Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi has called on his Punjab counterpart Maryam Nawaz to hold those accountable for mistreating Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan's sisters and ensure implementation of court orders for meetings with the former prime minister.
In a letter addressed to CM Maryam, Afridi highlighted that "clear and binding" judicial directions governed Imran's visitation rights, allowing close family members and nominated individuals to meet him on certain days.
"Despite the unambiguous nature of these instructions, repeated reports indicate persistent non-implementation by authorities responsible for compliance," the KP's chief executive complained.
The letter also refers to the breif detention and alleged mistreatment of Khan's sisters — Aleema Khan, Noreen Khan Niazi and Uzma Khanum — by the authorities after they hey refused to end their sit-in near Central Jail Rawalpindi on Adiala road following failure to secure permission to meet the PTI founder.
The sisters of the incarcerated PTI founder, along with dozens of party workers, staged a sit-in on Adiala Road after being denied permission to meet him and his wife, Bushra Bibi.
Meanwhile, the police asked Khan’s sister to clear the road, but the talks failed, and Aleema refused to call off the sit-in. After that, police sprayed water on the road and detained around 8 to 10 PTI activists, including Khan’s sisters.
Aleema has been visiting her incarcerated brother at Adiala and has served as a key channel for conveying Imran's messages to PTI workers through the media.
Expanding on the incident termed "disturbing" by CM Afridi, he said that these individuals were "apolitical private citizens" only seeking to meet their brother in line with court's directives.
"[....] there is no conceivable legal or administrative basis for obstructing or mishandling immediate family members whose presence is neither political nor disruptive. Their obstruction, physical restraint, or temporary detention is therefore wholly unacceptable," the letter reads.
The KP's provincial chief executive, while lamenting that "such actions create clear impression that judicial directives are being disregarded" and that the situation was "untenable and irreconcilable with basic expectations of due process, rule of law", urged CM Maryam to ensure that a safe and dignified area for authorised visitors is ensured.
He also urged the Punjab government identify and hold accountable individuals responsible for obstructing, insulting or physically mishandling peaceful visitors including Imran's family members, issue clear and enforceable directives to prison and police authorities and establish a transparent mechanism ensuring that future meetings are facilitated in orderly, respectful and legally compliant manner.
Furthermore, the KP CM remarked that any deviation from court-mandated procedures or disrespectful treatment of his immediate family "becomes a matter of direct institutional concern" and said that as he could not remain indifferent when dignity of a former head of government and his lawful rights were compromised.
"I am therefore constrained to demand that these issues be addressed promptly, decisively and in full conformity with judicial directions.
"I would appreciate your [CM Maryam] attention to the above so that dignity of all concerned is upheld and the rule of law remains unimpaired," CM Afridi concluded.