ISLAMABAD, Nov 20: President of the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD) and acting president of the Pakistan Muslim League-N Makhdoom Javed Hashmi met members of his family at Adiala Jail here on Thursday.

This was for the first time that Mr Hashmi met all members of his family since his arrest on Oct 29 as earlier only his two daughters were allowed to see him in the jail on Nov 15. In Thursday’s meeting, Mr Hashmi’s all six daughters, wife and elder brother were present at the Adiyala Jail.

MNA Maimona Hashmi, the daughter of Javed Hashmi, later told Dawn that the meeting lasted about 45 minutes. She said though the physical condition of Mr Hashmi was better, her father complained that he had been kept in solitary confinement.

She said Mr Hashmi expressed his determination to face all these difficulties for the cause of democracy and the country.

She criticized the government for creating hurdles in the meeting between Mr Hashmi and his family. She said the court had allowed Mr Hashmi’s family to meet him once in a week. However, Ms Hashmi said, the jail authorities allowed their meeting after keeping them waiting for over two hours. “My mother is ill and my uncle is a heart patient. When I made a hue and cry, the jail officials allowed our meeting with Mr Hashmi,” she added.

She said Mr Hashmi’s both counsel Chaudhry Aitezaz Ahsan and Syed Zafar Ali Shah were out of the country. However, Ms Hashmi said, they would be coming back within a few days and then hold a meeting with her jailed father. She feared that the government would produce her father before a court in a day or two to seek extension in the judicial remand as the present remand would expire on Nov 24.

She said the court had rejected her application for medical treatment of her father while the application seeking A-Class facilities for Mr Hashmi had been deferred till Dec 2. She said the government was intentionally prolonging the case to victimize Mr Hashmi.