- Workers stayed at the protest site all night: CM Afridi.
- Says PTI will not back down from its demands or ongoing protests.
- All “constitutional and legal” options adopted to face Imran: Afridi
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi has ended the 16-hour sit-in staged on Adiala Road and said the authorities have still not released any information on the welfare of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) jailed founder Imran Khan.
Speaking to reporters at the Gorkhpur checkpoint, CM Afridi said the workers spent the entire night at the protest site.
“We spent the night here with the workers – it was just one night,” he said, adding, “If we have to spend our whole life here for the PTI founder, we will.”
“We are yet to know anything about the PTI founder’s condition,” he said. The Chief Minister said that they would not back down from their demands.
“We will not back down from our protests and sit-ins,” he asserted.
CM Afridi said he has used “all constitutional and legal options” in an attempt to meet the PTI founder, but to no avail.
“I have exhausted all constitutional and legal avenues. What avenue is left for me to face my leader?” he asked. The chief minister said that despite a court order, neither he nor other party leaders were allowed to meet Imran.
Criticizing the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), he said: “Earlier, those who wanted to flee to London were allowed to meet groups of 50 people (in jail) at a time.”
After the end of the sit-in, the chief minister left for Islamabad, where he will first arrive at the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa House in the capital and is expected to file a petition in the high court seeking permission to meet the PTI founder.
After submitting the petition, he will return to Adiala Road.
The Chief Minister said that he would meet the Chief Justice of the Islamabad High Court to take up the matter with him.
CM Afridi said if the courts do not ensure implementation of their own directives, it would amount to “rule of the jungle” in the country.
It may be noted here that the party staged a 16-hour long sit-in at Gorakhpur checkpoint on Adiala Jail Road in Rawalpindi after its leaders were denied a meeting with Imran on Thursday.
Mahmood Khan Achakzai, leader of Tehreek Tahafuz Ayeen-e-Pakistan (TTAP), Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM) chief Allama Raja Nasir Abbas, Mishal Yousufzai, Senator Gurdeep Singh, Senator Rubina Naz and MNA Zulfiqar the sit-in attended Ahmed and others.
Speaking to reporters a day earlier, Achakzai said the chief minister arrived in Rawalpindi with the belief that as a representative of a federating entity, he would be allowed to meet his party leader – especially after getting a court directive.
“The chief minister was under the impression that he is a constitutional representative of the federation. He thought that since the court has put it in writing, he would get a meeting with his leader,” Achakzai said.
“But he has now realized that those responsible here do not respect democratic norms or the language of honor.”
Achakzai said Afridi’s protest reflected the voice of democratic Pashtuns who believed in constitutional rights.
