ISLAMABAD(National Times)- While Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Sohail Afridi has been facing a “tough time” in Lahore, Imran Khan’s sister Aleema Khan on Tuesday suggested that protocol should not be accorded to former prime minister Nawaz Sharif during his visits to KP.
She was speaking to media persons outside Adiala jail after, once again, she was not allowed to meet her brother in violation of the Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) orders.
Advocate Awais Younas Chaudhry, who submits lists of leaders and lawyers to the jail administration seeking permission to meet Imran Khan, told Dawn that his sisters and six lawyers reached outside Adiala jail but were not allowed to meet the PTI founder.
“The sisters waited there even after 6:30pm, but they were not informed about the approval of the meeting. The IHC has ordered that meetings of the family and lawyers with Imran Khan be arranged on Tuesdays and meetings of party leaders on Thursdays, but the court orders are being violated,” he said.
Ms Khan, while talking to media persons, claimed that the ruling elite was scared and was preparing to flee the country.
When asked about the IHC’s orders that roads should not be blocked during protests, she said: “You will see that the government will itself close the roads. After that, IHC Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar should call the government and ask it to open the roads,” she suggested.
Replying to a question, Ms Khan said she would suggest that Justice Sarfraz Dogar summon her if she was committing contempt of court.
Another sister of Imran Khan, Dr Uzma Khan, said the judges had insulted the whole country, but the media was asking whether the sisters had disgraced the judiciary.
Replying to a question, Aleema Khan said the constitutional court had been established unconstitutionally.
“We were not aware of their names, but due to social media, now we know them very well. Justice Baqar Najafi sent Nawaz Sharif abroad on a Rs50 stamp paper and forgot to ask why he was not returning. Now he has been worrying that Imran Khan should not come out of jail,” she added.
She said the constitutional court had been established to undermine the Supreme Court (SC) and that its aim was to keep Imran Khan in jail.
“It is necessary for the SC to ensure its survival and integrity,” she suggested.
She said she had suggested to Sohail Afridi that he make two demands: first, that Imran Khan be shifted to Shifa International Hospital, as those who had put him in jail were allegedly involved in attempts to kill him; and second, that Justice Dogar should start hearing Imran Khan’s bail applications.
When asked about the KP chief minister having a “tough time” in Lahore, she said that, in response, the KP government should not accord protocol to Nawaz Sharif during his visits to the province.
FCC decision
Meanwhile, PTI Central Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram rejected the Federal Constitutional Court’s (FCC) decision to summon from the SC the record of the case concerning PTI founder Imran Khan’s transfer to a hospital, calling the move a blatant manifestation of how the top court had been deliberately weakened and rendered virtually ineffective through the 26th and 27th Constitutional Amendments.
Mr Akram urged the FCC to exercise the utmost restraint and refrain from interfering in matters already pending before the SC, the country’s apex judicial forum.
