Rawalpindi-The family members, party office bearers, former ministers, members of parliament and a large numbers of friends have visited Adiala Jail on Friday and met the deposed Prime Minister of Pakistan Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz. Earlier, Begum Shamim Sharif (mother of deposed PM), President Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and former chief minister Punjab Mian Shehbaz Sharif, MPA Hamza Shehbaz, Salman Shehbaz and other family members visited Adiala Jail on Wednesday last and had a meeting with Mian Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz. The meeting was arranged by jail authorities after taking special permission from Punjab Home Department.
The meeting was held in the conference room adjacent to the Office of Superintendent Adiala Jail. The police, jail staffers and personnel of other law enforcement agencies have made tight security arrangements inside and outside the jail to avoid any untoward incident on the occasion. Scores of charged PML-N workers and supporters including Salaar Islam Raja, son of detained leader Engineer Qamar-ul-Islam Raja, held a protest demonstration outside jail and demanded earlier release of the detained Sharifs. They also chanted slogans against PM Imran Khan. According to details, the family members and scores of other party workers and former ministers thronged Adiala Jail and met Mian Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz.
All the visitors were only allowed to enter the jail from Gate Number 5 after thorough checking by the jail staffers headed by Deputy Superintendent (DS) Shehzad Bukhari and his team. The family members who had met the Sharifs included Aziz Abbas, Sarah Abbas, Abbas Sharif, Salma Abbas Sharif, Ismail, Junaid Safdar and Mehru Safdar and Raheel Munir).
Similarly, former speaker National Assembly Chaudhry Ayaz Sadiq, Senators Pervaiz Rashid, Chaudhry Tanvir Ali Khan Raja Zafar-ul-Haq, Lt General (retd) Abdul Qadir Baloch, Dr Ghaus Muhammad Niazi, former defence minister Khawaja Asif, ex-Railway minister Khawaja Saad Raffique, former MNA Malik Abrar Ahmed, Khurram Dastagir Khan, Talal Chaudhry, Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, MPAs Muhammad Arshad Malik of Sahiwal, Ghazali Saleem Butt, Member Legislative Assembly (MLA) AJK Ms Sehrish Qamar, Sardar Mumtaz of Paswal, Chaudhry Munir Ahmed, Marghoob Ahmed, Chief Reporter Nawa-i-Waqt Islamabad/Rawalpindi Haji Nawaz Raza, Asif Mehmood and many others also visited Adiala Jail and met the Sharifs.
However, the jail authorities did not permit the Deputy Mayor Lahore Mian Muhammad Arif, ex-MPA Raja Awais Khalid of Sohawa, Maleeha Hussain Chaudhry and Tooba Malik to visit the Sharifs. Talking to The Nation outside Adiala Jail, PML-N leader and former federal minister for information and broadcasting Pervaiz Rashid said that the government had not allowed the family members and friends to meet Muhammad Hanif Abbasi and Capt (R) Muhammad Safdar on the eve of Eid in the hospital. He said the liberty of Mian Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz was also usurped. He said PML-N leadership would ponder whether to support PPP stalwart Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan for the slot of President of Pakistan if he visits Adiala Jail and tenders his apology to the deposed PM Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif against his outburst and statements. “We are holding meetings with other opposition parties and will field a joint candidate for the office of President,” he said. On a question as to why Mian Nawaz Sharif refused to have a meeting with former interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan in jail, Pervaiz Rashid replied, “Chaudhry Nisar can himself clarify as to why he was denied the meeting by Nawaz Sharif,” He added that the masses rejected the politics of Nisar by not voting for him during the elections 2018.
On the other hand, dozens of supporters and local leaders of PML-N staged a protest demonstration at Gate Number 5 of Adiala Jail. The very charged workers and leaders chanted slogans against PM Imran Khan and in favour of Mian Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz.
The most echoed slogan, chanted by protestors, was simple, “Release Mian Nawaz Sharif immediately.”
