“This is not just an attack on institutions, the entire country is paying the price”
KARACHI:
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi said on Monday that repeated denials of access to jailed party founder Imran Khan had left him with no choice but to resort to protest politics, warning that the Constitution and the rule of law were being openly violated across the country.
Addressing a function at the Sindh High Court (SHC), Afridi said he wanted to meet his party chief but his pleas had not been heeded. “When you are pushed against the wall, protest remains the only option,” he said, adding that the politics of protest were only pursued when no constitutional avenue remained.
He said Imran Khan was leading the struggle for “real freedom” and remained Pakistan’s most popular leader. However, he lamented that Imran was imprisoned without even getting an appointment, despite the court’s orders.
According to Afridi, three judges of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had allowed him to meet Imran Khan, but the orders were ignored by a prison superintendent. He said it was not a personal insult but a serious disrespect to the judiciary and the legal profession.
He added that after taking over as chief minister, he wrote letters to the Prime Minister, Punjab Chief Minister and the Chief Justice, but did not receive any response at any level.
“This is not just an attack on institutions, the entire country is paying the price,” he said, warning that justice was being reduced to a commodity while national assets were sold off.
“Justice thrown in the trash”
In an official statement issued by the Office of the Press Secretary of the Chief Minister’s Secretariat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Afridi said that the Constitution and law were being blatantly violated.
“On the one hand, national assets are being sold off, and on the other, justice has been reduced to a commodity and court orders are openly thrown into the trash. The country’s most popular leader remains in prison and the Constitution is being trampled underfoot through the use of force.”
He said that if the judiciary was not free and lawyers did not unite, Pakistan could not progress as a constitutional and democratic state.
Afridi expressed these views while addressing the Sindh High Court Bar Association during his visit to Sindh. The last day of the tour began with a visit to the mausoleum of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, where he offered Fateha and laid a floral wreath.
Later, addressing the Bar Council, he thanked the lawyers for their warm welcome and described the people of Sindh as brave, courageous and hospitable.
However, he regretted that the current Sindh government did not respect the guests and even compromised the dignity of Sindhi cultural symbols such as Ajrak and Sindhi cap.
