RECORDER REPORT

PESHAWAR: Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Muhammad Sohail Afridi has said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has pursued every available constitutional, legal and democratic avenue over the past several years, including engagement with the federal and Punjab governments, raising its case in the assemblies and approaching the courts.

However, when a political party is denied relief through constitutional and legal channels, peaceful protest remains its constitutional right and the only avenue left.

He said that on 27 September, the people would come out in full force peacefully and that PTI would not retreat from its constitutional and democratic rights.

The Chief Minister was addressing an important press conference at the Chief Minister’s House, Peshawar. Acting Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Barrister Gohar, former Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser, PTI parliamentarians and other leaders were also present.

The Chief Minister said that PTI had faced continued repression and political victimisation since 26 November 2024. He said that peaceful protesters exercising their constitutional and democratic rights were fired upon at D-Chowk on 26 November, resulting in the martyrdom of several workers, followed by a continued crackdown against PTI.

He said that the persecution of PTI had not begun on 26 November 2024 but had continued since 9 April 2022. Several party workers had lost their lives during the peaceful struggle, but despite sustained pressure and repression, PTI had neither been broken nor forced to bow, and remained firmly committed to its political struggle.

Sohail Afridi said that Imran Khan had remained steadfast despite sustained pressure and adversity. He said that Imran Khan’s wife, Bushra Bibi, had been imprisoned, while his three sisters and minor children were arrested yesterday. He said that such measures had failed to weaken PTI’s resolve or halt its political struggle.

He said that nearly two years had passed since 26 November 2024, during which PTI had refrained from holding any major long march or staging any major public gathering outside Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

During this period, the party had pursued all available constitutional and democratic avenues.

The Chief Minister said that PTI had presented its case before the provincial assembly, raised its position in the National Assembly and approached all available constitutional forums, but no meaningful outcome had followed.

The federal and Punjab governments had also been approached, he said, but no positive response was received. He said that the courts had likewise been approached, but the failure to implement judicial orders raised a fundamental question: if court orders themselves were not enforced, where could an ordinary citizen turn for justice?

Sohail Afridi said that orders had been issued by judges of the Islamabad High Court concerning meetings with Imran Khan, but those orders had not been implemented.

Referring to Supreme Court orders concerning Imran Khan’s medical treatment and healthcare, he said that if even orders of the apex court were disregarded, it raised serious questions about the effectiveness of constitutional and legal avenues.

The Chief Minister said that PTI had utilised the assemblies, approached the courts and exhausted every possible constitutional avenue. When none of these avenues produced a response, he said, peaceful protest remained the only option.

He said that peaceful protest was not a crime but a fundamental democratic right guaranteed by the Constitution. If anyone sought to deprive citizens of that right, he said, then the constitutional provision guaranteeing the right to peaceful assembly and protest would have to be removed.

Sohail Afridi said that when a government and a political party sought to pursue constitutional avenues but were repeatedly ignored, exercising the right to peaceful protest became inevitable. He said that PTI was a democratic political party that came to power through the public mandate. “We do not believe in coming to power through backdoors or on anyone’s crutches. We believe in democratic values and the public mandate,” he said.

The Chief Minister made it clear that the decision regarding the 27 September long march had been reaffirmed at the parliamentary meeting held today.

He said that attempts to derail the movement by arresting Imran Khan’s sisters or by putting PTI leadership and workers under pressure would not succeed.

Referring to recent incidents, Sohail Afridi said that if provincial minister Shakil Khan were attacked by terrorists in plain clothes, or if terrorists in plain clothes opened fire on the vehicle of Fazal Shakur Khan and abducted him, such incidents could not bring the movement to an end; rather, they would give it further momentum. “Neither such tactics can intimidate us nor can they force us to retreat from the struggle of 27 September,” he said.

He said that for four years, attempts had been made to intimidate PTI workers through pressure, cases, arrests and other measures, but none of these efforts had succeeded in ending the movement.

He said that the party could neither be intimidated nor its morale weakened. The Chief Minister said that there was exceptional enthusiasm and determination among the people regarding 27 September and that, God willing, a large number of people would come out to exercise their constitutional and democratic rights.

He categorically stated that the 27 September call would not be withdrawn. “We stand by our decision. We will hold a peaceful protest and will continue our struggle for our constitutional, legal and democratic rights under all circumstances,” he said.