Aleema launches broadside against PTI leadership

Asks party leaders to back Imran's narrative or step aside

ISLAMABAD:

Aleema Khan, sister of the incarcerated Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder, strongly criticised the party leadership, warning that anyone who could not carry Imran Khan's narrative should step aside.

Speaking outside the Islamabad High Court (IHC), Aleema Khan issued a stern warning to the party leadership, asking them not to issue any statement regarding the founder's health without the family's permission.

Imran Khan has developed an eye condition while in Adiala Jail. Jail authorities have taken him twice to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) for treatment. However, the PTI insists that treatment must be carried out in the presence of his family and personal physicians.

"Party leadership appears relaxed as if the treatment of Imran Khan has been completed," Aleema Khan told reporters. "Those who cannot bear the burden of Imran Khan's narrative should step aside," she warned.

She alleged that government doctors who treated Imran Khan were under pressure. She also criticised Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi's remarks regarding Imran's treatment, saying that PTI was unable to counter Naqvi's statements.

"Information reaching the family through Naqvi should have been conveyed via PTI chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan," she said. She added that communication within the party should not be conducted only through internal channels. She vowed to present messages publicly.

Referring to the legal proceedings involving the PTI founder, she questioned why party lawyers were not ensuring the court hearings of those cases. She said family members were willing to sit in court for long hours and criticised delays in listing cases.

Party sources indicated growing differences within PTI over future protest strategies. Divisions are reportedly emerging between Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa leadership over planned agitation movements for the release of Imran Khan.

PTI Punjab leaders are said to have expressed reservations about statements by K-P leadership regarding the formation of a so-called "release force". Sources claimed that replacing dialogue with force-based plans could increase difficulties for workers in Punjab.

Senior party figures, reportedly operating from hiding, warned that announcing such a force could undermine the sacrifices of imprisoned and underground leaders. Some sources also questioned how the party would guarantee that protest campaigns remain free from violence.