TTAP rejects PTI claims of no prior notice for 10,000-strong demonstration outside Adiala jail

ISLAMABAD: While the PTI leadership distanced itself from the call to gather 10,000 people outside Adiala jail on Tuesday, claiming that National Assembly Opposition Leader Mahmood Khan Achakzai did not inform them, the TTAP spokesperson rejected the claim.

PTI founder Imran Khan’s sister Aleema Khan claimed a day earlier that she was approached by Achakzai and told that 10,000 people could gather outside Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail — where the party founder is incarcerated — if a time was provided.

“It had been decided that we will hold a sit-in from 3pm–7pm,” she said.

However, PTI Parliamentary Leader in the National Assembly Shahid Khattak, talking to the media on the same day, rejected the suggestion that such an arrangement had been made.

“Mahmood Khan Achakzai did not inform us that 10,000 persons had to be gathered; we could have gathered them. Even I could have brought 200 people,” he said.

Khattak added that Achakzai should also have informed the party about the planned gathering so that it could mobilise people.

On Wednesday, TTAP spokesperson Akhunzada Hussain Yousafzai rejected Khattak’s claims about planned protests outside the prison.

“PTI leaders and members had repeatedly requested Opposition Leader Mahmood Khan Achakzai to announce a specific date and time for a protest or sit-in outside Adiala jail. They argued that a fixed schedule would enable them to mobilise and bring a large number of supporters to the venue,” he claimed in a statement.

He further claimed that Achakzai conveyed the proposal to Aleema, and she agreed to the suggestion of staging a protest outside Adiala jail at a predetermined time.

“During a joint parliamentary meeting of the Senate and the National Assembly held at Parliament House on June 11, which was attended by PTI’s parliamentary leadership, including Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan and Parliamentary Leader in the National Assembly Shahid Khattak, participants were informed that Aleema Khan had endorsed the proposal for a scheduled protest outside Adiala Jail,” Akhunzada said.

According to a statement issued by TTAP, the meeting was informed that Aleema had decided that the protest planned for Tuesday would conclude at a designated time.

Akhunzada claimed that discussions and decisions had been shared with PTI’s parliamentary leadership and expressed concern over the subsequent remarks made by Khattak.

Imran — imprisoned since Aug 5, 2023, for concealing details of Toshakhana gifts — is serving a 14-year sentence at Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail in a £190 million corruption case, also known as the Al-Qadir Trust case.

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has allowed the incarcerated ex-premier to have twice-a-week meetings — on Tuesdays and Thursdays — with his family, lawyers and other associates. Despite the order, Imran has been restricted from meeting visitors for several months.

His eye ailment — right central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) — came to light in late January. His first medical procedure was carried out on January 24, followed by a second dose on February 24 and a third dose on March 23.

Over the past few months, the government and the opposition have been engaged in a blame game, with the latter accusing the former of a lack of transparency in not ensuring appropriate treatment for Imran, and not allowing his personal physicians access to him. The government denies these allegations.

The opposition has also demanded that the former premier be shifted to Shifa International Hospital, be treated in the presence of his personal physicians and allowed to meet his family.