By Staff Reporter
PESHAWAR: The chief minister of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province accused the authorities on Sunday of isolating Imran Khan, the jailed founder of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, in Adiala jail since Nov. 4, amid growing tensions over denied access to the former prime minister.
Sohail Afridi, the chief minister, made the claim during a news conference in Peshawar following a meeting of his party’s parliamentary delegation. He voiced alarm over what he called “troubling reports” about Khan’s condition that have appeared in international media outlets. “We went to Adiala, but were not allowed to meet even for two minutes,” Afridi said. “We even approached the high court, but the meeting could not take place.”
The remarks came days after Afridi led a 16-hour sit-in outside Adiala Road on Nov. 27, protesting the refusal to allow him to visit Khan. The former prime minister has been held in Adiala jail since August 2023, following his removal from office in April 2022 through a no-confidence motion orchestrated by opposition parties.
During the news conference, Afridi announced that members of his party would proceed to Adiala jail after holding a demonstration outside the Islamabad High Court. The provincial wing of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf has scheduled the protest for Dec. 2, specifically to challenge the ongoing denial of meetings with Khan.
Afridi characterized the restrictions as an effort to “push us towards confrontation,” but he insisted that his party would avoid escalating the situation. “We would not go down that path,” he said. Chief Minister also expressed frustration at being placed on a “stop list” that barred his entry, describing it as “discriminatory treatment” directed at the chief minister of a province.
The parliamentary meeting also addressed broader provincial concerns, with a decision to prioritize participation in the forthcoming National Finance Commission meeting. “We will fight for the rights of the merged districts and for the province,” Afridi said. He noted that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has been deprived of its rightful share under the National Finance Commission Award since 2018. According to Afridi, the federal government owes the province Rs1,350 billion accumulated over the past seven years.
Copyright © 2021 Independent Pakistan | All rights reserved
