DLP Report
ISLAMABAD
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister Shafi Jan on Tuesday condemned the stoppage of Chief Minister Muhammad Sohail Afridi and cabinet members in Islamabad, calling it a “blatant violation of democratic norms, the Constitution, and the public mandate.”
In a statement issued here, Jan said the KP delegation was heading peacefully to Adiala Jail on a day designated for family and legal meetings with PTI founding chairman Imran Khan when Punjab authorities stopped the convoy.
He said the same administration also barred Khan’s family and lawyers from meeting him, despite court orders.
“The restriction on the movement of an elected chief minister and public representatives amounts to curbing democratic freedoms,” the minister said, questioning what message the federal government intended to send by obstructing the provincial leadership.
He accused both the federal and Punjab governments of adopting “authoritarian” methods and of depriving Imran Khan of constitutional, legal, and human rights. Jan alleged that Khan had been held in illegal solitary confinement for more than 200 days and denied basic medical facilities, despite repeated requests from his family and party for hospital treatment.
The minister demanded immediate access for Khan’s family and personal physicians, his transfer to a hospital, and full medical care under his doctors’ supervision.
Jan also criticized the current federal setup, referring to it as rulers “imposed through Form 47” who neither respect the public mandate nor court orders. He said the restrictions showed the government’s fear of Khan’s public standing and predicted that “fake rule cannot survive against the power of the people.”
