PML-N leader’s bid to meet Sharifs in prison denied
Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) stalwart Javed Hashmi was denied a meeting with former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam by the administration of Adiala jail yesterday.
After the refusal, Hashmi complained that the three-time prime minister is being targeted and convicted for doing nothing.
All of Pakistan’s prime ministers had met the same fate, whether they had been sent to the gallows or exiled, he said.
Hashmi said that he is familiar with prison procedures because he had spent many years in prison, particularly in Adiala jail.
“I met people in Adiala jail five days a week, but a ban was imposed on meetings with Nawaz Sharif. This is condemnable,” he said.
“Nawaz Sharif and Shehbaz Sharif asked workers to pay attention to the elections, as it would be revenge for their miseries,” Hashmi said, adding that election candidates would run their campaigns.
Calling the July 13 welcome rally for Sharif “historic”, he said that in his political life he had never seen so many people gather despite the odds.
“All the roads were blocked with containers and by the deployment of law enforcement agencies, but people came out of their homes to welcome Nawaz Sharif,” he said.
He said that former military ruler General Pervez Musharraf would not be convicted in any case because the rules were different for civilians.
“If the cases had been registered against a civilian ruler, the decision would be made immediately,” he said.
Hashmi said that he would try to meet Sharif again tomorrow.
The prison administration has not cited any reason for denying PML-N leaders permission to meet Sharif.
Also yesterday, PML-N workers, police and the jail administration clashed when party leaders and workers gathered outside Adiala jail.
The jail administration allegedly misbehaved with women workers of the party.
A large number of party workers, as well as former information minister Marriyum Aurangzeb, Rawalpindi Mayor Sardar Naseem and former members of the Provincial Assembly (MPAs) Zaibunnisa and Lubna Rehan, visited Adiala jail to express solidarity with Sharif, Maryam, and her husband Captain Mohammad Safdar.
Naseem said that the jail administration and police had stopped workers from placing flowers outside the prison.
“Some police officers stopped the workers, but the workers were very emotional and they placed the flowers and chanted slogans in favour of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz,” he said.
Naseem said that the workers did not break the law and only wanted to express solidarity with Sharif, Maryam, and Safdar.
Speaking to the media outside the jail, former information minister Aurangzeb said that corruption allegations of even a penny could not be proved against Sharif.
She said that Sharif’s narrative is that of every Pakistani and the PML-N are united under the leadership of Nawaz and his brother Shehbaz Sharif.
Aurangzeb also argued with security personnel after she was stopped from meeting Sharif and Maryam.
She said that people had rejected the politics of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), as there were empty seats at PTI public meetings in Sargodha, Sialkot, and Jhang on Sunday.