our meeting, today is the lawyers' day and we hope that the lawyers will meet him". After three hours of the protest they were put in a police van and driven away.
Those rounded up by police included Aleema Khan, Uzma Khan and Noreen Khan – three sisters of Imran Khan – their cousin Qasim Niazi, besides Alia Hamza, and eight female activists. The police took them to a local wedding hall and released them after 9 pm.
On the information about the protests by the sisters of the PTI founder, a number of party workers gathered near Adiala Road and started chanting slogans. National Assembly Opposition leader Omar Ayub and lawmakers including Zartaj Gul, also joined the protesters to express solidarity.
Addressing the protesters, Ayub said that the judges should decide whether they would implement their orders. He added that the PTI founder would neither ask for any deal nor sought any leniency. "According to the law, a prisoner also has rights," he said.
PTI's member of National Assembly Zartaj Gul said that the solution to the problems facing the country was not in portraying the PTI as a terrorist. "Everyone knows that Imran Khan is innocent. We are standing here peacefully. We request you to allow the family to meet and end this crisis."
The protesters threw stones at the police as they were being rounded up. During the protest a stone hit Mian Azhar, father of PTI leader Hammad Azhar. Mian Azhar was slightly injured and he was taken to a hospital. Later, the protesters were released by the police on assurances from Ayub.
Meanwhile, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan condemned "illegal and unconstitutional" detention of Imran's three sisters. He said that the meeting with the PTI founder was the right of his sisters, adding that it was also ordered by a three-member bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC).
"It is incomprehensible why the sisters are not being allowed to meet the PTI founder. What is the problem in this," Gohar asked. "Just as Bushra Bibi's family was allowed to meet, the family of Imran should also be allowed to meet him.
Meanwhile, Barrister Gohar and PTI Senator Ali Zafar, and six other party leaders visited Imran in jail. During the meeting, according to sources, the PTI founder reposed his full confidence in Alia Hamza and gave her the authority to take decisions regarding the PTI Punjab chapter.
Hamza will be authorised to suspend any official and assign responsibility, the sources said, adding that the PTI founder directed party chairman Barrister Gohar to issue a notification regarding the responsibility of Alia Hamza.
Outside the jail premises, PTI leader Mishal Yousafzai engaged in altercation with Gohar after she was not allowed to meet with Imran. She said that she was among the list of those people, who were scheduled to meet the PTI founder.
Barrister Gohar, however, replied that the list, she was referring to was fake. However, Yousafzai insisted that the list given to the prison authorities by Salman Akram Raja was not fake and added that Barrister Gohar and Barrister Ali Zafar were not on that list, yet they were allowed the meeting.
Jail authorities' stance
Later, the Adiala Jail authorities said that the PTI founder and his wife were allowed to meet their family members and lawyers, while the PTI founder had also been allowed to speak with his children, Qasim Khan and Suleman Khan, by the phone via WhatsApp.
Family members Meherunnisa, Mubashara Sheikh also met with Bushra Bibi, while Barrister Ali Zafar Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, Zaheer Abbas Advocate, Mubashar Maqsood Advocate, Razia Sultan Advocate, Ali Imran Advocate also met with Imran, they said in a statement.
"Meetings of the PTI founder with Bushra Bibi in jail are being held regularly. A false and baseless propaganda that they were not allowed the meeting was aimed at political point scoring and nothing else. The jail administration strongly denies such baseless news."
In Lahore, Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari strongly denied reports regarding the arrest of the sisters of the PTI founder. She said that Aleema Khan and her companions voluntarily boarded a police van and later disembarked on their own at Khawaja Service Station.
"Aleema Khan and the other women essentially used the Punjab Police vehicle as an "Uber service," Bokhari said, adding that the truth behind this drama had been exposed through social media and video footage. "This entire act by the Fitna Group was a failed attempt to generate sympathy."
(WITH ADDITIONAL INPUT FROM OUR LAHORE CORRESPONDENT)
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