Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Muhammad Sohail Afridi has welcomed recent diplomatic efforts aimed at easing tensions between the United States and Iran, considering them a positive step towards lasting peace and regional stability, while welcoming Pakistan’s constructive role in promoting dialogue and peaceful engagement. He said this was the policy and vision of illegally imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan since day one, noting that he had always advocated dialogue over war and adding that today’s world events validated his statesmanship and strategic foresight. Speaking at a parliamentary party meeting at the Chief Minister’s House, Afridi said the growing international preference for dialogue rather than military confrontation strongly validates Imran Khan’s long-standing advocacy for peace through negotiation, while highlighting what he described as the profound injustice of the former prime minister’s continued detention.
"History has confirmed Imran Khan’s position," the chief minister said, recalling that throughout the two decades of war in Afghanistan, Khan had repeatedly urged the international community to give peace a chance, warning that military intervention alone could never bring lasting stability. On the economic front, the chief minister accused the federal government of subjecting Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa to systematic financial strangulation because the province is under PTI-led administration. Despite bearing the brunt of the war on terrorism and suffering immense human and economic losses, the province continues to be denied its constitutionally mandated financial rights, he said. According to Afridi, the federation owes Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa over Rs 2.2 trillion in unpaid net profit from Hydel, while an additional Rs 1.375 billion remains unpaid under the NFC share for the merged districts. Total liabilities exceed Rs4.375 billion. He added that although the federal government had committed Rs 100 billion annually for the development of the merged tribal districts, only Rs 168 billion was released in the last seven years, leaving Rs 532 billion unpaid.
"These figures clearly demonstrate deliberate fiscal injustice against a province that has made the greatest sacrifices for the peace and stability of Pakistan." ยป said Afridi.
"Despite sustained persecution and political repression, Imran Khan remains steadfast and remains Pakistan’s most popular political leader, even behind prison walls." he said. Despite this vindication of his big picture, Afridi said, Imran Khan remains behind bars in what he calls one of the most radical acts of political victimization in Pakistan’s democratic history.
"Baseless and politically motivated cases continue to be weaponized against Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi," he said. "Many of these cases have become a travesty of justice."
The Chief Minister alleged that cases were deliberately not fixed for hearings in a timely manner, describing the situation as "procedural hostage taking in court." Imran Khan’s incarceration period now exceeds 950 days, he added. Afridi claimed that the former prime minister is being denied even basic rights afforded to ordinary prisoners, including access to his family, a lawyer, a personal doctor and his sons.
