PTI leader Suhail Afridi said the party will march to Islamabad on September 27 if Imran Khan does not get justice. The warning raises pressure for court hearings and restored access to the jailed former prime minister.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf supporters will march towards Islamabad on September 27 if “justice” is not provided to the party’s founding chairman and jailed former prime minister Imran Khan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Suhail Afridi said on Wednesday. He made the announcement at a large PTI gathering in Peshawar, held on the eve of Khan completing three years in prison.

Afridi said the party’s first demand was that the cases against Khan and his wife should be fixed for hearing and decided on merit. The second demand, he said, was the restoration of meetings with their legal team, doctors, relatives and party leaders. He claimed that if justice was delivered, Khan could be released “within 30 minutes”, failing which people from across the country would march to Islamabad.

Saying the PTI was seeking justice and not charity, Afridi maintained that the party would continue its struggle through constitutional and democratic means, including peaceful protests. Welcoming supporters from across Pakistan, he said people from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan had gathered to express solidarity with Khan, and added that the turnout reflected his continued popularity.

Referring to the completion of three years since what he called Khan’s “abduction”, Afridi alleged that the former prime minister had been kept in solitary confinement and that his sisters faced mistreatment when they tried to meet him in prison. He also alleged that the 26th and 27th constitutional amendments had weakened the judiciary and claimed that courts were no longer able to dispense justice independently. The 26th amendment capped the country’s chief justice’s tenure at three years, while the 27th amendment created the post of Chief of Defence Forces and set up a constitutional court.

The chief minister repeated the PTI’s longstanding stand that Khan was removed from office through an “external conspiracy”, aided by “internal collaborators”, after he refused to compromise on Pakistan’s sovereignty. He said Khan had sacrificed personal comfort for the country’s future and had raised the issues of Islamophobia and Muslim rights at the international level.

Afridi also alleged that the regime change in April 2022 had led to economic decline and a resurgence of terrorism, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and said the province had once again become a victim of insecurity and bloodshed. He accused the present government of damaging Pakistan’s relations with neighbouring countries, including Iran, Afghanistan and China, and criticised what he described as dynastic politics, saying the PTI would resist any attempt to impose hereditary rule.

He said the party had exhausted all legal and judicial forums without getting justice and therefore had no option but to exercise its constitutional right to peaceful protest. Urging supporters to continue their struggle for their constitutional and democratic rights, Afridi said he would lead the march to Islamabad on September 27 if the party’s demands were not met.

The PTI gathering in Peshawar was used to press for hearings in the cases against Khan and his wife, restoration of access to them, and to warn of a march to Islamabad if those demands were not addressed.

With PTI Inputs