“This is not just an attack on institutions, the whole country is paying the price”
KARACHI:
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi said on Monday that repeated denials of access to jailed party founder Imran Khan had left him with no option but to resort to protest politics, warning that the constitution and the rule of law were being blatantly violated across the country.
Speaking at a ceremony at the Sindh High Court (SHC), Afridi said he wanted to meet his party leader but his pleas had gone unheeded. “When pushed against the wall, protest remains the only option,” he argued, adding that protest politics was pursued only when there was no constitutional recourse.
He said Imran Khan led the struggle for “real freedom”, remained Pakistan’s most popular leader. However, he lamented that Imran was jailed without even being granted meetings, despite court orders.
According to Afridi, three judges of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had allowed him to meet Imran Khan, but the orders were ignored by a jail superintendent. He said this was not a personal insult but a serious lack of respect for the judiciary and the legal profession.
He added that after assuming office as Chief Minister, he had written letters to the Prime Minister, Punjab Chief Minister and Chief Justice, but received no response at any level.
“This is not just an attack on institutions, the whole country is paying the price,” he said, warning that justice was being reduced to a commodity while national assets were being sold off.
‘Justice thrown in the bin’
In an official statement issued by the Office of the Press Secretary, Chief Minister’s Secretariat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Afridi said that the constitution and the law were blatantly violated.
“On the one hand, national assets are being sold, and on the other, justice has been reduced to a commodity, and court orders are openly trashed. The nation’s most popular leader remains in prison, and the Constitution is being trampled through the use of force.”
He said that unless the judiciary was free and the lawyers stood united, Pakistan could not progress as a constitutional and democratic state.
Afridi expressed these views while addressing the Sindh High Court Bar Association during his visit to Sindh. The final day of the visit began with a visit to Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s mausoleum, where he offered Fateha and laid a floral wreath.
Later he addressed the Bar Association and thanked the lawyers for the warm welcome and described the people of Sindh as brave, courageous and hospitable.
However, he lamented that the incumbent Sindh government had failed to respect guests and had even compromised the dignity of Sindhi cultural symbols like the Ajrak and the Sindhi cap.
