• KP governor wants PTI founder to be shifted to prison in other city or province
• Says PTI workers’ daily protests near jail ‘continuous source of inconvenience’
CHINIOT: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi on Thursday demanded that the government shift incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan to a prison in another city or province, as party activists, due to their daily protests near Adiala jail, had become a continuous source of inconvenience.
“Whenever any foreign dignitary arrives, PTI workers either threaten to shut down Islamabad and Peshawar or stage long protest processions in the federal capital,” he said while addressing a press conference at Rajoa House in Chiniot, where he had arrived to condole with PPP Central Punjab General Secretary Syed Hassan Murtaza over the death of his father.
He added that after Pakistan’s success in a clash with New Delhi in May, the country had earned respect within the global community. “Heads of state are visiting Pakistan to strengthen trade ties, but foreign dignitaries are forced to put up with protests by PTI workers,” he continued.
“Even those who come from KP to Islamabad for shopping go to Adiala Jail to have their names registered on the list of those who hold press conferences outside the jail,” he added.
“I therefore request the chief minister [Maryam Nawaz] to shift him to any other jail in Punjab or another province for the protection of other prisoners and to ease the lives of the people of Islamabad and Rawalpindi.”
Mr Kundi maintained that the entire KP government, including its chief minister, visited Adiala jail instead of working for the betterment of the people of the province.
“They stage ‘shows’ there and disturb the lives of people living in and travelling through the area,” he said.
He complained that the Punjab government was not implementing the jail manual, and providing gym and other facilities to Mr Khan that were not available to any other prisoner in the country.
Illegal Afghan immigrants
He welcomed the KP government’s policy shift to send illegal Afghan immigrants and refugees back to their homeland.
He said Pakistan hosted millions of Afghans during the war and now it was time for them to return. “Whenever there is a terrorist activity or an attack on a sensitive installation, Afghan terrorists are found to be involved,” he claimed.
To a question about the ‘Minus Imran Khan’ formula, the KP governor said many PTI leaders themselves wanted to sideline him and keep him in prison so that their businesses could continue.
On the 28th Amendment, he said the amendment was a reality; however, its contents had not been shared with the PPP leadership. “We supported the 26th and 27th Amendments and will support future ones if they are needed for the sake of the country,” he said.
He said that the National Accountability Bureau had become a tool for “kidnap for ransom”, as it arrested corrupt individuals and allowed them to walk away scot-free after paying money through plea bargains.
Mr Kundi claimed that most KP Assembly members were proclaimed offenders and wanted by Islamabad police. He questioned why the police were not arresting them. “The Islamabad police must arrest them when they roam the streets of Islamabad,” he said.
He said PTI was moving ahead with “imported leaders” like Mehmood Khan Achakzai and Allama Raja Nasir Abbas because the party lacked any person to run its parliamentary affairs.
Published in Dawn, December 19th, 2025
