No tussle between Bushra, Gandapur: Shibli

PESHAWAR: Senior Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Senator Shibli Faraz insisted on Tuesday there was no tussle between Bushra Bibi, the wife of the party founder, Imran Khan, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur.

“Bushra Bibi just conveyed [to PTI lawmakers] the message of the PTI founder. She has nothing to do with politics,” he said while talking to the media at the Peshawar High Court (PHC) after securing protective bail.

His remarks came after Imran Khan’s wife acquired the media spotlight by attending recent meetings at the Chief Minister’s House.

The meetings were arranged to prepare for the PTI proposed protest in the federal capital on November 24.

She has been living in the Chief Minister’s House after winning bail in a case in which she was convicted early this year.

Shibli Faraz said the wife of Imran Khan would not lead the party protest slated for November 24. “She does not want to join politics,” he said amid reports that she attended party lawmakers’ preparatory meetings, though segregated by a pardah, and instructed the party lawmakers to make the protest a success. The PTI leader lamented that terrorism cases had been registered against the PTI leaders and workers.

“The government, police and other law-enforcement agencies are after the PTI members,” he deplored.

Shibli Faraz said staging a protest was the political and legal right of the PTI but the party was being denied that.

He was critical of the Section 144 enforcement as that was a law introduced by the British when the region was under their occupation.

The PTI leader said an environment of revenge was being created through coercive methods. “Pressure is being put on us to abandon our movement,” he added.

Earlier, the PHC gave the protective bail for one month to Senator Shibli Faraz. He was directed to appear before the relevant courts to pursue the cases filed against him.

A two-member bench comprising Chief Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim and Justice Wiqar Ahmad heard the application filed by the PTI leader.

Alam Khan Adinzai Advocate appeared for the senator. He told the court cases had been registered against his client in different cities of the country and he wanted to appear in the courts but required protective bail for that.

The court suggested the protective bail for two weeks. But that was extended to four weeks at the request of the counsel for the PTI leader.