Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister (CM) Sohail Afridi said the nation and PTI are looking toward the lawyers' community to initiate a movement for supremacy of the constitution and the law in the country.
Addressing the Sindh High Court Bar Association, he declared that if lawyers stepped forward, he would stand firm for the rule of law, adding that before anyone could fire upon lawyers, they would have to shoot him first.
Afridi said the judiciary could never achieve independence unless lawyers themselves stood up for it.
He said former prime minister Imran Khan was fighting for “real freedom”, adding that life and death rest in the hands of God alone, “so why should we fear?”
The CM KP stressed that people must rise for their rights, warning that the more the public grows afraid, the more rulers will suppress them.
CM Sohail Afridi praised the people of Sindh as courageous and hospitable, saying they had opened their provincial capital to all communities.
He said Sindhis had big hearts and treated their guests with honour but accused the Sindh government of failing to treat PTI workers respectfully and of dishonouring the traditional Ajrak and Sindhi cap.
Afridi criticised the auctioning of PIA and said constitutional violations were damaging not only institutions but the entire country.
He asserted that justice should not be for sale, recalling that three judges of the Islamabad High Court had authorised him to meet Imran Khan, but a jail superintendent “threw that order into the dustbin,” which was an insult not to him personally but to the judiciary and the lawyers.
The KP CM said after becoming chief minister of KP, he wrote to the Punjab chief minister and chief justice stating that his leader, the most popular politician in Pakistan, was in jail and he sought permission to meet him, but no one responded.
He said neither the government nor the judiciary cooperated with him, and even the chief justice was unwilling to meet or reply to his letter. CM Afridi declared that when people are pushed against the wall, only one option remains: protest.
Earlier today, Sohail Afridi, accompanied by senior Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders, on Monday once again made an unexpected visit to Mazar-e-Quaid in Karachi.
According to the 24NewsHD TV channel report, KP CM Afridi offered prayers at the mausoleum, laid a floral wreath and recited Fateha.
PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja, Sindh President Haleem Adil Sheikh, Umar Dar, Rehana Dar, Naeem Haider Panjotha, Shafi Jan, Shaukat Basra and several other leaders were present alongside the KP Chief Minister.
It is pertinent to mention that last night, Chief Minister Afridi had also visited Bagh-e-Jinnah in Karachi, where he addressed a large public gathering and sharply criticised the Punjab and Sindh governments for what he described as their mistreatment of PTI workers.
According to a report aired by the 24NewsHD TV channel, CM Afridi told the crowd that the Punjab government had failed to deal fairly with PTI while alleging that the Sindh government too had created obstacles for the rally at Bagh-e-Jinnah during his visit.
CM KP Afridi also announced that the next phase of the political movement would now shift towards Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), pledging to carry former prime minister and PTI founder Imran Khan’s message across the country through a full-scale street mobilisation.
Expressing gratitude to the people of Sindh, particularly Karachi, Afridi said the strong turnout at the Mazar-e-Quaid demonstrated that the nation stood firmly with Imran Khan.
“Those who believed Imran Khan’s politics had ended should come and witness it today,” he said, adding that the public was always ready to respond whenever Imran Khan issued a call.
Afridi praised Karachi’s citizens for holding a successful rally despite limited facilities, accusing the Sindh government of placing hurdles which, he said, were ultimately removed by the people themselves.
Reporter: Aajiz Jamali