ISLAMABAD: The PTI early on Wednesday ended a sit-in at Chungi No. 26 in Islamabad after Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi and the sisters of ex-premier Imran Khan were stopped from reaching Adiala jail to meet the incarcerated party founder.

On Tuesday, a caravan led by CM Afridi, which was on its way to Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail to meet Imran, was stopped from entering Islamabad, prompting the participants to stage a sit-in at the intersection of Srinagar Highway and G.T. Road — loca­lly referred to as Chungi No. 26.

CM Afridi, along with his entire provincial cabinet and national and provincial lawmakers, was stopped by the Islamabad police en route to jail after exiting the M-1 motorway.

Imran’s sisters were also part of the caravan, which was told that it could not proceed towards the federal capital because Section 144, which restricts gatherings, was in place.

However, the sit-in was called off early on Wednesday as the party accused the police of heavy-handedness.

Special assistant to the KP chief minister on information and public relations, Shafi Jan, said on the social media platform X, “Chungi No. 26 has been reopened after the worst violence, bullets and baton-charge.”

He said that CM Afridi and Imran’s sister Aleema would address a press conference in this regard later at 2pm on Wednesday.

In a video posted by the PTI on X, CM Afridi said that the world was witness to the brutality of the state with provincial lawmakers and a provincial chief executive.

He reiterated that a press conference would be held at KP House at 2pm on Wednesday.

A video shared by the party’s Punjab chapter showed CM Afridi attempting to make his way through a crowd as police officers wielded batons in the background.

In a separate post, it said that “peaceful workers were being fired upon with rubber bullets”.

“The only demand is that Imran Khan be immediately transferred to Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad and be treated under the supervision of his personal doctors and family members. The world must pay attention to the injustices taking place in Pakistan and, if possible, take notice of the situation,” it said.

Imran — imprisoned since Aug 5, 2023, for concealing details of Toshakhana gifts — is serving a 14-year sentence at Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail in a £190 million corruption case, also known as the Al-Qadir Trust case.

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) allowed the ex-premier to have twice-a-week meetings — on Tuesdays and Thursdays — with his family, lawyers and other associates. Despite the order, the former premier has been restricted from meeting visitors for several months.

Caravan stopped

CM Afridi had set off for the Rawalpindi jail earlier on Tuesday, accompanied by Imran’s sisters and a number of PTI workers and leaders. However, police stopped the delegation at Islamabad’s Chungi No. 26 from proceeding towards Adiala Jail.

Meanwhile, a number of PTI leaders, including Salman Akram Raja, Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, and Bushra Bibi’s daughters, reached Adiala Jail but were not allowed to meet the PTI founder.

It is worth noting that the cut-off time for visiting Imran was 4pm.

Meanwhile, according to media reports, a medical team reached Adiala jail in order to conduct a medical checkup of the PTI founder, whose health during imprisonment has been the subject of concern and alarm.

Imran underwent a medical procedure at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) in Islamabad on the night of January 24 — a development confirmed days later amid an apparent lack of knowledge by the family. He has since been undergoing follow-up treatments at Pims.

The attempted visit follows a suggestion made by Imran Khan’s sister Aleema Khan a few weeks ago that the KP chief minister visit Adiala Jail.

Aleema herself has regularly been visiting Adiala Jail in attempts to meet the PTI leader but has been denied access. Since her suggestion, Afridi has also begun visiting the jail.

The chief minister being stopped midway resulted in severe traffic congestion, affecting a large number of commuters. Those en route to the airport were the worst affected and resorted to driving on the wrong side of the road to reach their destination.

Speaking to reporters regarding the obstacles in meeting Imran, Afridi said that stopping the chief executive and the entire cabinet of a province on their way to a peaceful meeting with him amounted to discrimination against the province.

He also highlighted the disrespect shown to Imran Khan’s sisters on multiple occasions during their previous visits to the jail, including the use of water cannons, but stressed that the party’s actions had remained peaceful despite the hostility.

“What message are they trying to send? Do they want to separate Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from Pakistan?” he asked. “Do they see the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa so weak that they can enact such cruelty?”

“Sometimes they stop the flow of wheat, sometimes they stop our gas, sometimes they stop electricity, and sometimes they stop the chief executive and his whole cabinet in the road. Will we stand by and watch? Is this a joke?”

He pointed out that during Imran’s time as premier, he had allowed ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif to be moved to the hospital for his medical treatment, but the same generosity was not being shown to him now, despite his “serious eye issue”.

Afridi added that the party had no illegal or unconstitutional demands: “This is a fundamental human right that Imran Khan undergo treatment with his personal physicians, in the presence of his family members, at a hospital of his choice.”

Separately, the chief minister also posted a statement on X, saying that the government’s actions were “not only an insult to the chief executive but also to the 46 million people of KP.”

On the topic of the incarcerated leader’s condition, he said, “The state of his health is a matter of serious national concern and any harm caused to him due to negligence or deliberate denial of medical care is the direct responsibility of the federal government, the Punjab police, the administration of Adiala Jail and their handlers.”

“History will not forgive those who remain silent or complicit. Justice must prevail and it will prevail,” added the provincial chief executive.

Aleema also posted about the stoppage, saying, “After exhausting every democratic and legal avenue, we are left with no choice but to exercise our constitutional right to peaceful assembly in order to raise our voice against this illegitimate, stolen-mandate government and its continued political victimisation of Pakistan’s most popular leader.”

Noting that the party’s gathering point was a kilometre away from the jail, she said, “The blocking of an elected chief minister and his cabinet is not just an attack on one political party; it is an attack on democracy itself, an insult to the mandate of millions of Pakistanis.”