During PTI’s part-time long march on November 3, there was an incident of firing at Imran Khan’s container in Wazirabad. It is not necessary, but still make it clear that we do not use the word part-time as a joke, but as a statement of fact.
A long march that started and ended in during a limited part of the day for six to seven days, considered a full-time long march needs the same amount of common sense as the size of the long march. There is no doubt that the very small number of march participants was the result of Imran Khan arriving at Zaman Park Lahore every night. People use to come out of their houses in the cities or towns from where the march was passing to see the container of Imran Khan and later the container was surrounded by loneliness in the cold nights of winter.
A clear proof of this is that the booking of hotels in Gujranwala etc. was not reported. Neither the media showed any such camp where the participants of the long march had camped for the night. And obviously, it did not happen that anyone has seen the Long March on any highway after eleven o’clock at night. It was a very emotional situation from PTI’s point of view. In this way, the danger also started hovering over the head that if the number of people coming from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa remained the same, the scene of entry into Islamabad would not be less than the scene of a comedy drama. Perhaps this was the reason why the federal government was not trusted, but Mian Nawaz Sharif, the leader of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz in London, also tweeted that he had instructed the federal government not to give any face saving to PTI. So this is the whole background in which the Wazirabad firing incident took place.
We cannot say that PTI itself can have a hand in this incident. Our thirty-two years spent in journalism have taught us so much that there must be solid evidence for such a thing. Obviously, neither we nor any other part of the media has reported anything like that. But we have some questions which are very important. The first question that makes us think about this incident is why Khan Sahib was smiling when he stepped out of the container. We are not at all saying that they should have cried or howled, but a smile instead of worry, surprise and help in the face of a tragedy? This is unfathomable.
The second question is that since Khan Sahib was injured, it was a medical and legal requirement to go to the government hospital of the district in which the incident took place. Khan Sahib claimed that he was hit by four bullets, which means he was seriously injured, he was bleeding profusely, so he needed immediate medical attention and blood transfusions. So it was a natural requirement to get them to the hospital as soon as possible. And obviously, in such an emergency, the nearest hospital would be the first priority.
The report is made as soon as the medicolegal officer reaches the hospital, he or she sees the condition in which the patient was brought to the hospital. Was he conscious or unconscious? What was the condition of the wounds and bleeding? What conclusion did the doctor come to on seeing the victim and what measures did he suggest and follow immediately? How many x-rays, and which tests were done and what were the reports? How many bullet wounds were found on the body? How many of these wounds were bullet holes and how many were in the victim’s body and were surgically removed? These and innumerable questions are covered in the medicolegal report and along with it all the documents including x-rays, test reports, and every letter from the doctor’s pen are a part of this report.
We all know that Imran Khan was not taken to any hospital in Wazirabad, he was taken to his “personal” hospital in Lahore after a three-hour-long journey in his bulletproof vehicle. The question is that if he was hit by four bullets him, then obviously he must have been bleeding a lot. Still, why take the risk of taking him to the Shaukat Khanum hospital was taken? This is a medical question. From the legal point of view, the question which is very important is why the mandatory requirement of a medicolegal report was ignored. Will Shaukat Khanum’s report have any significance in this case? Absolutely not. The law says that the medico-legal report can be issued only by the government hospital. And this hospital should be of the same district where the incident took place.
There were many top private hospitals in Rawalpindi and Islamabad, but when Ms. Benazir Bhutto was attacked near Liaquat Bagh, she was immediately shifted to Rawalpindi General Hospital. Although PTI has prepared a report from Lahore’s Jinnah Hospital to cover the situation, but let’s see how this report turns out when the case goes to court. A report from a government hospital in another district is admissible only if the victim has been referred to a hospital in another district by the government hospital where the incident occurred due to inadequate facilities. Khan Sahib was not referred by Wazirabad Hospital. Even if he did, he would have been referred to the nearest district hospital which could have been a hospital in Gujarat or Gujranwala.
The third question is that when Khan Sahib was brought to Shaukat Khanum Hospital, one of his legs was tied with a bandage or a cloth, but the other was perfectly safe. But when he appeared for the press conference the next day, he had plaster casts on both his legs. And how was the plaster put on the injured legs? Even in the case of bone fracture, if there is a wound in the affected area, plaster is not applied in any case because it causes a dangerous type of infection in the wound. On the other hand, what is the big proof that Khan Sahib’s leg bones are safe that he got off the container walked on his feet and got into a bulletproof vehicle? So why this plaster?
A little out of the way, but it will not be out of context to mention that this is the same Dr. Faisal Sultan of Shaukat Khanum Hospital, who reported that Nawaz Sharif’s condition is in danger, and it is necessary to go abroad immediately for treatment. And to the report of the same doctor, Imran Khan allowed Nawaz Sharif to leave the country first. And then a few days later, the stand was taken that “I was cheated”.
The last and most important question is whether the immediate filing of an FIR is a mandatory legal requirement. We see that Imran Khan is constantly delaying it in the cycle of political point-scoring. They are of the view that Pakistan Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah and ISI Major General Faisal Naseer should be named in the FIR. It is obvious that he dosent have any evidence in this regard. If there were, Khan would not have shown it. The result is that the FIR cannot be registered in the correct legal form it should be. So the key question is that why is Imran Khan himself bent on spoiling his case on purpose?
