PESHAWAR: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa general secretary and MNA Ali Asghar Khan on Monday said that though his party’s elected government in the province had been taken away, it had neither abandoned its principles nor deviated from the narrative of its founder, Imran Khan.
“We [PTI] flatly refused to make any compromise on the rights and interests of the people merely to save our government,” Mr Khan said in a statement.
The PTI leader said military operations against militants were previously conducted in volatile districts without the provincial government’s approval, so why that had suddenly become a non-negotiable condition for the federal government-PTI talks.
He said his party had always acted in good faith but the other side had sought only to weaken it.
Mr Khan said accepting the demands would have undermined public trust, while the narrative for imposing the governor’s rule in the province had already been prepared in case of the PTI’s refusal.
He alleged that the decisions taken by the federal government regarding the PTI were meant to target the party.
The PTI leader said the swift action against Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, Speaker of the provincial assembly Babar Saleem Swati and party workers, immediately after the proclamation of emergency in the province, showed that lists for retaliatory action were prepared well in advance to intimidate the party’s leadership and supporters.
He said the incident involving the torching of a Nadra office in Bara Bazaar, Khyber tribal district, had also raised serious questions.
Mr Khan alleged that the building was set on fire before peaceful protesters arrived.
He said the PTI opposed terrorism but maintained that lasting peace could not be achieved through military operations alone.
“Instead, peace requires public trust and respect for constitutional institutions,” he said.
The PTI leader said the federal government’s disregard for the unanimous resolution adopted by the Peshawar Peace Jirga showed that its objective was not peace but forcing the PTI to submit.
“We sacrificed the government for our principles. Losing power is certainly a setback but there is no greater loss than losing the people’s trust,” he said. Mr Khan said it was not a time for mourning but for taking pride in a courageous decision by the party leadership.
He said the PTI’s priority was no longer simply to regain power but to end oppression and tyranny, restore genuine democracy and secure economic and social justice for the poor and disadvantaged.
“The PTI will strengthen its organisation, stand by the families of arrested workers and continue to demand the release of Imran Khan and all political prisoners. We will not sit idle. Our peaceful struggle will continue until justice is delivered,” he said.
Published in Dawn, October 20th, 2026
