Friday’s Senate session saw heated exchanges over rising poverty, the health and detention of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) women leaders, including Noreen Niazi, and alleged extrajudicial killings reaching Islamabad.
PTI parliamentary leader Senator Ali Zafar cited a World Bank report, saying that 48 per cent of the people living below the poverty line in the region were in Pakistan, and that people earning less than three dollars were below the poverty line.
PTI Senator Mohsin Aziz protested over Noreen Niazi, the 70-year-old ailing sister of PTI founder Imran Khan. He demanded treatment for her and access for her family.
Minister of State for Interior Tallal Chaudhry assured the House that there would be no negligence. He said she had been brought to hospital on doctors’ advice, and that treatment was decided by doctors.
PTI Senator Azam Swati said he had spoken to her husband, who said her treatment was progressing well and thanked the government for allowing her to meet her elder daughter.
Senate Opposition Leader Allama Raja Nasir Abbas welcomed the meeting with her daughter, but criticised the detention of PTI women leaders and activists. Referring to Dr Yasmin Rashid and Imran Khan’s sisters, detained under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO), he demanded the release of women detainees.
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) Senator Kamran Murtaza warned that extrajudicial killings had now reached Islamabad.
The debate comes days after an anti-terrorism court sentenced Imaan Mazari and Hadi Ali Chattha to 10 years each.
Sources: Dawn, 31 October 2026 — https://www.dawn.com/news/2041095
