Lahore [Pakistan], November 28 : Noreen Niazi, one of the three sisters of jailed and former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, expressed anguish over the uncertainty looming about her brother's condition in jail, saying that the authorities haven't allowed her and others to meet him for over four weeks.
Speaking to ANI, Niazi highlighted the oppression faced by the cricketer-turned-politician, claiming that the authorities were deliberately holding information about his condition in jail, withholding access to reach him.
"We don't know anything. They are not telling us anything, nor are they letting anybody meet him. His party's people went there because they had a meeting scheduled, but they were not allowed inside. We have not been allowed to meet him for the last four weeks. We got to know that news was circulating in India that he had been killed," she said.
Niazi lambasted the Pakistani establishment, claiming that police have been given free hand to deal with those standing with Imran Khan. Criticising the incidents related to police brutality, she said that police have been allowed to "beat up" people, including children, women, and the elderly, without the fear of facing any consequences.
"The police have been ordered to stop us and, I believe, also permitted to do to us whatever they want. This has never happened in Pakistan before. No one has ever disrespected women like this, nor has anyone been oppressed this way. This is the first time in Pakistan that these people have been allowed to beat up people like there won't be any consequences, without considering if it's a child, an elderly person, or a woman in front of them. The world is aware of what's happening in Pakistan," she asserted.
Earlier, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi on Thursday reached Rawalpindi's Adiala Jail, where Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, were held in connection with a web of corruption charges.
The KP CM, along with other PTI lawmakers and supporters, gathered in front of the prison to protest growing concerns about Khan's health, fueled by claims from the former PM's sister, Aleema Khan, who was denied permission to meet him.
Rumours of Khan's death also emerged in media reports. However, the Adiala Jail administration dismissed these rumours on Wednesday and claimed that the former PM remains lodged in the Rawalpindi jail and was in good health.
When asked about the last meeting with her brother, Niazi recalled the time when Imran Khan was kept in isolation for nearly three weeks last year, with no electricity. She said it violated the prison manual, which specifies that isolation may not exceed four days.
She claimed that Khan is now being meted out the same treatment.
"He is going through a tough time alone. He is in isolation. As per the jail manual, one can't be placed in isolation for more than four days. But he was put in isolation for three weeks last year as well, during which electricity was switched off during summer, and he wasn't even allowed to read books. The same has been done now. No one knows what's happening inside the jail. This is the pinnacle of oppression," Niazi said.
She extended solidarity with the "poor and innocent" individuals lodged in jail, just like her brother, and warned of resistance from the people.
"I believe there will be a spark among people soon, and they will see the level to which the people go. They have oppressed us so much. I worry about my brother, but I also worry about the poor and innocent people who are in jails," Niazi said.
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