PTI's Gohar demands immediate resumption of meetings with Imran Khan
PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said on Tuesday that restrictions on meetings with Imran Khan had lasted 375 days. He called for the meetings to resume at once and for talks with the government.
- Gohar says access to Imran Khan has been restricted for 375 days
- He says Tuesday is a designated meeting day and calls for talks with the government
- He rejects emergency and governor's rule in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan demanded on Tuesday that meetings with party founder Imran Khan be restored immediately. He said restrictions on access to him had continued for 375 days.
Speaking to the media outside Parliament, Gohar said Tuesday was a designated day for meetings with Imran Khan. "Today is the day for meeting the PTI founder, and the meeting should take place," he said. He urged the authorities to let party leaders and family members see him.
Gohar described keeping Imran Khan in jail without letting him meet his family as "inhuman treatment". He argued that the political situation could have improved if meetings had been held regularly. He said the restrictions had complicated political affairs, while political tensions and what he called victimisation continued to grow.
He also accused political opponents of taking undue advantage of the emergency and governor's rule in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P). According to Gohar, details would be presented at a parliamentary meeting attended by senators and members of Parliament.
On dialogue, Gohar said political problems could only be resolved through negotiations. He called for early and meaningful talks with the government.
A day earlier, he accused the federal government of using the governor's rule and emergency in K-P as a pretext for political victimisation. He said the party rejected both measures but agreed that terrorism must be eliminated. He alleged the measures were being used to target the PTI rather than address the province's security challenges.
Gohar also condemned a 30-day extension in the detention of Imran Khan's sisters, saying Aleema Khan was a non-political figure. He said 12 PTI members of the National Assembly were being held and that the party had no information about the whereabouts of its chief minister.
The Express Tribune reported that President Asif Ali Zardari approved the emergency and governor's rule in K-P on October 11, on the advice of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and after federal cabinet approval. The government cited escalating terrorist attacks and what it described as a breakdown of the constitutional system. The measures invoked Articles 232 and 234 of the Constitution, and the army was authorised to assist the civil administration.
Why it matters
Access to Imran Khan and the stalled talks between the government and the PTI bear on the political situation readers across Pakistan are following, including in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, where emergency and governor's rule are in force.
