Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi has called on the public, particularly the youth, to participate in a rally at the Peshawar Toll Plaza at 6:00 pm on August 5, describing it as a "decisive" gathering and the "semi-final" of the party's protest movement.
In a message issued ahead of the rally, the chief minister urged people to raise their voice against what he termed oppression, injustice, inflation, unemployment and lawlessness. He said important announcements would be made during the gathering.
Expressing concern over the health of former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi, Afridi said that their constitutional and legal right to medical treatment under the supervision of personal doctors was not being fulfilled. He said that Imran Khan had been kept in isolation and that his family members, party leaders, personal physicians and sons had been denied permission to meet him.
The chief minister said the public had been kept unaware of Imran Khan's health and condition, claiming he was being treated "like a kidnapped person." He accused the authorities of denying Khan justice, alleging that court orders were not being implemented and that hearings in his legal cases were being delayed.
Afridi said he had approached the Speaker, the Prime Minister, the Chief Justice and the Islamabad High Court to seek permission to meet Imran Khan but no meeting had been arranged. He maintained that he represented Imran Khan politically, saying the people had voted in Khan's name and that implementing his vision in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was the mandate given by the electorate.
The chief minister said that after exhausting constitutional and legal avenues, peaceful protest remained the only option. He said that despite refraining from protests for the past two years, restrictions on meetings with Imran Khan had continued.
He asserted that all attempts to suppress Imran Khan would fail, saying the former premier remained "free even while in jail," while those in power were "slaves despite holding office." Afridi accused the federal government of protecting vested interests instead of serving the people and criticised its silence over the situations in Balochistan and Kashmir.
Calling for constitutional solutions to national issues, Afridi said guns could not resolve problems and warned that Pakistan's economy was heading towards destruction due to rising inflation, unemployment and unrest. He said that the government's primary focus was keeping Imran Khan under restrictions rather than addressing public concerns.
The chief minister said that a handful of individuals were pushing Pakistan towards crisis for personal interests, but said the country's youth would not allow this to happen. He described Imran Khan as the only leader capable of uniting the nation and safeguarding Pakistan's unity and security.
Referring to legal proceedings against himself, Afridi said that May 9-related cases against him had been reopened despite his acquittal and that additional cases had been scheduled for hearings on July 28 and 29. He said he would neither be intimidated nor abandon Imran Khan's ideology.
He talked about discrimination against the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), its leadership and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, claiming they were being treated as "second-class citizens." Afridi urged supporters to gather in Peshawar on August 5, saying the time had come to change Pakistan's history and destiny.
The allegations made by the chief minister could not be independently verified, and there was no immediate response from the federal government or other institutions mentioned in his statement.