Water cannons were again used early on Wednesday to disperse PTI protesters staging a sit-in near Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail, after his family was denied a meeting with the ex-premier.
Imran’s sisters, party workers and supporters had staged a sit-in at Factory Naka, demanding their court-mandated meeting with the PTI founder.
A court order issued by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on March 24 this year mandated that meetings with Imran would be permitted twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. However, the PTI maintains that the order is not being honoured.
Despite the IHC’s order, Imran’s sisters — Aleema Khan, Uzma Khan and Noreen Khan Niazi — along with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, have tried and failed to meet Imran over the past several weeks. Last Tuesday, after being denied a meeting with the PTI chief, his sisters and party supporters staged a sit-in, which was later dispersed with water cannons.
Early on Wednesday, water cannons were again used to disperse the protesters, with police starting their operation at 2am. Initially, water cannon vehicles were used to disperse the protesters, with police later baton-charging those who remained.
Some of the party workers were arrested but the number could not be confirmed.
Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen (MWM) leader Allama Raja Nasir, who remained at the protest until late Tuesday night, condemned the inhuman treatment meted out to the protesters.
Meanwhile, in a post on social media platform X at 4am on Wednesday, the party’s central information department said that it condemned “in the harshest possible terms” the disregard of the IHC order and the “extreme state brutality” witnessed outside Adiala jail.
“These actions are not merely administrative failures; they constitute a direct assault on the Constitution, the rule of law, and the authority of the judiciary,” the party said, adding that the “willful defiance of judicial orders has effectively become official government policy”.
“At the behest of the government, the Punjab police crossed all limits of oppression by launching an assault using chemical-laced water cannons against Imran Khan’s sisters, Allama Raja Nasir Abbas, other party leaders, PTI workers, and peaceful sit-in participants,” the party said.
