By Staff Reporter
PESHAWAR: At least eight leaders of Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, including Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister Sohail Afridi, are in police protective custody, officials said on Monday, a day after Islamabad suspended the provincial government.
Police said those held also include the provincial assembly speaker, Babar Saleem Swati, and the PTI’s provincial president, Junaid Akbar. Officials gave no details of the circumstances or likely duration of the detentions.
PTI spokesperson Sheikh Waqas Akram, who referred to Afridi’s “arrest”, said it could not be viewed in isolation from the federal government’s decision to impose an emergency and governor’s rule.
President Asif Ali Zardari approved both measures on Sunday on the advice of prime minister Shehbaz Sharif’s cabinet. The governor, Faisal Karim Kundi, takes over the administration of the province, with an 11-member advisory council to assist him, according to law minister Azam Nazeer Tarar.
An emergency has also been declared in 12 districts under Article 232 of the constitution. It is the fourth time governor’s rule has been imposed in the province.
Hours later, the interior ministry authorised the deployment of army troops and assets to support the civilian administration.
The prime minister’s office accused the PTI-led leadership of “deliberate indifference in the war against terrorism”. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which borders Afghanistan, has seen a surge in militant attacks in recent weeks that have killed dozens of security personnel, police and civilians.
The federal government and the military accuse the PTI of failing to curb the militants. The party rejects the charge and says Islamabad has not given it the funding and equipment it needs. Talks between the two sides collapsed on 3 October.
Interior minister Mohsin Naqvi said Islamabad had tried to avoid imposing an emergency and had told PTI leaders repeatedly that it had “no issue” with a march on the capital. “Our issue was entirely terrorism-related, and we want to take you on-board on it,” he told reporters.
The PTI has rejected that account. Zulfikar Bukhari, an aide to Khan, called the move “more of a coup disguised as emergency” and said it was intended to stop the protest march. The party’s parliamentary committee, after a three-hour meeting, unanimously rejected the emergency and governor’s rule, and the party said it would challenge the decision in the courts, in the assemblies and in public. Mr Afridi had earlier said he would not accept the move, which he described as illegal.
The emergency came as Afridi led thousands of Khan’s supporters towards Islamabad to demand the release of the former cricketer, who has been in jail since August 2023 and faces scores of charges ranging from corruption to treason and incitement to violence. He and his lawyers say the cases are politically motivated. Afridi had asked party lawmakers and supporters to gather in Swabi district by 14 October before setting off for the capital.
The PTI’s last large-scale protest, two years ago, ended in deadly clashes with security forces, and Khan’s 2023 arrest set off nationwide riots.
Peshawar sealed off
Peshawar woke on Monday to find mobile signals gone. Local media described Bus Rapid Transit stations shut and shipping containers across GT Road at Firdous Chowk, where only pedestrians were let through. Containers also blocked the road to Khyber Road and the city’s red zone, as well as University Road at Tehkal, Arbab Road and parts of Stadium Chowk.
Police and paramilitary personnel were out in force around the Civil Secretariat, which was deserted, and the road housing the homes of ministers and the governor. An armoured personnel carrier, a prison van and a truck of riot police were seen heading towards the chief minister’s house. Saddar Bazaar stayed partly open. Mobile networks had already been cut for nearly 48 hours days earlier because of the PTI march, and the internet went down in last afternoon.
The monitoring group NetBlocks reported a major disruption to internet connectivity in parts of the province. The blackout has caused widespread confusion across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and made it harder for people to get information.
Dawn newspaper reported that for years protest marches from Peshawar had turned the federal capital into a fortress of containers, but this time Islamabad sent the containers to Peshawar.
Which areas are covered
The emergency covers the eight merged tribal districts: Khyber, Mohmand, Kurram, Orakzai, Bajaur, North Waziristan, South Waziristan Upper and South Waziristan Lower. It also covers Dera Ismail Khan, Tank, Bannu and Lakki Marwat. The Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan divisions are covered in full, along with parts of the Peshawar, Kohat and Malakand divisions. Hazara and Mardan divisions are exempt.
Governor’s rule has been imposed three times before. In 1975, prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s government imposed it after Hayat Muhammad Khan Sherpao was killed in a bomb blast at Peshawar University. It came again in 1994 under Benazir Bhutto, during a confrontation with the Muslim League chief minister, Pir Sabir Shah. The third episode followed General Pervez Musharraf’s coup in October 1999 and lasted until the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal government took office in late 2002. This is the first time governor’s rule has coincided with an emergency in specific districts.
Pressure on Punjab police
The emergency also raised concern among Punjab police officers deployed in Rawalpindi division to counter the march. Unconfirmed reports said 25,000 of the 40,000 officers there would be moved from Attock to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Punjab’s inspector general of police, Abdul Kareem, said no final decision had been taken. “If it happens, we will make it public officially,” he said.
Officers deployed at Attock and Wah Cantt have complained of foul-smelling food, poor catering and inadequate washrooms. Videos shared on social media purported to show insects in meals. Mr Kareem rejected claims that adulterated food was being supplied on a large scale and said one employee had been caught mixing water into food. He said the Punjab Food Authority had been asked to check quality.
He confirmed that five officers had died during the two-week deployment: constables Zulfiqar Ahmed, Zain Ali, Muhammad Imran, Muhammad Shahzad and Usman Idrees. Two died of heart attacks and one, Ali, drowned in the Ghazi Canal after slipping. Two others died of severe medical complications. He rejected reports that a constable had died after a snakebite, saying the man was still being treated.
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