- No law allows solitary confinement: PTI Senator Ali Zafar.
- Centre wants KP CM to continue working, says Fazal Chaudhry.
- Sanaullah says PTI bent upon spreading chaos, anarchy in country.
Federal Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry said on Monday that the ban on meetings with incarcerated Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf founder Imran Khan would remain in place until February 8, 2026.
The federal minister made the remarks while speaking on Geo News’ programme Capital Talk on Monday evening.
A blanket ban on meetings with the jailed PTI founder was imposed by the federal government earlier this month, citing violations of prison rules by Khan’s sisters.
Information Minister Attaullah Tarar had said that the decision to ban Khan’s meetings with his sisters and other PTI leaders was made in light of prison rules that bar political discussion with inmates.
Khan, who has been in jail since August 2023, faces multiple cases ranging from corruption to terrorism since his ouster from power via the opposition’s no-trust motion in April 2022.
Speaking on the show, PTI Senator Barrister Ali Zafar said that neither the international nor Pakistan’s Constitution and laws allow anyone to be kept in solitary confinement.
It is pertinent to mention here that in their latest interview with journalist Mehdi Hasan, Sulaiman and Kasim, sons of the incarcerated PTI founder, had expressed concern over Khan’s prison conditions and “prolonged” lack of communication, saying court-mandated contact had not been consistently allowed.
“They [jail authorities] are not even allowing guards to speak to him [Imran] because they want total isolation from any other person just to try and break him,” Kasim had said.
Responding to a question, the federal minister said that replacing PTI-backed Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi in the next six weeks was not the desire of the Centre.
He clarified that the federal government wanted the KP CM to continue working.
Speaking on Geo News’ programme “Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Saath”, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah said it was not true that no path had been left for the PTI.
Taking a dig at the former ruling party, the PML-N senator said: “PTI members do not want to take any path”.
The PTI had only one path — rebellion and eliminating its opponents, he added.
Responding to a question, he asked, “If the decision on the May 9 cases will not be made even in 2025, then when will it be?”
He made the remarks in the backdrop of the Toshakhana-2 case verdict, in which a special court had sentenced the former prime minister and his wife, Bushra Bibi, to 17 years’ imprisonment each.
“A group [PTI] is bent upon spreading chaos, anarchy and sedition,” the PM’s aide said and warned that the law will take its own course when the group takes the law into their hands.
To another question about the PTI’s expected march on Islamabad, he asked, “Is the conquest of Islamabad in the interest of the country and the nation?”
Hinting at strict action, the PM’s aide said that it would not happen that any group would come and occupy Islamabad.
