Plea against ‘killings’ during PTI protest to be heard on 23rd
A court will hear on Dec 23 a petition about the alleged killings, injuries, and disappearances of PTI workers during the party’s protest in the federal capital last month.
District and Sessions Judge Mohammad Azam Khan has scheduled the hearing to address the petition filed by PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan.
His legal move aside, the PTI chairman while speaking to reporters outside the court said he was “in favour of comprehensive, unconditional negotiations at every stage”.
His petition accuses Prime Minister Shehbaz 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 disappearances of PTI workers.
According to the petition, 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 on Saturday.
Judge Khan directed Barrister Gohar to be present at the next hearing to provide further clarification.
The court will hear preliminary arguments on the next date.
Talking to journalists outside the court, Barrister Gohar urged the need for continuing to pursue “comprehensive, unconditional” negotiations between the PTI and the federal government amid hesitation in the party,
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 on Thursday for acting as if ‘all is well’ and reiterated his call for civil disobedience if the government continued to ignore his demands.
Barrister Gohar said: “It is 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,” the chairman said in response to a question about prior attempts at talks.
“We are hopeful we will re-establish contact and improve the situation […] When there are negotiations, all issues will be resolved,” he said. “Enough is enough. Let us put a stop to everything and move towards improvement.”
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