ISLAMABAD: Aleema Khan, the sister of the founder of PTI, stated that the opposition alliance’s protest on February 8 was a powerful display of dissent. She noted that even citizens who had voted silently chose to register their protest in a quiet manner.
Speaking to the media outside the ATC in Rawalpindi after a court hearing, she remarked, “First, we were instructed to stay at home; now we are being told to come out. The people of Pakistan have made their protest heard through their silence.”
She said while cases from the past two years had piled up in the Supreme Court a notable step forward had been taken with the formation of a three member bench to hear the appeals. She also clarified that they did not stop anyone from celebrating Basant. It is impossible to force people of Lahore not to celebrate the event. This festival doesn’t belong to any one party; it belongs to the city. I witnessed the public’s passion myself—every child was flying a kite. My son took his children to celebrate the event on February 6th. I’ve even flown kites at home.
Separately, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan denied any plan to march toward Islamabad, saying no such decision has been made. The PTI founder also affirmed that he would not issue any order in the future to mobilise supporters toward the capital.
In a statement, he confirmed that the founder of PTI has fully authorised opposition leaders Mahmood Khan Achakzai and Allama Nasir Abbas to make decisions as they see fit. “Our priority is to meet with Imran Khan first. That said, should the situation require negotiations or a shift toward resistance, the final call rests entirely with these opposition leaders,” he added.
Gohar further noted that they have approached the Supreme Court 10 times and the High Court 16 times. They have requested the Supreme Court to schedule the hearings for 17 pending cases, as they are actively raising their concerns in every available forum, including parliament and the courts.
