Gohar slams Punjab police for mistreating Afridi

RAWALPINDI: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) interim chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said on Tuesday that the failure to provide security to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi during his visit to Punjab was regrettable, saying that treating a chief executive of a province in such a manner would increase hatred. Talking to the media at Dahagal checkpoint near Adial jail, he said that Afridi, during his visit to Lahore, received a huge public appreciation. Tuesday was the designated visitation day for Khan’s family members and his legal team. Like the previous weeks, Khan sisters, including Aleema Khan, Dr Uzma Khan, Noreen Khan, party leaders including Batteries Gohar Khan and others, gathered near Adiala jail, but neither family members nor members of the legal team were allowed to meet Khan. “Regrettably, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister was not provided security in Lahore, ” he said, alleging that Sohail Afridi was taken away in a vehicle and left at a chowk without security. Afridi is the chief minister of a province, and the police should not have taken even a single step beyond their authority, he said. “What happened in Lahore last night was wrong, ” he said, adding that such behaviour toward Sohail Afridi was unacceptable. He said that the chief minister of Punjab and the Punjab police need to apologise for such an attitude by the police. “It was the responsibility of the provincial government to provide security to a chief minister visiting another province, ” he said. Gohar said that we have repeatedly said that we are peaceful and will always remain peaceful. We are only talking about our rights and justice, he said. He further said that the apex court had issued an order to transfer PTI founder Imran Khan to a hospital, but the order had not been implemented. To a question about backdoor contacts, he said that there are no negotiations with the government. The environment for backdoor contacts is not conducive. Dialogue should take place, and matters should move in a positive direction, he said. He said that criminal cases had traditionally been heard by the Supreme Court and criticised what he described as the turning of Imran Khan’s health issue into a constitutional crisis. “Do not throw the founder’s health issue around like a football from one court to another, ” he said. Barrister Gohar said that there had been no meeting with Imran Khan in jail and denied reports of any meeting between the PTI founder and a high-level personality or other senior figures. He also rejected the impression that the PTI planned to “march on Islamabad” or block roads. “We will come from one side, and the routes for other people will remain open, ” he said. He stressed that PTI workers would come peacefully and without weapons. “We are unarmed. We want justice. We are patriotic citizens, ” he said. Copyright Business Recorder, 2026

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