ISLAMABAD – A day after staging hours-long protest sit-in at a main intersection of Islamabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi on Wednesday warned of serious consequences if incarcerated PTI chief Imran Khan was not treated in the presence of his physicians at a hospital of his choice.“We have a single demand that Imran Khan should be treated at Al-Shifa International Hospital in the presence of his family and personal physicians,” said Afridi while addressing a press conference here at the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) House along with senior PTI leadership. He questioned what was illegal and unconstitutional in this demand.
Referring to the relief given to former prime minister Nawaz Sharif on health grounds in the past, he said that then jailed PML-N supremo was allowed to go abroad contrary to the fact that his claim of low count platelets was based on a lie.
“We will not let this happen; we will raise our voice. We will come (for a protest). We will use our legal and constitutional right,” warned the chief minister KP. He challenged the police and the administration that they were even ready to face bullets. “At how many people you will fire bullets,” he said, adding that they were not afraid of ammunition.
The CM said that bullets were fired at elected representatives and political workers. He stated that Member of the National Assembly Anwar Taj was arrested while several workers sustained gunshot injuries. Presenting the injured workers before the media, he said that some of them were still undergoing treatment for gunshot wounds sustained during the incident. Despite the violence and use of force, he added, the morale of party workers remained unshaken. CM Afridi said that he along with the parliamentarians would again march towards Adiala Jail on next Friday and “their behaviour would become harsher” with the passage of time if the government’s attitude remained indifferent towards them.
He accused the Islamabad Police of blocking their way at a time when he along with his provincial cabinet and PTI parliamentarians were enroute to Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail to “show solidarity” with their party leader.
He said that the police action caused the worst traffic gridlock for around 10 hours on the intersection of Srinagar Highway and GT Road. Commonly known as Chungi No 26, when they were barred from moving forward on Tuesday evening.
“We were neither going there (Adiala Jail) to hold a protest or a rally nor we had made such an announcement,” he said, questioning why the administration was in a panic and blocked the main highway of Islamabad, causing severe distress for the commuters. Afridi said that the anti-terrorist squad of police was deployed to block the movement of elected representatives of KP. He alleged that the police fired bullets at the parliamentarians and one of their colleagues got injured due to a bullet fire.
“If they are behaving in such a manner with the elected representatives of a province, then how would they be behaving with the common people.” he said. He said KP was providing cheap electricity, minerals and natural resources to Pakistan. In return, the Punjab government has banned the movement of wheat into KP, and the centre is not providing them with gas, he said.
He said that his party PTI had already issued a nationwide call for protests this Friday, which would be further intensified if their demands were not addressed. He added that the party’s stance would escalate by next week. Afridi said that he had directed his party’s MPAs and provincial ministers to lead demonstrations in major cities across the province on Friday, describing the move as a coordinated response to what he called the inhumane treatment.
