ISLAMABAD: After PTI leaders were denied a meeting with party founder Imran Khan yet another time on Thursday, MNA Ahad Ali Shah said it seemed his party would “now have to resort to agitation”.
“We have reached a conclusion that the government will not arrange meeting with Imran Khan if the party remains peaceful. It seems that now we will have to resort to agitation as the government is not ready to listen to our peaceful requests and demands,” he said while speaking to Dawn.
The Islamabad High Court has allowed Imran twice-a-week meetings — on Tuesdays and Thursdays — with his family, lawyers and other associates at Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail, where he is incarcerated since 2023. Despite the court order, the former premier has been restricted from meeting visitors for several weeks.
On Wednesday, MNA Ahad Ali Shah posted on X that the PTI had submitted a list of six leaders, including him, to Adiala jail authorities for their meeting with Imran.
He told Dawn that the leaders reached the Adiala jail around 1:30pm on Thursday.
“We were informed by the jail administration that a message has been sent and we should wait for an approval.
“We waited there till 4pm but did not get any message from jail authorities. As the meeting time had ended, we decided to leave,” he said.
In response to a question, Shah said the PTI had concluded that “the government will never arrange a meeting as long as the party remains peaceful”.
“It seems that now we will have to resort to agitation as the government is not ready to listen to our peaceful requests and demands,” he added.*
On Tuesday, a caravan led by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, which was on its way to the 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 GT Road – locally referred to as Chungi No. 26.
A day later, CM Afridi addressed a press conference alongside Imran’s sister Aleema Khan, alleging that Islamabad police “fired bullets” at PTI workers, who were staging a sit-in at Chungi No. 26.
Opposition meeting
On Thursday, a meeting of the parliamentary parties from the opposition was also held at Parliament House.
It was chaired by Opposition Leader in the National Assembly and head of the Tehreek-i-Tahafuz-i-Ayin-i-Pakistan (TTAP) opposition alliance, Mehmood Khan Achakzai.
The TTAP posted on X that over 70 PTI senators and MNAs, as well as Senate Opposition Leader Allama Raja Nasir Abbas, were among the meeting’s participants.
It added that key issues discussed during the meeting included Imran’s health condition, matters related to meetings at the Adiala jail and the demand to transfer Imran to a hospital.
The participants also consulted and finalised the strategy for nationwide protests scheduled for Friday.
The TTAP and PTI have announced countrywide protests on Friday against Imran’s imprisonment, rising inflation and other issues.
“Assembly members are being instructed and consultations are being held on the strategy for nationwide protests on Friday,” the post said.
