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Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi has called off the 16-hour-long protest sit-in on Adiala Road, saying that officials have yet to share any updates on the condition of imprisoned Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan.
Addressing the media at the Gorkhpur checkpoint, Afridi said he and party workers remained at the demonstration site throughout the night.
"We spent the night here with the workers — this was only one night," he said, adding, “If we have to spend our whole lives here for the PTI founder, we will do so.”
"We have not yet been told anything about the condition of the PTI founder," he said. The chief minister said that they would not back down from their demands.
"We will not retreat from our protests and sit-ins," he asserted.
CM Afridi said he has used “all constitutional and legal options” in an attempt to meet the PTI founder, but to no avail.
“I have used every constitutional and legal path. What route is left for me to meet my leader?” he asked. The chief minister said that despite a court order, neither he nor other party leaders were allowed to meet Imran.
Criticising the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), he said, "Previously, those who would flee to London were allowed to meet groups of 50 people (in jail) at a time."
Following the end of the sit-in, the chief minister departed for Islamabad, where he will first arrive at the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa House in the capital and is expected to file a petition in the high court seeking permission to meet the PTI founder.
The chief minister said that he would meet the chief justice of the Islamabad High Court to take up the matter with him.
After submitting the petition, he will return to Adiala Road.
CM Afridi said that if courts do not ensure implementation of their own directives, it would amount to the "rule of the jungle" in the country.
It is to be noted here that the party held a 16-hour-long sit-in at the Gorakhpur checkpoint on Adiala Jail Road in Rawalpindi after its leaders were denied a meeting with Imran on Thursday.
Mahmood Khan Achakzai, head of the Tehreek Tahafuz Ayeen-e-Pakistan (TTAP), Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM) chief Allama Raja Nasir Abbas, Mishal Yousufzai, Senator Gurdeep Singh, Senator Rubina Naz, and MNA Zulfiqar Ahmed and others attended the sit-in.
Speaking to reporters a day earlier, Achakzai said the chief minister arrived in Rawalpindi with the belief that, as a representative of a federating unit, he would be allowed to meet his party leader — particularly after obtaining a court directive.
"The chief minister was under the impression that he is a constitutional representative of the federation. He thought that since the court has put it in writing, he would be granted a meeting with his leader," Achakzai said.
"But he has now realised that those in charge here do not respect democratic norms or the language of honour."
Achakzai said Afridi’s protest reflected the voice of democratic Pashtuns who believed in constitutional rights.
Separately, Aleema Khan, the sister of the PTI founder, filed a contempt plea in the Islamabad High Court against the Adiala jail superintendent for failing to facilitate a meeting with Imran.
The petitioner cited what she called the non-compliance with a court order dated March 24 and requested that action be taken against those responsible for disobeying the directives.
An IHC bench in March this year reinstated twice-weekly meetings with the jailed PTI founder, allowing them to take place on Tuesdays and Thursdays in accordance with the prescribed standard operating procedures (SOPs).
