Pakistan Tells Hospitals To Clear Bed Space For “Mass Casualty Incident” Ahead of Major Protest
Por Areeba Fatima — Drop Site News
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Police in Lahore detained former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan’s three sisters, Aleema Khan, Noureen Niazi, and Dr. Uzma Khan, along with their children, on Sunday, as Khan’s party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), prepares to march on Islamabad on September 27 to demand his release.
Imran Khan’s health has deteriorated significantly over the past few months after more than three years in prison. His primary healthcare provider, Dr. Faisal Sultan, has not been allowed to visit him for several weeks. In their last meeting, Imran Khan told his sister Uzma Khan that he is subjected to “absolute inhumane treatment.” The Telegraph reported her saying, “He told me to tell people outside that they are being unjust to me, they don’t listen to me, these are not humans.”
In all, eight members of his family were detained within 24 hours. The children were released after a few hours of detention, Aleema Khan’s son Shershah Khan told Drop Site, but Khan’s sisters remain in custody.
Simultaneously, several elected leaders of PTI were also arrested, and party offices were raided in a nationwide crackdown ahead of the September 27 march.
At the same time, Islamabad’s hospitals were placed on emergency footing. Documents obtained by Drop Site show that federal health authorities issued instructions before the planned protest, directing hospitals to prepare for a potential “humanitarian crisis” and “mass casualty incident” in Islamabad.
The measures have now started to affect the patients in Islamabad hospitals. On Monday, patients scheduled for surgeries were told that their procedures would be postponed, according to people familiar with the situation. The surgical departments are to be reconfigured for a potential influx of casualties. “All scheduled elective (planned) surgical procedures are postponed indefinitely,” the documents state.
All forms of leave for medical, nursing, paramedical, administrative, and support staff have been suspended, while employees already on leave have been recalled immediately. To do this, patients that hospitals consider to be “stable,” or recovering are being discharged from the hospitals.
The instructions to hospitals show that the government is yet again preparing a brutal crackdown on protestors. In a similar protest in November 2024, the Pakistani military killed dozens of PTI protestors using live rounds and snipers on the gathered crowds in the middle of the night. A Drop Site investigation from the time showed that the Pakistani military had planned the crackdown on the protestors. The military later successfully covered up the total number of casualties from the incident and arrested journalists trying to investigate.
Imran Khan has been in prison since August 2023 after a vote of no confidence was used to overthrow his government. In these three years, several human rights organizations have called his imprisonment a case of arbitrary detention, and the military leadership of Pakistan has cracked down on members of his party all over the world. In August, concerns about Khan’s health reached a crescendo when he was taken to PIMS (Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences). Earlier this year, he reportedly lost 85% vision in his right eye. Khan’s wife has also been facing multiple health issues in prison, under solitary confinement similar to Khan, including the complete loss of vision in one eye, according to her sister.
Aleema Khan’s arrest was backed by a formal order by the deputy commissioner of Lahore and obtained by Drop Site News, which authorized the detention of Aleema Khan and her driver, Muhammad Ameer, for 30 days under Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO). A similar order circulated on social media alleging similar charges against Noreen Niazi and Uzma Khan. The MPO has been used repeatedly to subdue protests by detaining organizers and accusing them of threatening public safety.
Hours after Aleema’s arrest, her son Shershah Khan announced on social media that police had surrounded the family’s Lahore residence. In Lahore, Aleema and Uzma Khan’s houses share a wall. Sources close to the family who requested anonymity for safety reasons confirmed that officers remained stationed outside for several hours before the rest of the family was arrested and driven to an undisclosed location in armored vehicles.
“We only found out through social media that they took her under MPO; we have no information about where they have taken her,” Noreen Niazi said in a press conference before she was arrested. “They don’t realize September 27 will be a huge day; we are all a part of the movement for Imran Khan’s freedom.”
Later that day, a member of the family told Drop Site News, they forcibly entered Uzma Khan’s home as well. “Uzma Khan has a heart condition; she was sleeping when two hundred men entered her house and broke down her bedroom door.” Uzma Khan wears a hijab, but, the family reported, the police did not allow her to cover herself while she was being detained. “These women are in their late sixties and mid-seventies, but their bags were packed since they knew something like this could happen before the 27th,” he said.
Despite the arrests, the family insisted the march should continue as planned. “They don’t need a case. They don’t need the facade of an order,” said Imran Khan’s nephew. “The people of Pakistan should step out for their own freedom.”
Sameer Khosa, a prominent lawyer of the Supreme Court, spoke to Drop Site about the legal implications of the MPO. “In recent years, it has been used to prevent protests and detain political opponents when there is no other ground of arrest available,” he said. “It is not surprising that it has been used in this case in advance of a call to protest.”
“Imran Khan’s sisters have been outspoken in the past to bring attention to his solitary confinement, deteriorating health, and deprivation of his meetings with family members and lawyers,” said Khosa. “This is clearly an attempt to contain any galvanizing figures in advance of the September 27 long march.”
The general secretary of PTI and the head of their legal affairs, Salman Akram Raja, told Drop Site, “There is this law, MPO, which has been challenged several times as unconstitutional, but it has been struck down, but it has been revived.” He further added, “This is a pathetic attack on Imran Khan’s family; it is completely unacceptable, and similar attacks have been happening all across Punjab. Pakistan has become a fascist state effectively, so nobody’s life, liberty is safe.”
The sisters are being represented by lawyers Taimur Malik and Rana Mudassar, who aim to file a habeas petition in the next few days. In a press conference today, senior party leader Barrister Gohar Khan confirmed the long march will go as planned.
“In the four years since our government was overthrown, we have not been allowed a single long march,” he said. “We have gone to the high courts 25 times and 19 times to the Supreme Court. We raised our voice in the parliament and the senate, but it has fallen on deaf ears.”
According to Gohar, 1,500 workers, five parliamentarians, and one minister have been abducted just this week.
In a video posted on social media, the Chief Minister of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, Sohail Afridi, recorded a message condemning the arrest of Khan’s sisters. He said security forces have been attacking party infrastructure all over the province and that they also tried to abduct a provincial minister.
PTI leader Taimur Jhagra confirmed this to Drop Site. “Yesterday there was an incident where a provincial minister was followed by masked men and people got injured in the firing,” he said. “Another KP MPA (Member of Provincial Assembly) was picked up from his house in Islamabad.”
Addressing Imran Khan’s sisters’ detention, Jhagra said, “It is, sadly, a reflection of a Pakistan today with an illegitimate setup, where everything from the constitution to the judiciary, the bureaucracy to the media, are all controlled and able to flaunt the law as they want it.”
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, who is a trusted friend of Field Marshall Asim Munir, has vowed the government “will not leave any loopholes” in its response if the party proceeds with the long march. “Do not harm yourself and your workers,” he threatened.
Aqeedat Chishty contributed reporting.
Fonte: Drop Site News