Gohar claims that Imran never ordered to stop the dialogue; Says ‘people from the inside’ are the cause of the party
PTI Chairman Gohar Ali Khan. PHOTO: EXPRESS
RAWALPINDI:
The beleaguered PTI appears divided on how to respond to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s offer of talks, with the party chairman adopting a conciliatory tone and the general secretary laying down preconditions.
On Tuesday, the PTI leaders and Imran Khan’s family members were once again denied permission to meet the jailed PTI founder in Adiala jail – leading to a sot-in protest.
Talking to reporters, PTI Chairman Gohar Ali Khan said that not only outsiders but also “people from within” were complicit in forcing them to “beg” the authorities for a meeting with the PTI founder.
“No matter how intense a street movement becomes, there is no alternative to dialogue,” he said, adding that there were no instructions from Imran to stop talks.
On December 28, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Sohail Afridi and PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja told reporters that the PTI would move towards dialogue with the government only after securing a “level playing field” through sustained street protests.
They had rejected the idea of entering negotiations from “a position of weakness”.
Referring to the statement, Gohar said that CM Afridi’s visit to Lahore was not based on party hearing but was done on the explicit directions of the PTI founder.
He said that every Tuesday they come to Adiala jail to seek a meeting but after waiting till the specified time, they are forced to return. “I am appealing to those in power to show some mercy to the country. The system has stalled just to stop us,” he said.
Gohar said that while a ceasefire was being reached with external enemies, internal political tensions continued unabated. He feared that 2026 could also be a year of punishment.
He reiterated that PTI has never called off talks and that he has not received any directive from the party founder instructing that talks should be ended.
He confirmed that instructions regarding the street movement had been issued and stressed that protest is their constitutional right. Sohail Afridi, he said, has been given the charge of the street movement on the instructions of the founder and the party fully supports him.
He added that opposition parties’ alliance chief Mahmood Khan Achakzai and Senator Allama Nasir Abbas Raja have been given permission to hold talks.
He warned that if the political coldness continued, the country would not emerge from the crisis, urging all sides to shed their egos and make room for each other.
Speaking to the media near the factory check post close to Adiala Jail, Salman Akram Raja said that Mahmood Khan Achakzai had clearly stated that it was pointless to break into someone’s house, loot it and then call for talks.
He said meaningful talks would be possible only when the government restored meetings with the PTI founder. He recalled that talks were also held in December 2024 and January 2025, but no progress was made beyond symbolic engagement.
“If the government was sincere, he said, it must facilitate meetings with the party founder,” he said.
Raja rejected the use of the word “beggar” for negotiations and clarified that PTI would not beg.
He questioned on what principle the PTI founder had been placed in solitary confinement and reiterated that talks without access to the founder would legitimize injustice.
He said that PTI leaders would continue to come to Adiala Road to awaken the conscience of the state even though they knew that meetings would not be allowed.
Earlier authorities did not allow any party leader and sisters of Imran Khan to meet the former prime minister despite the scheduled meeting day.
PTI founder’s sisters – Aleema Khan, Noreen Niazi and Dr. Uzma Khan – arrived late due to fog on the highway after the meeting time was over and was stopped by the police at the factory check post.
Led by the founder’s sisters, the PTI staged a sit-in at Adiala Road that continued late into the night. A large number of women workers also participated.
Police sealed all routes leading to Adiala jail with heavy deployment. They closed down business centers, petrol pumps, shops and markets, causing serious inconvenience to the residents of the surrounding areas.
