Imran's sisters, others booked on terror charges
Sisters of PTI founder Imran Khan sit outside Adiala Jail after a meeting was denied on Tuesday. Photo: X/PTI
After dispersing a sit-in protest by the PTI outside Adiala Jail in the wee hours of Wednesday, authorities in Rawalpindi booked hundreds of people, including former prime minister Imran Khan's septuagenarian sisters, under the country's anti-terrorism law.
Imran's sisters — Aleema Khan, Noreen Khan and Dr Uzma Khan — along with senior party leaders came to Adiala Jail on Tuesday for a scheduled family meeting with the jailed PTI founder.
Jail authorities, however, informed Aleema Khan and senior PTI leadership at around 4pm that the meeting could not be allowed. Imran's family members and PTI leaders staged a sit-in outside the jail in protest against what they called an illegal denial of their right to meet the PTI founder.
According to eyewitnesses, riot police at around 3 am on Wednesday started a crackdown and used high pressure water cannons to disperse the sit-in near the Factory Checkpoint outside the jail amid clashes with PTI supporters.
Senator Allama Raja Nasir Abbas and Aleema Khan were also caught in the water cannon spray. Police also started rounding up the protesters who had taken shelter in nearby streets or pelting stones on officials and detained 14 of them.
Police soon cleared the Adiala Road, lifted all barricades and containers, and restored traffic.
The police later registered a first information report (FIR) against hundreds of people under various sections of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), 1997. According to the FIR, around 300 to 400 PTI supporters had gathered outside the jail on the call of Aliya Hamza.
"They continuously raised slogans against the Government of Pakistan and state institutions, blocked the road, and caused severe inconvenience and distress to the general public.
"Police officers repeatedly, calmly, and with courtesy requested them to disperse, explaining that their actions were endangering patients, commuters, and residents of the area."
It claimed that despite warnings, several individuals in the crowd abused police officers, attempted to grab and assault them, tore uniforms, and obstructed officials in the performance of their lawful duties.
They also incited others to take the law into their own hands. Some unidentified persons also attacked the Adiala police check-post mobile vehicle with stones, sticks, and sharp objects, causing damage to the vehicle.
"The unlawful mob also vandalized property, attempted to scale walls, and sprayed political slogans. Some individuals prepared petrol bombs and threw them toward the police with intent to cause harm, resulting in fire on the road, spreading fear and panic in the area."
According to the FIR, the police managed to arrest 14 of the alleged rioters while other people managed to flee amid chaos in the wake of the crackdown.
The police on Wednesday morning presented these PTI supporters in an anti-terrorism court (ATC) presided over by Judge Syed Amjad Ali Shah. The court, accepting the police request, remanded the accused in custody for three days.
Amnesty International later condemned the use of water cannons on the PTI protest. In a post on X, it said the repeated use of high-pressure water cannons by authorities against peaceful protesters outside Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi is a flagrant violation of their right to peaceful assembly.
"Pakistan authorities must respect people's right to peacefully protest and end the disproportionate and punitive use of force," it said. Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Muhammad Sohail Afridi also expressed his concerns over the crackdown on X.
Protest to repeat next week
Following the dispersal, Aleema Khan stated that protesters would return on Tuesday, December 23, if their demands, particularly regarding a requested meeting, were not met.
Aleema Khan said the PTI founder's demands were limited to constitutional principles. "The founder's demand is the restoration of the Constitution, democracy and the rule of law," she said.
Questioning the repeated denial of meetings, she asked why the PTI founder's family was not being allowed to meet him in accordance with the law. "The government should tell us why the family of the PTI founder is not allowed to meet him," she said.