Dawn (Pakistan)
Centre-left
Aleema detained under MPO in Lahore ahead of PTI's Sept 27 protest
PTI said on Sunday that ex-prime minister and party founder Imran Khan’s sister, Aleema Khan, had been detained by authorities, after the office of Lahore’s deputy commissioner (DC) ordered her detention or arrest for 30 days.
The development takes place amid reports of a crackdown on the PTI ahead of its September 27 countrywide protest and march to Islamabad, which the party has called to demand Imran’s release from jail and mobilise people for the supremacy of the Constitution.
The September 20 order, a copy of which is available with Dawn, said DC Muhammad Ali Ijaz had ordered the detention or arrest of Aleema and a man named Muhammad Ameer under the Punjab Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance, 1960 (MPO).
The MPO ordinance allows the authorities to order detention and restrict judicial review of such orders.
“Their custody shall be placed under the superintendent, Central Jail, Kot Lakhpat, Lahore. They shall be at liberty to make a representation to the provincial government against this order,” the document read.
Police sources confirmed to Dawn that Aleema had been taken to the Kot Lakhpat jail.
Following the arrest, Aleema’s sister Noreen Niazi addressed a press conference in Lahore, flanked by her sister’s counsel Advocate Mudassir Umar.
Noreen claimed Aleema was “picked up” along with her driver after she left her residence on Saturday and they later learnt that Aleema’s vehicle was parked at a police station. Meanwhile, the lawyer said they had yet to receive official confirmation of her arrest.
Aleema’s son Shahrez Khan, in a post on X, alleged his mother “was abducted after leaving home this morning”.
“Our family has had no contact or news of her whereabouts,” he wrote, clarifying that Aleema was on bail in all cases against her in Lahore.
“We demand the government immediately disclose her whereabouts and ensure her safe return,” Shahrez wrote.
The DC’s order cited a letter by the Lahore capital city police officer. It said the letter referred to police reports that said Aleema and Ameer “are prejudicial to the public safety and maintenance of public order”.
According to the order, the reports also mentioned that the two had been involved in roadblocks and protests on May 9, 2023, when PTI supporters and workers took to the streets against Imran’s arrest.
“They motivated the workers to damage public and government property. Moreover, they are again mobilising the workers through social media and public meetings to create law and order situation, raising/chanting objectionable slogans amongst the general public against the government/institution in order to provoke and incite them,” the order read.
It said multiple cases had been registered against the two, declaring them “potential dangers to public peace and tranquillity”.
According to the order, the Civil Lines Division superintendent of police and district intelligence branch in-charge recommended their detention under the MPO for a 30-day period “in order to keep the law and order situation in the city intact”.
‘Pressure’
Describing the development as part of “pressure” ahead of the September 27 protest, Noreen said the date would be a “historic day” in what she described as a movement for Imran’s release.
“We are all part of this movement,” she told reporters, urging PTI supporters not to be afraid despite what she alleged was a crackdown involving raids on homes.
She called on people to come out “for their country and Imran Khan”, alleging that his brother was being kept in custody unjustly and was not receiving proper medical treatment.
“If they think that by arresting Aleema Khan we will be frightened, they are mistaken,” she declared.
Advocate Umar noted an MPO(3) order had been circulating on social media and purportedly named Aleema and Ameer. However, he said, the government had not yet officially acknowledged Aleema’s detention.
“We are working out a legal course of action against the arrest. The government should own the arrest so that we can seek legal remedy,” the lawyer said.
He claimed that police had already informed a court that Aleema was not involved in the Jinnah House attack case pertaining to the May 9 riots.
The lawyer further claimed that the MPO order appeared to have been issued after Aleema was taken into custody, and alleged that her arrest was linked to her being the sister of Imran Khan.
Soon after reports emerged of Aleema’s arrest, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan wrote on X: “We have clarified that our protest will be peaceful. Our objective is to peacefully struggle for the fulfilment of our constitutional and political demands; we don’t want any kind of clash or violence.
“Arresting Aleema Khan sahiba under the MPO in this situation is tantamount to fuelling violence and tension. We strongly condemn it.”
He called for an end to all such actions and demanded Aleema’s immediate release.
The party would soon present its strategy against such actions, he said.
Earlier, the PTI posted on X that Aleema had been “abducted” in Lahore from outside her home by the authorities. In another statement, the party termed the action a “cowardly and deliberate attempt to worsen the situation”.
“Who is responsible for shameful news coming out of Pakistan almost every day now?” PTI wrote in yet another post sharing a Reuters report on the arrest.
PTI Central Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram demanded that Aleema be presented in court immediately.
“A sister is being punished for speaking up for her brother,” Akram alleged on X.
Imran’s son Kasim Khan, who has recently been speaking to international media about his father’s incarceration, wrote on X: “First they imprisoned my father. Now they are coming after his family.”
Assailing the government, he said, “The world cannot keep looking away from what is happening in Pakistan.”
Opposition alliance Tehreek-i-Tahafuz-Ayin-i-Pakistan (TTAP) also condemned the arrest in a statement, saying the move was tantamount to crossing all limits of “state oppression and political revenge.
“The TTAP strongly condemns this step by the government, especially the Punjab government. This action exposes the Punjab government’s current oppressive system,” it added.
The opposition alliance said Aleema’s arrest would not be tolerated and demanded her immediate release.
“The Punjab government must realise that oppression, arrests and revengeful acts cannot resolve political differences,” the TTAP said, reiterating its demand for Aleema’s release, as well as that of other “political prisoners”.
Detentions ahead of protest
Aleema’s arrest follows a string of reported actions against the PTI in Punjab ahead of its September 27 protest.
District authorities had also issued preventive detention orders against dozens of PTI workers under MPO a week ago, including 31 in one Punjab notification and a further 14 in Toba Tek Singh.
Similar reports have come from Islamabad, where the PTI plans to march on the protest day. However, the government has vowed to stop the march, and the Islamabad High Court (IHC) has ruled that no political party or its leadership has the “lawful right to occupy public roads, highways, interchanges, toll plazas and buildings in Islamabad”.
On Saturday, the capital police took into custody four PTI activists and workers.
A police officer told Dawn the activists were arrested under separate charges on a complaint lodged by a sub-inspector.
The police got information that the PTI workers were holding a meeting in connection with the planned protest at a property dealer’s office in the area of E-16. Subsequently, a police team was constituted for the raid and arrests.
The police claimed that the workers tortured the police team when they raided the meeting venue, besides tearing their uniforms and taking them hostage.
On Thursday, PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja said he was “released” after being briefly detained, with the party claiming he was held by Islamabad police.
Officers in the police and capital administration also said they have started preparations to counter the PTI’s countrywide protest. Authorities have placed hundreds of containers at the city’s entry points as the administration braces for protests.
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