RAWALPINDI: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan has questioned the need to strike a deal with the government after he has already spent nearly one-and-a-half years in jail, her sister Aleema Khan said.
Speaking to mediapersons outside Adiala jail on Monday, Aleema said, “The PTI founder said his cases were closed and he did not make an agreement [with the government] on the matter.”
The 71-year-old cricketer-turned-politician has been behind bars since August last year after being convicted in the Toshakhana-I case – one of dozens of cases registered against the former prime minister since he was ousted from power in April 2022.
Aleema, who recently participated in the party’s political affairs, said Khan had promised to fight his cases and would not accept any offer of house arrest in Bani Gala.
The PTI founder, she said, questioned how the cases of those leaders who left the party were forgiven. “He said the May 9 plot was hatched to crush the party,” Khan’s sister said.
Aleema said her brother reiterated demands for a judicial inquiry into the May 9 riots and a late-night crackdown on November 26 and the release of “political prisoners”.
Earlier, PTI Senator Shibli Faraz refuted the “false notion” that Khan was seeking relief for himself in talks with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) coalition government.
The coalition government and the embattled PTI finally came to the table last week to ease political tensions in the country. The negotiating committees, formed by the government and the PTI, held their much-loved meeting in a conducive environment and decided to continue the dialogue process earlier this month.
Chairman NA Ayaz Sadiq, who chaired the meeting, said that the next meeting will be held on January 2 and the PTI team will present the charter of its demands in the meeting.
Faraz accused the ruling coalition of spreading false propaganda that the PTI founder was seeking help for himself. He clarified that negations would be held that “all political prisoners” should be released.
A day earlier, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar said that the center is ready to work with the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in all sectors and hold talks, but its purpose is not to give a break to anyone or NRO, but to bring political stability in the country. .
