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PESHAWAR (Manend News) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mohammad Sohail Afridi on Thursday said the PTI’s April 9 show of power at Rawalpindi’s Liaquat Bagh was called off on the instructions of party founder Imran Khan.
“The Rawalpindi moot was cancelled in view of the local events related to regional and global developments. The incarcerated former prime minister [Imran Khan] has instructed me to hold a political gathering in KP within 10 days,” Mr Afridi told a news conference at the Chief Minister’s House here.
He said that the PTI founder had issued orders to take political decisions through collective wisdom.
The chief minister said that a meeting with the opposition alliance Tehreek Tahafuz Ayeen-i-Pakistan (TTAP) was expected, with the date for the KP political gathering to be announced soon.
CM complains PTI founder denied meetings with family, personal physician
He said that even though the police baton-charged the PTI workers and Imran Khan’s sisters and the party cancelled the April 9 gathering, the “other side is not showing restraint”.
Mr Afridi complained that the PTI founder was denied meetings with his family members and personal physician despite facing health issues, including poor eyesight.
He said in the past, political parties faced the situation that PTI was currently subjected to.
The chief minister said that the PTI utilised all options and questioned where they should go now.
He added that his party should be given “political space” after utilising all options.
“Why is it only the PTI that always has to render sacrifices? They expect more sacrifices from us but that is not going to happen anymore,” he said.
The chief minister said that everybody had to play its part and offer sacrifices. He demanded that Mr Imran be shifted to any hospital suggested by his family members for medical treatment as his constitutional right.
Responding to questions, Mr Afridi welcomed meetings between officials from Pakistan, Afghanistan and China in the Chinese city of Urumqi over border tensions and said that wars never resolved issues.
“We welcome the dialogue but the stakeholders, including our KP government, political and religious leadership as well as tribal elders, who better understand the delicate ground situation, should be part of the talks to ensure it’s a result-oriented exercise,” he said.
The chief minister said that the provincial government would fully support Pakistan’s dialogue with Afghanistan as the bilateral conflict not only declined the volume of the annual trade between the two neighbouring countries from Rs7 billion to Rs3 billion but also badly affected the lives of the people living on both sides of the border.
He said that it was pleasant to see the world appreciate Pakistan’s role in brokering a ceasefire between Iran and the United States amid the raging Middle East conflict.
Mr Afridi added that PTI founder Imran Khan had been emphasising that role since 2002.
“Imran Khan has always asked Pakistan not to become part of others’ war and restrict itself to mediation only. We are still stuck in the swamp and paying the price for becoming part of someone else’s war,” he said.
About forced repatriation of Afghan refugees from the country, Mr Afridi said that only those, who had been involved in anti-state or criminal activities, should be sent back, while those, who had no criminal record and were contributing to the national economy, should be allowed to stay put.
“Even if Afghans are to be sent back, that should happen in a dignified manner,” he said.