Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi. SCREENGRAB
LAHORE:
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi will visit Punjab in the coming days as part of a mobilisation campaign for the September 27 march on Islamabad.
The announcement was made at a meeting in Islamabad chaired by the K-P chief minister with party office-bearers and parliamentarians from Punjab, where a major crackdown on PTI workers has begun more than two weeks ahead of the planned march.
“Party workers are being rounded up by the dozens in every tehsil on a daily basis, with some being sent to prison and others placed in detention,” said provincial spokesperson and MPA Brig (retd) Mushtaq. He claimed that 123 people had been arrested in Rawalpindi alone.
He said the crackdown had become so severe that when PTI workers managed to evade arrest, law enforcement agencies were picking up their elderly parents or sisters instead as collateral.
In Mianwali, he said, a 93-year-old man was arrested after his son evaded the police. The elderly man was released and taken back home only after senior officials were informed of his extremely frail condition, he added.
Where health concerns were not a consideration, he said, fathers, mothers and sisters were being held at police stations to force party workers to surrender. However, in cases where a mother or sister was detained, police later released her after another family member offered themselves as a replacement, he added.
He said the police tactic would not subdue PTI or prevent it from holding a massive rally on September 27.
According to participants at the meeting, the K-P chief minister would undertake a three- to four-day visit to Punjab as part of his mobilisation campaign.
He said various proposals were discussed regarding his entry into the province. Some suggested entering through Mianwali, while others proposed the more conventional route via Rawalpindi. Another proposal was for him to fly directly to Multan, travel to Lahore and then proceed to Rawalpindi via the GT Road.
The chief minister is expected to arrive between September 16 and 20, or possibly a day or two later.
He said various proposals were presented to the K-P chief minister regarding his mobilisation campaign and the September 27 activity, while leaders from Punjab briefed him on the ground realities and constraints in the province.
Gohar Ali Khan
PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan on Thursday called on political parties, lawyers and the public to unite and take to the streets on Sept 27 for a peaceful “Justice March”, demanding the release of former prime minister Imran Khan and an “independent judiciary and election commission”.
Addressing a lawyers’ convention at the Lahore High Court (LHC), Gohar said PTI had only one leader and one objective, securing justice and protecting the rights of the people. He urged lawyers to stand with the party, saying a united legal fraternity was essential for an independent judiciary.
The PTI chairman also questioned the prolonged incarceration of Imran’s wife, Bushra Bibi, asking whether any housewife in Pakistan’s history had remained in jail for such a long period. He described the treatment being meted out to Imran and Bushra Bibi as “inhumane” and said such treatment had not been witnessed in any previous era.
“We only want justice and are standing for the protection of the people’s rights,” he said, urging supporters to join the Sept 27 peaceful march. He said the march would be held under the banner of “Justice March” and would seek an independent judiciary and an independent election commission.
