• PTI slams water cannon ‘assault’ on Imran’s sisters and party workers, warns against his transfer to another jail
• Privilege motion moved in NA after Khattak injured in melee
• Opposition plans ‘national conference’ on Dec 20-21; says party founder inseparable from nation, politics
• PM’s aide says all doors to talks with PTI now closed as party passed ‘point of no return’
• Gohar wants ‘common sense’ to prevail, questions move to isolate major party
RAWALPINDI/ISLAMABAD: Political temperatures rose further on Wednesday, as Rawalpindi police sought a legal opinion on the question of registering an FIR against PTI leaders and supporters over a protest outside Adiala jail, even as the party moved a privilege motion in the National Assembly over alleged use of force against its workers, and voiced alarm at reports of Imran Khan’s possible transfer to another prison.
The PTI also joined other opposition parties in warning that efforts to “minus” the incarcerated former premier and clamp down on peaceful protest would only deepen the stand-off with the government and push the country towards greater political turmoil.
After entering a report in its daily police diary (roznamcha) on the PTI sit-in outside Adiala jail on the previous night, Rawalpindi police termed the demonstration a “violent protest by a political party with the intention of attacking Adiala jail” in a statement issued on Wednesday.
It noted that Section 144 was in force in the city and that it was the police’s responsibility to ensure its implementation.
A police spokesperson said Adiala jail was a sensitive and densely populated area where maintaining security and traffic order was crucial. He added that there was no visiting time at night and no one could be allowed to meet an inmate without a court order.
The spokesperson claimed that the police had “shown extreme patience” during the sit-in despite “attempts to vandalise and resist the police” by protesters.
“Members of the political party pelted stones and attacked the police, on which the law had to take its course. Water cannon had to be used, with extreme patience and strategy, to prevent malicious activity and an attack,” he said, adding that violation of the law would not be tolerated “under any circumstances” in such a sensitive area.
In a post on X at 3:58am, the party had claimed that authorities used water cannons to disperse Imran Khan’s sisters and peaceful PTI workers outside Adiala jail, despite a court order allowing a meeting with the jailed former PM.
The party said Mr Khan’s sisters Aleema Khan, Uzma Khan and Noreen Niazi, along with party leaders and workers, had spent the entire day peacefully waiting outside the prison to exercise their “constitutional and legal right” to meet their incarcerated leader on a court-mandated visitation day. “This brutal crackdown on a peaceful sit-in violates basic human rights and freedom of assembly in freezing weather!” the party said. It also shared a video of a water cannon being used as people, bundled up against the cold, fled the scene.
A police source said a report on Tuesday night’s incident had already been recorded and could be converted into a formal FIR, in which the accused would be nominated and booked under the relevant sections of the law.
Privilege motion
On the other hand, PTI MNAs on Wednesday submitted a complaint for a “privilege motion” in the National Assembly against Rawalpindi police. At a subsequent presser, opposition leaders claimed that PTI parliamentary leader Shahid Khattak’s “leg had been broken” in the melee.
The motion claimed that police had used force against PTI leaders and workers who were present outside the jail to express solidarity with the PTI founder imprisoned there.
The party also expressed grave concern over reports that the former prime minister might be transferred to another jail, calling such a move a blatant display of “fear, political desperation and weakness” on the part of the government… Source: Dawnnews.com,
