Afridi, Aleema claim shots were fired at Adiala sit-in participants

ISLAMABAD: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi and Imran Khan’s sister Aleema Khan on Wednesday claimed that shots were fired at sit-in participants on Tuesday night, injuring several people.

On Tuesday, a caravan led by CM Afridi, which was on its way to Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail to meet Imran, was stopped from entering Islamabad, prompting the participants to stage a sit-in at the intersection of Srinagar Highway and G.T. Road — loca­lly referred to as Chungi No. 26.

Addressing a press conference, Afridi claimed that shots were fired on Tuesday to disperse them. He said that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was supplying gas to the entire country, but in return, bullets were being fired at parliamentarians and wheat supplies to the province had been blocked.

During the press conference, they also showed a video in which shots were allegedly fired at different participants in the sit-in.

They also asked whether the state has any example in which the sisters of former prime ministers have faced the treatment being faced by Imran’s sisters.

“That is why I asked if you want to break the country. The people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have been observing how their representatives are being treated,” he said.

He said he had also asked police officers why they were spreading hate. “If hate increases, the country will suffer,” he said.

“We have only one demand: that Imran Khan be treated at Shifa International Hospital. In the past, platelet count was allegedly manipulated by one leader, and Imran Khan had allowed that leader to go abroad for treatment,” he stated.

“Imran Khan was removed just because he said ‘absolutely not,’” Afridi said, adding that “they” claimed it was solely Imran’s decision to visit Russia during the Russia-Ukraine war, but later, the cipher issue emerged and he was removed.

The regime change operation brought nothing but “hunger, inflation and price hikes,” he claimed.

“Today, there is no democracy, and judges are writing letters complaining that they are being monitored,” he said.

Afridi added that a protest would be held on Friday and that they would return next Tuesday to intensify their protest further.

Opposition alliance Tehreek Tahaffuz Ayeen-e-Pakistan (TTAP) and PTI announced countrywide protests on Friday against Imran’s imprisonment, rising inflation and other issues.

CM Afridi said the current government lacked an economic policy, due to which, whenever funds are required, it raises petroleum prices.

“Imran Khan has never lodged a complaint regarding his health, but now he has lost 85 per cent of his vision in one eye. We will come here again and again, and no one can stop us,” he said.

Meanwhile, Aleema said the cipher provided evidence that Imran was right. She said he had stated that Pakistan should be treated as an independent state and had travelled to Russia, where he secured a deal for petroleum products at 30 per cent lower rates.

She further claimed that the judiciary had been “managed” and that no judge was now willing to independently hear Imran’s cases. “My brother had said that there would either be respect or death,” she added.

Aleema added that meetings with Imran had been banned 14 months ago and that for the past seven months, he had been in solitary confinement.

The former premier’s sister also demanded that proceedings under Article 6 be initiated against those involved in the cipher case. She said she was proud of the parliamentarians who reached the venue and participated in the sit-in.