“We were not heard; a message came from the Chief Justice that he cannot meet us.”

This was stated by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mohammad Sohail Afridi while speaking to the media after his scheduled meeting with the Chief Justice of the Islamabad High Court could not take place on Friday. 

The Chief Minister, who had arrived with Aleema Khan and Ali Bukhari for the meeting, returned from outside the chamber after being informed that the meeting would not proceed.

Speaking to reporters at Gor Khor checkpoint, Sohail Afridi said that until now, no information had been provided regarding the wellbeing of the PTI founder. He added, “Even if we have to spend our entire lives here for the PTI founder, we will. We will not step back from sit-ins and protests for our demands.”

Afridi further stated that the struggle for the mandate of the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and for the health and safety of the PTI founder would continue under all circumstances. Earlier, he also announced that sessions of the National Assembly and Senate would not be allowed to proceed today.

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It is worth mentioning that the Chief Minister had staged an overnight sit-in outside Adiala Jail after being denied a meeting with PTI founder and former chairman Imran Khan. 

Following the sit-in, he had proceeded to the Islamabad High Court for the scheduled meeting with the Chief Justice, but the meeting ultimately did not materialise.

Reacting to the situation, Special Assistant for Information Shafi Jan strongly criticised the Punjab government and the jail administration. He said that since 27 October, no one had been allowed to meet Imran Khan, despite the Chief Minister adopting all constitutional, legal, and democratic avenues for a meeting. Yet, he was still prevented from doing so.

According to Shafi Jan, the Superintendent of Adiala Jail and the Punjab government consider themselves above the Constitution and the law, and the mistreatment of the elected Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa further weakens the democratic process. 

He added that instead of democracy, an atmosphere of authoritarianism appeared to prevail in the federation and Punjab.

Shafi Jan announced that they would now turn to the “court of the people,” as no other option remained. He affirmed that the struggle for the mandate of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the right to meet Imran Khan would continue.