Many people have questioned when will former prime minister Imran Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi speak following the Islamabad march which ended following authorities’ crackdown on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf protesters.
“I have spoken to her. She will speak and will speak to the public, but after speaking to Imran Khan,” Bibi’s sister Maryam Riaz Wattoo said while appearing on Spotlight with Munizae Jahangir which was aired on Aaj News on Monday.
Thousands of PTI supporters marched on November 24 from different cities to Islamabad for Khan’s “final call” to “ensure the release of party members and restoration of democracy.” But the protest was called off on the third day.
They managed to reach the federal capital despite roadblocks and disruptions to the internet and cellular services.
According to the former ruling party, 12 of their followers were killed in firing on the last day of the protest. PTI’s information secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram shared details in a press conference on November 29.
When asked, Watto clarified that Bibi did not preside over the party’s political committee meeting and she had no mobile phone.
“Bibi has said that she will speak whatever she can with Khan. I think she will meet Khan and give her perspective to him,” she said.
Some ministers in Islamabad and Lahore have criticised the former first lady for allegedly leaving the protesters behind when the crackdown was launched on protesters. Bibi and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur were the central leaders who led the convoy from the province to the federal capital.
According to Watto, her sister went through trauma after being targeted and added that no one stood beside her during the firing on November 26 night.
In the interview, she clarified that the protest was a “party call” and the former first lady was not leading it. She added that Bibi addressed party workers to deliver Khan’s message. “It was a call of a wife for the freedom of her husband.”
Wattoo clarified that Bibi did not leave on her own from the protest as it was the circumstances that led to this. “She [Bibi] was targeted in two locations. There are several witnesses to that. Hopefully, videos will come as shots were fired.”
She claimed that Khan’s wife was kept in a place for three days where there was no communication means. It had “phone and internet jammers.”
In response to a question on Gandapur, Watto said the KP chief minister is an “important part” of PTI’s political structure as Khan has trusted him. “Until Khan trusts him, it will be Khan’s decision and not Bibi. Bibi is not the leading party. It is the nature of Gandapur’s political position.”
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When asked what will be her role after the rally, she said the PTI founder had trusted her wife with the responsibility after the workers’ trust deficit in leaders.
“Moving forward, she is waiting to meet Khan sb and she will do whatever Khan says. She will work for her husband’s release. I knew she was temporarily freed. She is not politicizing. Anyone whose family members are in trouble will do their best. We cannot sit and watch things happening. It is her duty and right.”
