ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) - Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan has called for reducing political tensions, saying the country, nation and democracy require efforts to ease the current strain.
Speaking to the media, Gohar said Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman had his own party and political position. He said he had told Rehman in the National Assembly that some words in his speech should not have been used. Gohar added that the government’s response had also been inappropriate.
He said Salman Safdar had met PTI founder Imran Khan for the first time since April 8, after a gap of 380 days, calling the meeting a positive development. Gohar said restrictions on meetings had contributed to the high level of tension.
He said denying a prisoner access to family for 15 days amounted to a human rights violation. Regular meetings, he added, could have improved the situation and prevented such tensions, as well as the possibility of an emergency or governor’s rule.
Gohar denied that his name had been finalised for a meeting with Imran Khan. He said he had consistently tried to arrange meetings between political leaders, including himself and Allama Nasir Abbas, and had then sought a meeting through Salman Safdar.
The PTI chairman said the matter concerning the recovery of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister and provincial assembly speaker was heard by the Peshawar High Court and referred to a larger bench. He expressed hope that it would be heard soon, saying their disappearance was difficult to understand.
Gohar said the meeting with Imran Khan was also important for the party. According to him, Salman Safdar reported that the PTI founder was aware of discussions about an emergency and governor’s rule, but had not spoken much about politics during the meeting. Safdar, Gohar said, had not brought back any remarks that could be treated as political news.
He also rejected reports that Imran Khan had said it was good that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government had been dissolved, saying no such statement was made during the meeting.
Gohar said political victimisation was at its peak and posed a threat to democracy. He reiterated that PTI stood with the state and Pakistan, and said he considered the imprisonment of Imran Khan’s non-political sisters unjust. He added that, at his request, Noreen Niazi had been kept in hospital for an additional day.
He said the party was also trying to convene an all-parties conference. Gohar maintained that all Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assembly members remained with Imran Khan and that there was no forward bloc. He said no MPA would suddenly emerge as a candidate for chief minister, adding that any decision in such a situation would be made by the PTI founder.
Gohar said PTI had never supported an anti-state narrative on social media and maintained that the government, army and state belonged to the people. “Pakistan comes first, then politics,” he said.
He called for Imran Khan to receive medical treatment and for his personal doctors to be allowed access to him. Gohar said no discussion had taken place about transferring the PTI founder to Bani Gala or a jail in Islamabad.