PTI's Gohar calls for dialogue as party decries arrests, raids in K-P

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan on Wednesday criticised what he described as political victimisation of the party leadership and the family of PTI founder Imran Khan, calling for dialogue to resolve the country’s prevailing political crisis.

In August, the PTI announced that it would march to Islamabad on September 27 to stress for the release of party founder Imran Khan. The party has been preparing a central convoy from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), with caravans from other parts of the country expected to join before proceeding towards the federal capital. The federal government has warned the party against going ahead with the march.

Speaking to the media during a visit to Lahore to express solidarity with Imran’s arrested sisters, Gohar lamented the arrest of the founder's family members, saying that four members of the PTI founder’s family and eight members of the National Assembly were currently in custody, while some provincial ministers remained missing.

Read: Warrants out for arrest of PTI's Gandapur

He also called for the disputes to be resolved through political means while keeping the doors for negotiations open. “Political disputes can only be settled through political means. In politics, no word is final,” he added.

Gohar said the PTI leadership was aware of the stakeholders who could be engaged to address the political crises and stressed that political disputes should be resolved through dialogue. He also revealed that Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PKMAP) Chairman Mehmood Khan Achakzai, Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM) Chief Allama Raja Nasir Abbas Jafri and PTI leaders were prepared to engage in talks to end the deadlock.

Moreover, the PTI chairman expressed disdain that the party’s public offers of negotiations were not met with grace by the federal government.

“There is currently no meaningful dialogue,” Barrister Gohar stated, adding that the government did not demonstrate seriousness about resolving the political impasse.

He said political disputes should not be regarded as permanently settled and warned that the consequences of attempts to weaken political opposition were known to all. The PTI leader also said that the situation in K-P amounted to “unannounced Governor’s Rule.”

“The federal government has effectively assumed control of the provincial apparatus despite the PTI holding a democratic mandate,” Gohar asserted, warning that such encroachment on provincial authority could set a dangerous precedent for the country’s democratic system.

Gohar also rejected the allegations that his party plans to attack state institutions in Islamabad during the planned September 27 march. He said PTI aims to maintain peace during the demonstrations.

Meanwhile, PTI condemned what it described as raids on the residences of two provincial ministers in K-P and the arrest of a party-backed Member of the National Assembly (MNA) from South Waziristan.

According to a statement issued by PTI’s Central Media Department on X, a raid was conducted at the residence of K-P Minister for Excise, Taxation and Narcotics Control Syed Fakhar Jehan last night.

The party said that, in a separate operation, a heavy contingent of police raided the residence of K-P Irrigation Minister Riaz Khan in Bannu.

PTI also alleged that the residence of MNA Muhammad Zubair Khan Wazir, elected from NA-42 (South Waziristan Upper and Lower), was “besieged for several hours by unidentified individuals” and “family members present in the home were taken hostage”. The statement further claimed that a heavy police contingent later raided Wazir’s home and arrested him after an exchange of fire.

PTI called the incidents a grave assault on democratic traditions, parliamentary privilege and the rule of law.

“Targeting sitting ministers and an MNA, and holding their families hostage, is unacceptable,” the party said in its statement.

The party demanded that the police officers allegedly involved in the raids be identified and action taken against them. It also called on the K-P government to constitute a comprehensive and impartial inquiry to establish the facts surrounding the incidents, and determine responsibility to ascertain justice.

PTI further urged the authorities to ensure the safety, dignity and wellbeing of the affected families and appealed to state institutions to act in accordance with the Constitution and law. It also asked the authorities to “refrain from the use of force and intimidation against elected representatives and their families”.

The allegations made by PTI could not be independently verified from the statement.

CM Afridi vows to continue peaceful protests

Separately, K-P Chief Minister Sohail Afridi said protest was the constitutional and legal right of every citizen and vowed to exercise that right peacefully.

“The Constitution itself allows us to hold peaceful protests, and we will exercise this right at all costs. If someone says we should not protest, let them remove this provision from the Constitution. If it is no longer there, we will not hold peaceful protests,” he said while addressing a meeting of the provincial cabinet.

He said that they would continue to protest peacefully as long as the provision remained part of the Constitution.

The chief minister claimed that “goons in plain clothes” had been targeting the party workers, office-bearers and elected representatives across the province over the past few days.

Afridi said that Shakil Ahmad Khan, the provincial minister for communications and works, recently survived an attempted abduction and murder bid.

He further claimed that “goons dressed in plain clothes” also approached the residence of Irrigation Minister Riaz Khan yesterday, while similar incidents of intimidation against other party members and representatives were also reported from Dera Ismail Khan and other districts.

The chief minister alleged that MNA Fazal Muhammad Khan had been abducted in Mardan and unidentified people had raided the residence of K-P Minister for Excise, Taxation and Narcotics Control Syed Fakhar Jehan.

Read more: Rule of law, supremacy of Constitution to prevail during PTI long march to Islamabad: Gohar

He said targeting PTI elected representatives and provincial ministers was “absolutely unacceptable”.

“If provincial cabinet ministers are not safe from these goons, we can only imagine what happens [to the people] in the rest of the country,” he argued.

CM Afridi further said the aforementioned actions highlighted that these people were “afraid of people’s power”; otherwise, no sensible person would go to such lengths.

He urged government officials, police officers, deputy commissioners and district police officers not to be intimidated by goons approaching them in plain clothes.

“If the provincial government is not asking you to do anything wrong, do not follow illegal orders issued by any other institution or department,” he told provincial government officials during the speech.

The chief minister also voiced concern over what he described as statements by federal officials regarding K-P.

He lamented that Adviser to the Prime Minister on Political and Public Affairs in Pakistan Rana Sanaullah described the people of K-P as terrorists and Punjab CM Maryam Nawaz expressed more fear from neighbouring provinces compared to India.

According to the CM, roads to and from K-P were being closed while the rest of the country enjoyed uninterrupted movement. He said that those behind any attempt to divide Pakistan or separate K-P from the rest of the country should be sent a clear message that “Pakistan belongs to all of us”.

“We were Pakistanis, we are Pakistanis and, God willing, we will remain Pakistanis,” he said.

Also Read: Do not 'desire' any confrontation, long march to remain peaceful: CM Afridi

The chief minister also defended the PTI’s right to protest, saying that peaceful protest was a constitutional and legal right.

“Wherever we go, we are not being heard,” he said, adding, “In such a situation, the Constitution allows us to hold peaceful protests, and we will continue this protest at all costs.”

He said PTI would continue its peaceful struggle as long as the Constitution guaranteed the right to peaceful protest.

Addressing the people of KP and the rest of Pakistan, CM Afridi urged them not to be afraid and called for continued efforts for their rights and what he termed “real freedom”.