Pakistan: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa govt calls for handing over Imran Khan amid restrictions on meetings
Mar 19, 2024
Islamabad [Pakistan], March 20 : The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government, backed by Imran Khan-founded Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) urged Punjab authorities to hand over the incarcerated former Prime Minister to it after the latter imposed a two-week ban on all public visits and meetings with the former premier, citing "security threats," Geo News reported.
The advisor to KP Chief Minister on Information, Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif asked the Punjab government to hand over Khan to the KP government if it was "unable to provide security" to the incarcerated former prime minister, who is held at Adiala jail in Rawalpindi.
Last week, Khan was barred from holding meetings inside Rawalpindi's Adiala jail for two weeks. According to a notification issued by Punjab's Home Department, all kinds of visits, meetings and interviews have been restricted in Adiala Jail due to a 'security alert', as reported by Geo News.
The Punjab government had clarified that the restrictions imposed in the jail were not aimed at hindering meetings of the PTI leaders with the party's founder.
"This move wasn't made to take away any facility from him [Khan]. There is a serious threat alert, which is under investigation," Punjab's Information Minister Azma Bukhari said.
She said the fresh restrictions were imposed, as some terrorists were arrested from the jail who had a map of the jail in which Khan is imprisoned.
On the other hand, the PTI leadership has called it "a deliberate plan" to stop them from meeting the party's founder.
Reacting to the ban on meetings in the jail, Barrister Saif said that all the prisoners were facing difficulties due to the restrictions imposed in the name of "security concerns."
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa CM's aide also slammed the Maryam Nawaz-led provincial government and urged the Punjab government to hand over the prisoners to them instead of causing "pain and suffering" to them due to their "incompetence and fear of Khan," Geo News reported.
"Maryam Nawaz is busy doing photo shoots instead of doing any work in Punjab," he said. "In Punjab, a drama is being played to hide incompetence."
