Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Information and Public Relations Shafi Jan said that preventing Chief Minister Sohail Afridi from meeting Founder Chairman Imran Khan is a blatant violation of court orders. He said that, the Punjab government is keeping Imran Khan in solitary confinement and committing serious violations of his fundamental human rights. The ban on meetings with Imran Khan has exposed the Punjab government’s authoritarian mindset before the nation.
He said that the Punjab Police creating obstacles in the way of Chief Minister Sohail Afridi is highly regrettable and condemnable. Creating such obstacles in the way of an elected Chief Minister is a blatant disregard for the Constitution, law, public mandate and democratic values.
Shafi Jan said that the serious negligence of the federal and Punjab governments regarding Imran Khan’s health is unacceptable. Political leadership, family members, personal physicians and lawyers have a constitutional and legal right to meet Imran Khan, and this right cannot be taken away under any circumstances.
The Information Minister said that the ban on meetings with Imran Khan is clear evidence that the “mandate-stealing government” is deeply afraid of Imran Khan, who remains imprisoned. He said the Punjab government has kept Imran Khan in solitary confinement for the past nine months, which is a serious violation of human rights and a stark example of political victimization.
He said that the federal and Punjab governments are pursuing a policy of political victimization to conceal their governance failures. If these rulers had been elected through the public vote, they would have governed the country according to the Constitution and law instead of relying on Form 47.
Shafi Jan said that a strong protest would be held tonight across the country, including Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, against the unconstitutional and illegal actions of the federal and Punjab governments.
He further said that millions of young people would participate in the long march towards Islamabad on September 27. The constitutional, legal and peaceful political struggle for Imran Khan’s release and the supremacy of the Constitution and law will continue..