KP CM Sohail Afridi visits families of jailed senior PTI leaders in Lahore
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi on Saturday visited the families of jailed senior PTI leaders Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Dr Yasmin Rashid, who are incarcerated at Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat jail.
On Friday, CM Afridi had spent his first of three days in Lahore greeting and addressing PTI supporters, who met him at different points en route to the city.
On Saturday, he visited the families of jailed PTI leaders as he was not granted permission to meet them Kot Lakhpat jail.
In a post on social media platform X at around 11am on Saturday, PTI’s Naeem Haider Panjutha said Afridi’s “Lahore tour had begun” and they were heading to Qureshi’s house first.
Visuals showed Qureshi’s son Zain and daughter Meher Bano present during the meeting. Addressing the media alongside them, CM Afridi said, “This is my Pakistan, and wherever I go in the entire Pakistan, I do not need a reason for it.”
The chief minister said the aim of his Lahore journey is to meet party leaders. He detailed that the KP government had written to Punjab seeking a time for meeting the imprisoned leaders at Kot Lakhpat Jail, but it “did not respond”.
Afridi mentioned the names of multiple incarcerated leaders he wanted to meet and added, “I also wanted to meet the rest of the leadership and workers, but unfortunately, they did not let me meet.”
He went on to say that the Punjab government’s “attitude since yesterday showed low mentality“.
Asked whether he thought issues with the federal government could be resolved through talks, CM Afridi said PTI founder Imran Khan had given the responsibility for “dialogue or protest“ to the opposition alliance Tehreek-i-Tahafuz-i-Ayin-i-Pakistan (TTAP).
The KP CM said that while the TTAP was “making efforts on its end” and he supported those, he had been directed to prepare for a street movement and he would take “those preparations to their peak”.
The TTAP on Thursday welcomed Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s recent invitation for talks. However, no concrete steps have so far been taken by the government to initiate a formal talks process, and PTI leaders say they are waiting for the government to make the first move.
PM’s Adviser on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah has stressed that PM Shehbaz would decide on talks with PTI once the opposition party clarifies its stance on negotiations.
Around 20 minutes later, he posted that the party convoy was on its way to Rashid‘s residence. In a separate post, Panjutha said the PTI leaders would also visit Ejaz Chaudhry’s family, attend high court conventions and “then everyone will take to the streets”.
At 12pm, the PTI’s official X account said the chief minister had met with the family members of Rashid. The party also shared photos from the meeting.
The KP CM also plans to visit the residences of PTI leaders Mian Mahmoodur Rasheed and Hammad Azhar, as well as party activists Sanam Javed and Falak Javed.
In the evening, he will head to the residence of PTI worker Ali Bilal, also known as Zille Shah, who died during a party protest in 2023.
According to Panjutha, the KP CM was not able to visit former governor Omar Sarfraz Cheema’s house as it was located in a cantonment and “permission was not being given to enter”.
Afridi’s convoy had entered Lahore around 4:30pm on Friday, from where he made a beeline for the Punjab Assembly. The visit to the provincial legislature was marred by altercations between members of his entourage and security officials, while several heated exchanges between PTI leaders and journalists were also witnessed.
Although the KP CM managed to reach Liberty Roundabout last night, he was unable to deliver a planned speech at the venue as a heavy contingent of police had blocked all roads leading to the area by setting up pickets.
Visits residences of Mahmood Qureshi, Dr Yasmin Rashid.
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