LAHORE: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi cast doubt on the government‘s sincerity to hold talks with the PTI and said he was actively making efforts to initiate the party’s street movement by kicking off contacts with multiple stakeholders.

Accompanied by PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja and other leaders on the second day of his three-day Lahore visit, the KP chief minister spoke to the media on two occasions as he visited the residences of incarcerated party leaders Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Dr Yasmin Rashid, Ejaz Chaudhry and Mian Mahmoodur Rasheed.

Answering a question about the prospects of dialogue with the government in the wake of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s offer, the KP chief minister said: “Incumbent rulers are showing no sign of dialogue and instead are displaying their dictatorship mindset, which was inculcated in their minds since they began politics.”

Asked whether he thought issues with the federal government could be resolved through talks, CM Afridi said Imran 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”, which he supported, he had been directed to prepare for a street movement and he would take “those preparations to their peak”.

“Imran Khan is a symbol of national solidarity and stresses that everyone needs to respect others,” the chief minister added.

For the street movement, he said he was in contact with all party leaders and organisations, as well as wings within the party to run the movement.

The TTAP on Thursday welcomed PM Shehbaz’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.

Referring to the Punjab government’s claim that the PTI had been eliminated from Punjab, he issued a challenge that he would hold a public rally at Minar-i-Pakistan on a 24-hour notice, while claiming that Punjab CM Maryam Nawaz would take a week to stage a rally and thus be able to examine the difference in popularity for both the PTI and PML-N.

CM Afridi quipped that he would support her in establishing a stage and providing vehicles to bring supporters.

He also criticised the Punjab government for its rude behaviour with him, as well as party leaders and workers, during his arrival at Chakri interchange to reach the Punjab Assembly a day ago.

“This shows their mean mentality that cannot be approved in a civilised society,” he lambasted and alleged that the “Punjab government is fanning hatred between the two provinces.“

Regretting the administration’s attitude on his arrival, he invited CM Maryam to visit KP, saying he would show her how democratic forces respected the office of a province’s chief executive.

He said the Punjab government had not responded to the KP government’s request about him wanting to meet incarcerated PTI leaders at Kot Lakhpat jail. “The incumbent rulers have neither allowed me to meet my leader Imran Khan nor leaders incarcerated in Kot Lakhpat jail,” CM Afridi added.

The KP chief minister said that he was impressed with the courage that the incarcerated leaders and their family members had shown in the face of “fascism” unleashed against them.

Bemoans treatment of courts in address to LHCBA

Speaking to the legal community at the Lahore High Court Bar Association, CM Afridi lamented that the courts in the country had been rendered useless after the 27th Constitutional Amendment.

He said three judges of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had allowed him to meet Imran, but “a mere jail superintendent threw the orders in the dustbin”.

The chief minister urged the lawyers’ fraternity to “stand for an independent judiciary” in the party’s struggle for real independence. He complained that PTI workers were not even allowed to hold party flags in the open.

Referring to his responsibility to run the PTI’s street movement, he said Imran wanted the Constitution and the judiciary to be restored in their original shape. “The PTI is standing with the independence of the judiciary,” he added.

Visit to Imran’s Zaman Park residence

The KP chief minister also visited Imran’s residence at Zaman Park with Aleema Khanum amidst massive police deployment around the house.

The two spoke at a joint media talk amidst massive sloganeering by party workers.

Aleema alleged the Punjab government was “terrified” to the extent that it had closed all roads leading to Zaman Park and stopped even women and children from reaching there. “They have converted Zamaan Park into a jail, where even residents cannot go in or out,” she added.

Referring to the massive police deployment outside her residence, she said she was not afraid and continued rebuffing any “cheap tactics”.

She said CM Afridi and others would come and sit at the spot too and people would see how long the administration would be able hold them away.

“Today is the beginning of the movement; the Punjab government will not be able to stop people on Lahore roads soon,” she asserted and asked, “Will they shut down all of Lahore?”

Answering a question, she said, Imran had given his clear-cut message through Noreen Niazi that people should come out on the roads because the “incumbent rulers want to prolong their rule and loot in the country”.

CM Afridi said that he was half-happy that he had arrived at his leader’s home alone and wished he had been accompanied by Imran. “My leader will soon be with me here,” he said.

He said those in the government never wanted talks; instead, they wanted the confrontation between the political parties to continue.

Later, he paid a brief visit to the residences of Hammad Azhar, where he offered prayers for the recently deceased Mian Azhar, and party worker Zill-e-Shah, who died during a party protest in 2023.

Meetings with families of jailed leaders

CM Afridi first visited Qureshi‘s home, with visuals released by the PTI on X showing the former foreign minister’s son Zain Qureshi and daughter Meher Bano present during the meeting. Addressing the media alongside them, Afridi said, “This is my Pakistan, and wherever I go, I do not need a reason for it.”

The chief minister said the aim of his Lahore trip was to meet party leaders.

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 them.”

Following Afridi’s visit, Zain expressed his heartfelt gratitude to him and other PTI leaders in a post on X.

He said the KP CM enquired about Qureshi’s health, “hailed his sacrifices and also visited my mother”. “His visit is a source of encouragement and strength for us.”

According to statements by his focal person for digital media Yar Muhammad Khan Niazi, CM Afridi also met Yasmin’s husband, Rashid Nabi Malik, and Chaudhry’s wife and children.

According to PTI lawyer Naeem 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”.

At Rasheed’s residence, KP Local Government Minister Meena Khan Afridi asserted that Punjab stood with Imran and “had always given us affection”.

While on his way to Rasheed’s house, Panjutha said there will be lots of people on the streets of Lahore in the evening, and called on the public to take part in the PTI’s movement till Imran’s release.

First day in Lahore

Afridi had arrived in Lahore on Friday around 4:30pm, from where he made a beeline for the Punjab Assembly. However, 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.

Addressing PTI lawmakers at the Punjab Assembly, he had thanked the people of Punjab for their hospitality, but highlighted his treatment at the hands of the police during the journey to Lahore.

“Today, the Punjab Police were rude to our workers at Chakri Interchange, Bhera, Sargodha and Mandi Bahauddin,” he said. “Our workers, our parliamentarians, our leaders — they were harassed and arrested. This cannot be condemned enough.”

In separate remarks to the media, Afridi had said he was in Lahore to launch a mass street movement on the instructions of Imran, urging the masses to prepare themselves and confront oppression and fascism without making mistakes.

“We will take Imran Khan’s ‘Haqeeqi Azadi’ (real independence) movement to its logical conclusion, restore the supremacy of the Constitution and law, and revive an independent judiciary and independent media,” he had asserted.