Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi staged an overnight sit-in outside Adiala Jail, where PTI founder Imran Khan is incarcerated, after he was denied a meeting with the ex-premier for an eighth time.
The sit-in, which began on Thursday afternoon and also included members of the KP cabinet, dispersed on Friday morning. Visuals reposted by the PTI on X showed CM Afridi, along with other party workers, offering Fajr prayers outside the jail on Friday morning. Other images showed Afridi and others huddled around a fire. The sit-in was again livestreamed by the party on its social media channels.
Speaking on the livestream, the KP CM announced that the sit-in was being wrapped up, adding that he would now approach the Islamabad High Court (IHC).
“We will now go to the IHC to meet the chief justice,” he said, wrapped in a beige shawl to fend off the cold.
“We will request him that three of your judges had ordered the meeting [with Imran]. In the presence of all our lawyers, a judge directed the jail superintendent that a meeting should be arranged,” he said.
Recalling previous directives issued by the IHC, the KP CM said, “Previous orders were very clear that Khan sahib would be allowed to meet his family and lawyers on Tuesdays and party leadership on Thursdays.”
“I think courts should ensure the enforcement of their orders; otherwise, this is the law of the jungle,” he added.
CM Afridi also expressed frustration, stating that he had exhausted all “constitutional and legal” avenues available to meet his party’s founder.
“What other avenue is left for me to explore now?” he asked.
“I still have not received any answer to this. We had our suspicions yesterday, and we still do because we have not been able to meet him as yet,” he said.
CM Afridi lamented that despite court orders, he, other party leaders and Imran’s family were not being allowed to meet him. He also recalled the treatment meted out to Imran’s sisters outside Adiala last week as he said this.
“You have seen their condition yourself; they were grabbed by their hair and disrespected,” CM Afridi said, adding that such “tactics” were being used to “break the spirit” of his party leader.
Afridi went on to say that Imran’s wife, Bushra Bibi, “who is a pious woman,” had been made a target in an effort to “break” Imran. “These tactics have no place in a civilised society,” he added.
He expressed disappointment at the fact that courts were failing to ensure authorities complied with their orders.
“I have not been allowed to meet him despite being here all day, all night, and it’s morning now,” he said.
Afridi had staged the sit-in on Thursday afternoon after being denied a meeting with Imran, who he has been trying to meet since he became the provincial chief executive. He was also denied a meeting with Imran at the jail last Friday.
The KP chief minister, who replaced Ali Amin Gandapur last month, had arrived in Rawalpindi in the morning to meet Imran, but the jail administration did not allow him to proceed. The CM and party supporters originally intended to march to the prison, but were stopped by a heavy contingent of police officials at the ‘factory naaka’.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Afridi said that police had stopped him this afternoon at Factory Naka, near the jail.
“I told the police that I was stopped last time, and I am also being stopped this time,” CM Afridi said. “I told them, ‘If you stop me, then tell me why you are defying court orders in writing.’ They did not give me a reason.”
The KP CM added that the situation was “worsening” and questioned why the authorities are not complying with court orders.
“A province is being treated like a stepmother,” CM Afridi remarked. “If the representative of 25 million people is being treated like this, then it is not a good thing.
“Would you like it if it happened to someone else in another province tomorrow?”
The CM added that nobody was allowed to meet the PTI founder, be it his sisters, doctors, lawyers, or party leadership.
“These people (authorities) need to decide who they are standing with. If they continue with this attitude, then we will take a final option,” he said, without elaborating further.
PTI concerned about Imran’s health
The PTI expressed concern over Imran’s health while incarcerated, as he has been barred from seeing his family and lawyers for over three weeks.
Former PM’s aide Zulfi Bukhari said no one has seen Imran since November 4 and no reason has been given for denying meetings.
“His health is our concern. We are worried about his illegal isolation,” Bukhari told Reuters, demanding the government give Imran’s family immediate access to him.
A jail official told Reuters that the former premier was in good health and that he was not aware of any plans to move him to any other facility. He spoke on the condition of anonymity as he is not authorised to speak to the media.
The Interior Ministry did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
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