SWABI: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mohammad Sohail Afridi on Saturday vowed to continue the struggle for Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf founder Imran Khan’s release from jail, blasting the federal government for keeping the nation in dark about the ill health of the incarcerated leader.

The chief minister made the remarks while addressing a ‘street movement’ rally at Shewa Adda in Razaar tehsil.

Former National Assembly speaker Asad Qaiser, MNA Shahram Khan Tarakai, provincial minister for higher education Meena Khan Afridi, Faisal Khan Tarakai, minister for labour, MPA Murtaza Tarakai, Rangaiz Khan, former transport minister, Aqibullah Khan, minister for relief, rehabilitation and settlement, and Abdul Karim, former adviser to chief minister on industry, accompanied the chief minister during his visit to Swabi.

Mr Afridi said after Federal Information Minister Attaullah Tarar’s disclosure that they had taken PTI’s founder Imran Khan to Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) for eye ailment treatment, the PTI’s leadership claim had proved true that their jailed leader was not in good health, but despite that, the incarcerated leader was not allowed to meet his family and personal physicians.

Blasts Centre for keeping nation in the dark about ‘poor’ health of incarcerated PTI leader

“Imran Khan was taken to Pims in the dead of night but not a single member of his family was informed,” Mr Afridi said.

“Our leader’s illness was hidden from the nation. Imran Khan’s eye surgery was done secretly in the dark of night,” he said. “I demanded that our leader should be allowed to meet his personal doctors, but he wasn’t allowed.”

However, in the same breath, he said: “Imran Khan’s operation was successful.”

“The admission by the federal minister gave credence to our concerns about the health of our leader,” he remarked. “The federal government strives to keep the PTI leaders and masses in the dark about the health of their leader, and adopts dodging tactics while keeping him in solitary confinement.”

He recalled that Imran Khan had been kept behind bars since August 2023 in ‘fake’ cases by the federal government, but insisted Khan’s popularity graph was climbing.

The chief minister said he along with other leaders staged a protest outside the Supreme Court on Friday for allowing the family and personal physicians to meet Imran. “After a day-long protest, the government declared that a copy of the medical report would be shared with the family,” he added.

“The whole world knows how our leader was implicated in false cases and how he was kept in prison. Our direct demand is that Imran Khan should be released without delay and the fake cases against him should be withdrawn,” he said.

“The youth should be patient. We will definitely exercise the right to protest in the limits of the Constitution and get our leader released. The youth should be ready; this time no one will be able to stop them,” he vowed.

“Our main goal is to get Imran released from jail. We are trying to ensure that no one takes advantage of our madness. We will come out once and for all. We will make him prime minister again. I am not afraid of anyone and no one can buy me,” he declared.

He continued: “Powerful people can’t buy me. First they called me a terrorist, then a smuggler, but I am neither afraid nor bent.”

Tirah operation

About the Tirah operation, the chief minister said that innocent dwellers were pushed deep in trouble who were trapped in snowfall while the federal government strived to shift the whole blame to the provincial government.

“The federal government failed to take the provincial government and all other stakeholders into confidence, imposed its decision and is now making abortive attempts to shift the whole blame to the KP government,” he said.

The chief minister said the upcoming protest of Pakistan Tehreek-i-insaf and its allied parties on Feb 8 was aimed to ‘change’ the political landscape of the country and those who had stolen their mandate should no longer rule Pakistan and must announce to hold free and fair elections.

The chief minister said: “We will shut down the entire Pakistan on February 8, the day our mandate was stolen. Dear Pakistanis, you will have to leave your homes for Imran Khan and for Pakistan on this day, which will be a turning point in the history of Pakistan.”

Speaking to the protesters, Mr Qaiser described Chief Minister Sohail Afridi as an educated young leader from a middle-class background, who has emerged as a symbol of resistance and a leader to lead from the front. “We are proud of him,” he said.

He added that Afridi remained fully committed to former prime minister Imran Khan’s vision, with the entire province standing behind him and that was seen and observed during the continued ‘street movement’.

He emphasised that the public demonstration was not for Imran Khan alone, but for the protection of their constitutional rights. “People must decide whether they want empowered representatives in assemblies through their vote in the elections or allow a few individuals to make decisions behind closed doors,” he said.

He expressed concern over the continued deprivation of citizens’ right to vote and warned that if such practices persist, democracy and parliamentary institutions in the country could lose all relevance. “Our struggle is purely for public rights. The level of oppression today exceeds even what was witnessed during periods of martial law,” he added, challenging authorities to cite even a single law passed for genuine public benefit.

Highlighting issues of governance and justice, Asad Qaiser stressed the need for the supremacy of the Constitution and an independent judiciary, free from political pressure.

Published in Dawn, February 1st, 2026