Lahore, Pakistan: The former First Lady and wife of former Prime Minister Imran Khan Bushra Bibi has filed a petition in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) seeking the annulment of the notification for declaring her Bani Gala Islamabad residence into a sub-jail.
She had been jailed for 14 years in the Toshakhana case and her Bani Gala residence was declared a sub-jail by the local administration instead of keeping her in any regular jail in the country such as Adiyala Jail Rawalpindi.
Since she was transferred to Bani Gala from Adiyala jail where she appeared for his arrest on January 31, 2024, a debate has started in the country with different propositions under discussion including the probability that she had locked a deal with the state institutions with the approval of her husband, Imran Khan, therefore she had been granted the comfort of her house instead of staying in any formal jail.
While PTI circles are of the view that she had not locked any deal with state institutions and she was sent to Banigala against her will consequently she had moved to Islamabad High Court against the decision of local administration to transfer to Bani Gala.
Another probability is that her petition to IHC is an eyewash and actually an intelligent move to mitigate the impression that she had locked a deal with state institutions.
There are several interesting probabilities being discussed in Lahore including that the state institutions have planned to sow misunderstanding between Imran Khan and his wife by endorsing the idea that Imran is a loser as his wife has locked a deal with the state and would live a comfortable life while Khan would stay in a traditional jail. Whatever the reality behind Bushra Bibi’s stay at Banigala, one point is important that this development has further frustrated PTI diehard workers, particularly women cadre. Candid conversations with a number of PTI workers indicated that PTI workers view the detention as actually part of a deal made by Bushra Bibi to enjoy the comfort of the house while women activists of PTI are in jail after the events of May 9 and are living miserable lives.
When the wife of Imran Khan is detained in Bani Gala, the common worker of this party is justified to wonder if all the difficulties and troubles are only for the common political worker. Moreover, the whole PTI media campaign domestically and abroad evolves around Imran Khan and his wife while forgetting that hundreds of his followers are also in jail but the party is not raising this issue effectively.
“If a common worker is caught, no one speaks for him/her and if a leader goes to jail, everyone makes noise for him. Are we not humans? When the truth of the deal comes out, a new drama is created to cover it up by applying to the High Court so that his party workers will not be hated on election day. Despite being convicted, Bushra Bibi is enjoying the pleasure of her villa spreading over hundreds of acres but women workers and leaders like Dr Yasmeen Rashid and Sanum Javed are living miserable lives, and the party leader (Imran Khan) always talk only about his wife and sisters”, asked Pervaiz Kamboh, an old guard of PTI from Ichara Lahore who is also known as Paiji Patangbaz.
Another worker from Rehmanpura when asked to comment said that he believed that the deal was struck between Imran Khan and the state institution to let his wife live a comfortable life in Bani Gala.
A lady minister of PTI who had left the party on the request of hiding her identity to avoid trolling by PTI was of the view that Imran Khan always thought only about himself and his wife.
“I am sure if there is any deal between Bushra Bibi and the state for allowing her to stay at home instead of jail, this deal must have the approval of Imran Khan himself because he is so selfish that he can do anything to keep his family away from any difficulties”, commented the former lady minister of PTI.
