NAWABSHAH: Family members and opponents of Ismail Dahiri — a former special assistant to the CM and estranged close aide to President Asif Ali Zardari — held separate media talks at the Nawabshah Press Club on Monday.

His sisters Hameeda Dahiri and Farida Dahiri told journalists that their two brothers had been arrested in concocted drug smuggling and other cases to victimise them on political grounds.

They insisted that the “fake” cases should be withdrawn and their brothers should be released.

They also complained that they [the sisters] were not being allowed to meet the arrested brothers, Ismail Dahiri and Ali Raza Dahiri.

Opponents insist he is a criminal, had unleashed a reign of terror

The two sisters were present in the sessions court for the hearing of the case against their brothers. They alleged that their opponents, Awais Dahiri,

Dildar Dahiri and others, subjected them to threats of dire consequences.

They claimed that their family was being victimised by the leadership of the Pakistan Peoples Party ever since Ismail Dahiri had filed his nomination papers against Sardar Khan Mohammed Dahiri in the 2024 general elections.

On their part, Ismail Dahiri’s opponents, Awais Dahiri and Ali Gohar Dahiri [the latter being a cousin and brother-in-law of Ismail Dahiri] speaking at a press conference at the same press club on Monday levelled serious allegations against Ismail. They insisted that the drug trafficking case registered against him was genuine. They also criticised Ismail and his family for levelling wild allegations against the PPP leadership.

“Ismail Dahiri has become a sign of terror in the area and was desperately struggling to become chieftain of his clan. “He had unleashed a reign of terror by grabbing someone’s property and bulldozing some others’ houses and also implicating them in false cases,” they alleged.

They urged the PPP leadership to get an inquiry held against Ismail’s conduct and atrocities against common people with a view to save them from tyranny.

They demanded strict legal action and registration of more cases against him.

Published in Dawn, October 29th, 2024