Web Desk (LTN NEWS): The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) has decided to take the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) to court over the ban on live telecasts of Imran Khan’s speeches, which was put in place after he made comments about the police and the judiciary at a rally in Islamabad on Saturday.
This was said by Fawad Chaudhry, the senior central vice president of the PTI, at a press conference in this city on Sunday. Mr. Chaudhry said that Imran Khan didn’t say anything illegal or make any threats at the F-9 Park rally. He also told the coalition government led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif that they should talk to Mr. Khan instead of banning him.
At a rally in Islamabad on Saturday to show support for PTI leader Dr. Shahbaz Gill, who is being tried for sedition, Mr. Khan warned the judiciary against being “biased” and told the judge who sent Mr. Gill to physical remand to be ready for consequences. After that, Imran Khan’s speeches could no longer be broadcast live, and on Sunday, a case was also filed against him.
Mr. Chaudhry said that Imran Khan only asked for “legal action” to be taken against the people who allegedly tortured Shahbaz Gill while in custody. The leader of the PTI said again that he wants an independent commission to look into claims of torture. He also said that the fact that the commission wasn’t set up raised a lot of questions. The leader of the PTI also questioned why Imran Khan and other PTI leaders were not allowed to meet with Shahbaz Gill. He said that Mr. Gill had told him about the torture he had supposedly “put up with for hours” at a police station.
Fawad says that the head of the PTI didn’t “threaten” anyone; he just wanted something to be done about Gill’s torture. Gill goes on a “hunger strike.”
The former information minister was asked about Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah. He said that Mr. Sanaullah had been tortured in the past, but he was still treating the alleged torture of Mr. Gill like it was nothing out of the ordinary.
Mr. Chaudhry said that cases against PTI Chairman Imran Khan were part of a plan to get rid of the former prime minister so that PML-N supreme leader Nawaz Sharif could get back into politics. He said, though, that Imran Khan was now at the center of democracy in the country. He said that a public meeting in Rawalpindi was the start of the first stage of the public movement and that he hoped the government wouldn’t force the PTI to start the second stage before Sept. 10.
Gill on ‘hunger strike’
While this was going on, PTI leader Shahbaz Gill, who was in the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) for health reasons, went on a “hunger strike” and refused to help the medical board that was set up to find out if the PTI leader had been tortured.
A letter from August 21 says that the new medical board had four members, but two more have since been added. Dr. Shafaat Khatoon (General Medicine) is in charge of the board. Other members are Dr. Tariq Abdullah, Dr. Ziaul Haq, and Dr. Salman Shafi Kaul.
The medico-legal report has been given to Dr. Farrukh Kamal and Dr. Muhammad Naseer, who was brought in as new members.
A doctor at Pims, who asked not to be named, said that Mr. Gill went on a hunger strike on Saturday night.
“Gill’s tests were all fine on Saturday. On Sunday, members of the medical board went to him to get more samples for the tests, but Gill turned them down. He was also asked to help with the medico-legal report to find out if he had been tortured, but he said no.
