Plea against 'killings' during PTI protest to be heard on Dec.23 in Islamabad
- 3 hours ago
Tariq Butt, Correspondent
A court will hear on Dec.23 a petition about the alleged killing and disappearance of Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) workers during its protest in the federal capital on Nov.26.
District and Sessions Judge Mohammad Azam Khan scheduled the hearing to address the petition filed by PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan.
His legal move aside, the PTI chairman told reporters that he was in favour of comprehensive, unconditional negotiations at every stage.
His petition accuses Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, senior police officials and some unidentified individuals of being involved in the killing and disappearance of PTI workers.
The petition claimed that 12 PTI workers were killed and 38 others injured due to gunfire. As many as 139 individuals have been reported missing. These allegations have raised serious concerns regarding the authorities’ handling of the protest, the petition added.
The petitioner’s legal team appeared before the court during the initial hearing. Judge Azam Khan directed the PTI chief to be present at the next hearing to provide further clarification. The court will hear preliminary arguments on the next date.
The PTI chairman urged the need for continuing to pursue "comprehensive, unconditional” negotiations between the PTI and the federal government amid hesitation in the party.
The PTI leaders had recently agreed to negotiate with the federal government if the offer was ‘serious,' but party founder Imran Khan had criticised the leadership for acting as if ‘all is well’ and reiterated his call for civil disobedience if the government continued to ignore his demands.
Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said that it was essential for democracy to find political solutions to political issues. "We will proceed in accordance with the law.”
When asked if the party’s demands were conditions for negotiations, he clarified: "We have not given any conditions, these are our demands. We will negotiate on these demands. We did have contact with the government, but we were disconnected at a critical stage. We are hopeful we will re-establish contact and improve the situation. When there are negotiations, all issues will be resolved. Enough is enough. Let us put a stop to everything and move towards improvement.”
Earlier senior PTI leaders significantly mitigated their somewhat enthusiasm to initiate talks with the federal government to sort out different issues including the release of their chief Imran Khan from jail.
They changed their previous stand after Imran Khan voiced resentment over their exuberance over starting the dialogue with the government. Their boss wanted them to be extraordinarily aggressive against the government.
Former National Assembly speaker Asad Qaiser has now stated that the party had not yet initiated dialogue with the government and talks could be held only after the acceptance of three demands, including release of Imran Khan and other party activists and constitution of a judicial commission comprising senior Supreme Court judges to probe violent May 9 and Nov.26 incidents.
Qaisar refuted reports that the PTI has begun talks with the government following his meeting with Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, who belongs to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).
"I want to make a clarification. The media has been reporting since yesterday that government-PTI dialogue is taking place and my meeting with the speaker is being referred to in this connection,” he said in the National Assembly, clarifying that he had gone there only to condole with the speaker over the demise of his sister and not to hold any dialogue.
Qaiser said they had formed a committee for dialogue, but the committee would proceed under the guidance of Imran Khan only when the government would show seriousness.
Leader of the Opposition in National Assembly Omar Ayub Khan said Imran Khan had expanded the dialogue committee by adding two more members and threatened that the party would give the call for civil disobedience if its demands were not met.
PTI senator Aon Abbas Bappi regretted the comments from the treasury benches that the ground realities had forced PTI to agree for talks. He said PTI’s readiness for dialogue must not be misconstrued as its weakness.
