ISLAMABAD: Imran Khan has not authorised anyone to hold talks with anyone for a deal to secure his freedom, PTI interim chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said — refuting the impression given by other leaders in recent days.

“I have not authorised anyone to hold talks on my behalf,” he quoted the PTI founder as telling him during their meeting at Adiala jail on Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters out­side the prison, Barri­s­ter Gohar said that Mr Khan had rejected the idea of a deal to secure his freedom.

His words stand in stark contrast with claims made by the likes of Azam Swati, who had recently claimed that he had Mr Khan’s blessing to pursue efforts to engage with the establis­h­ment, in an effort to sec­ure his release from prison.

Mr Gohar also criticised the government for not allowing his family members to meet Imran Khan. Mr Khan’s sister Aleema Khan, who also arrived at the prison on Tuesday, but was not allowed to meet her brother.

Talking to reporters, she claimed that jail auth­o­rities had not allowed her to meet Mr Khan since the holy month of Ramazan.

Barrister Gohar also decried the jail administration’s act as being “contemptuous” and vowed to approach the courts to address this injustice.

The interim PTI chairman told reporters that Mr Khan had instructed them to expedite their contacts with other opposition parties.

He also said the PTI founder had issued strict instructions for party workers and leaders not to issue statements against each other in public.

Barrister Gohar also alluded to the repatriation of Afghan nationals, saying that KP was being affected by the process. He said that Mr Khan had instructed them to pass a resolution from the KP Assembly, calling on the Centre to extend the deadline for their return to Afghanistan.

He called for a timeframe to be provided to the provincial government — in consultation with Afghan authorities — for the repatriation of foreign nationals.

Published in Dawn, April 16th, 2025