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• KP CM doubts govt sincerity to engage in talks; says opposition alliance to choose ‘protest or dialogue’
• PTI leader urges lawyers to take stand for ‘independent judiciary’, support ‘Haqeeqi Azadi’ struggle
• Aleema says Imran gave ‘clear-cut message’ about agitation, claims Punjab rulers ‘won’t be able to stop people’
LAHORE: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi on Saturday said the PTI was prepared to step up with its proposed nationwide protest on the order of incarcerated party founder Imran Khan, as he expressed doubts about the government’s sincerity in engaging in talks with the embattled opposition party.
The PTI chief minister, who spent his second day in Lahore visiting residences of party leaders as well as Zaman Park, said he had been instructed by Mr Khan to steer the street movement, whereas the task for meaningful dialogue had been given to the opposition alliance, Tehreek Tahafuz Aiyeen-i-Pakistan, led by Mehmood Khan Achakzai.
Answering a question about the prospects of dialogue with the government in the wake of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s offer, the KP CM said, “Incumbent rulers are showing no sign of dialogue and instead are displaying their dictatorship mindset, which was inculcated in their minds since they entered politics.”
Asked whether he thought issues with the federal government could be resolved through talks, CM Afridi said Mr Khan had given the responsibility for “dialogue or protest” to TTAP. The KP CM said that while the TTAP was “making efforts on its end”, which he supported, he had been directed to prepare for a street movement and he would take “those preparations to their peak”.
For the street movement, he said, he was in contact with all party leaders and organisations as well as wings within the party to run the movement.
Regretting the Punjab administration’s attitude on his arrival, he invited CM Maryam Nawaz to visit KP, saying he would show her how democratic forces respected the office of a province’s chief executive. Referring to the Punjab government’s claim that the PTI had been eliminated from Punjab, he issued a challenge that he would hold a public rally at Minar-i-Pakistan on a 24-hour notice, while claiming that CM Maryam would take a week to stage a rally and thus be able to examine the difference in popularity for both the PTI and PML-N.
He said the Punjab government had not responded to the KP government’s request about him wanting to meet incarcerated PTI leaders at Kot Lakhpat jail. “The incumbent rulers have neither allowed me to meet my leader Imran Khan nor leaders incarcerated in Kot Lakhpat jail,” CM Afridi added.
Mr Afridi was accompanied by PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja and other leaders as he visited the residences of incarcerated party leaders Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Dr Yasmin Rashid, Ejaz Chaudhry and Mian Mahmoodur Rasheed.
‘Beginning of movement’
He also visited Zaman Park with Imran Khan’s sister Aleema Khan, amid massive police deployment around the house. After visiting the residence, Mr Afridi and Ms Khan spoke at a joint media talk, with the latter saying that “today was the beginning of the movement”.
Aleema Khan said the incumbent Punjab government was terrified to an extent that they had closed all roads leading to Zaman Park and stopped even women and children from reaching there. “They have converted Zaman Park into a jail, where even local residents cannot go in or out,” she observed.
Referring to massive police deployment outside her residence, she said she was not afraid and continued rebuffing any “cheap” tactics.
“Today is the beginning of the movement; the Punjab government will not be able to stop people on Lahore roads soon,” she asserted and asked, “Will they shut down all of Lahore?”
Answering a question, she said Imran Khan had given his clear-cut message through his sister Noreen that people should come onto the roads because the incumbent rulers wanted to prolong their rule in the country.
LHCBA event
Separately, Mr Afridi also spoke at an event at the Lahore High Court Bar. He lamented that the courts in the country had been rendered useless after the 27th Constitutional Amendment.
He said three judges of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had allowed him to meet his party founder Imran Khan, but a mere jail superintendent threw the orders in the dustbin.
He urged the lawyers to “stand for an independent judiciary” in the party’s struggle for Haqeeqi Azadi (real independence).
He said party workers were not even allowed to hold party flags in the open.
Mr Afridi yet again expressed his resentment over the Punjab government’s behaviour on his arrival and added that the Punjab Police had picked up over 1,000 party workers ahead of his arrival in the province. “This behaviour has etched itself in our hearts,” he observed.
He said the justice system had been paralysed.
Referring to his responsibility to lead a street movement, he said that incarcerated Imran Khan wanted the Constitution and the judiciary to be restored to their original shape. “The PTI is standing with the independence of the judiciary,” he added.
At the end of his day, the CM made his way to the food street for dinner, but the government had shut down all the restaurants and turned off the lights. People present at the food street were also reportedly evicted. The CM’s convoy later returned without food after some sloganeering. “This is how the Punjab government is treating us. The whole food street has been shut down,” he said, adding that the dinner schedule had been relayed to the provincial administration.
Mr Afridi also visited the residence of Sanam Javed’s in-laws.
Published in Dawn, December 28th, 2025
