Who offered Imran Banigala deal?

ISLAMABAD: Who offered Imran Khan the deal of shifting him to Banigala from Adiala Jail as such an offer has neither been made during the ongoing formal dialogue process nor in backchannel negotiations between the government and the PTI.

Informed sources said that during the backchannel negotiations, there has been a demand from PTI to get Imran Khan shifted to KP but it was not accepted by the government. This demand was made during backchannel interaction between the two in November last year.

These sources insist that KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur was keen to shift Imran Khan from Rawalpindi jail to KP but it was not agreed by the other side. Gandapur, however, when contacted a few days back by this correspondent categorically denied it and said that he never made any such demand. “I don’t know why my name is necessarily dragged into this,” he said.

Recently Imran Khan is reported to have said that he was offered a deal under which he would be shifted to Banigala, his residence in Islamabad, to serve the remaining jail time. “[Imran] Khan said he was offered to be moved to Banigala. However, he stressed that he would not move anywhere until those detained without trial are released,” Faisal Chaudhry, his lawyer, told reporters outside Adiala Jail last week.

There is no explanation offered by any PTI leader about Imran Khan’s reported claim. There are no answers to the question like who made the offer to Imran Khan. It is confirmed by The News that such an offer has neither been made during the ongoing formal negotiations between the government and the PTI nor it was offered by those from the government side engaged in the backchannel negotiations.

Dawn newspaper reported a few days back tha tPTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan while confirming that there has been backchannel contacts, dismissed claims of an offer by the authorities to move the PTI founder from Adiala to Banigala. He said that the PTI founder considers his incarceration illegal so there is no point in considering such an offer.

Shifting Imran Khan from Adiala to his Banigala house was discussed with The News recently by a key member of the government’s negotiation as a possible offer to be made to the PTI side if Imran Khan accepts the present system’s continuation till 2029, does not pursue his politics of agitation and violence and avoids attacking the army and the economy. Senator Irfan Siddiqi, however, was of the view that no such option was discussed among the government negotiating team.