A sit-in staged by PTI leaders and the sisters of incarcerated party founder Imran Khan was once again dispersed using water cannons late on Tuesday night.
The sit-in was staged after Imran’s sisters were again denied a meeting with the former prime minister.
Videos shared by the PTI Punjab account on the social media platform X after 1am showed water cannons spraying what appeared to be protesters.
“In the severe cold, an attack with water cannons was carried out on unarmed, peaceful children, women, and citizens,” it said.
The same video was also shared by the opposition alliance Tehreek Tahafuz Ayeen-i-Pakistan (TTAP) on X. It said that Punjab police had used water cannons against innocent and unarmed people.
It added that Imran’s sisters, senior TTAP and PTI leaders, and workers were affected by the “chemical-laced water”.
Subsequently, the alliance said that Imran’s sisters — Aleema, Noreen and Uzma — and TTAP Spokesperson Akhunzada Hussain Yousafzai, PTI MNA Shahid Khattak, PTI lawyer Khalid Yousuf and others were arrested by Punjab police. The video accompanying the post showed Aleema raising her fist in the air as she was driven away in a police van.
After 4:30am, the PTI said that Aleema was arrested, without mentioning the other two sisters, adding that police took her towards Chakri, where she was later released.
A court order issued by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on March 24 has mandated that meetings with Imran will be permitted twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. However, the PTI maintains that the order is not being honoured. The party has staged sit-ins near the prison to demand a meeting with the party founder, the last two which have been dispersed with water cannons.
Earlier on Tuesday, Aleema Khan, had praised Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi’s recent visit to Lahore.
“It should be gauged how much the Punjab government was afraid of Sohail Afridi and other supporters of Imran Khan,“ she said. “They blocked all roads, food streets and other areas, but the people of Lahore proved that they really support Imran Khan,” Aleema stated.
She added that it was unfortunate that authorities were not allowing a meeting with the PTI founder.
Replying to a question, she said that the TTAP did not request dialogue with the government, but rather it was Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif who extended the invite.
“However, as per the instructions of Imran Khan, who has directed Sohail Afridi to start preparations for a street movement, we are on the roads,” she said.
Aleema added that she and her sisters would continue demanding to arrange a meeting with their brother.
Meanwhile, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan expressed his dismay that meetings with Imran were being denied despite court orders, adding that a party having to request a meeting with its own chairman was unfortunate.
Referring to dialogue with the government, Gohar maintained that negotiations can be held, but stressed that preparations for the protest movement will continue simultaneously.
“It is the need of the hour to hold dialogue, but it is not taking place,” he said, adding that being forced to stand outside the jail every week was “unjustified”.
“A ceasefire was declared with the external enemy, but political tension continues within the country,” Gohar lamented.
PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja argued that it was a basic human right to arrange meetings with family members for prisoners. He further condemned the fact that the government had placed Imran “in solitary confinement”.
Raja said everyone was aware that the meeting would not be arranged, but they would keep going to the prison to protest and deliver their message of support for Imran.
Replying to a question, the PTI secretary general said that in the current situation, talks with the government would be meaningless as they “were not showing any seriousness”.
Imran, imprisoned since August 2023, is serving a sentence at the Adiala Jail in a £190 million corruption case and also faces pending trials under the Anti-Terrorism Act related to the protests of May 9, 2023.
The PTI has regularly raised concerns about his health and that of his wife. Imran’s son, Kasim Khan, expressed fear during a December 1 interview that authorities are concealing “something irreversible” about his father’s condition.
However, Uzma Khanum, Imran’s sister, said on December 2 that her incarcerated brother was “perfectly fine” after she was allowed to meet him, putting to rest rumours surrounding the former premier’s health.
In a short talk with the media after the meeting, she said: “Imran Khan’s health is perfectly fine. However, he was very angry and said that they are subjecting him to mental torture.”
She added that Imran was confined to his cell throughout the day and was allowed only a short time outside. Uzma further said that he was not in communication with anyone, and the meeting between them lasted around 30 minutes.
Earlier this month, a United Nations special rapporteur warned that Imran is being held in conditions that could amount to inhuman or degrading treatment and called on Pakistani authorities to comply with international norms and standards.
Expressing grave concern over the report, the party said it exposed the “degrading treatment” of party founder and former prime minister Imran Khan during his incarceration at Adiala Jail and amounted to a “blatant violation of international law and fundamental human rights.”
Last week, Aleema and PTI workers ended their sit-in at Rawalpindi’s Factory Naka, hours after they were again barred from moving towards Adiala jail in a bid to meet the incarcerated ex-premier.
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