PESHAWAR: Special Assistant to the Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Information and Public Relations, Shafi Jan, has said that Chief Minister Muhammad Sohail Afridi’s symbolic overnight sit-in outside Adiala Jail after being barred for the eighth consecutive time from meeting PTI Founding Chairman Imran Khan- exposes the Punjab government’s “brazen disregard for constitutional rights and democratic norms.”
In a statement issued from his office, Shafi Jan said that the Chief Minister’s sit-in was “a stinging rebuke and a political slap in the face of the Punjab government,” which continues to openly defy the Constitution, court orders, and basic democratic principles.
He noted that after spending the entire night in the sit-in, the Chief Minister proceeded to meet the Honourable Chief Justice of the Islamabad High Court to formally raise the issue of repeated and unlawful obstruction.
Expressing grave concern, Shafi Jan said that no one—including Imran Khan’s family—has been allowed to meet him since 27 October, a situation he described as “deeply troubling and indicative of a deliberate policy of isolation.”
The SACM reiterated that Chief Minister Sohail Afridi exhausted every constitutional, legal and democratic avenue to secure a meeting with Imran Khan, yet the Adiala Jail administration and the Punjab government continue to behave as though they are above the law.
He added that while the Punjab government claims to champion democracy, the conduct of the PML-N leadership reflects an increasingly authoritarian and coercive governance style, further eroding democratic institutions in the country. “The coordinated behaviour of the federal and Punjab governments signals a shift toward authoritarianism rather than democratic governance,” he said.
Shafi Jan stated that with all peaceful and constitutional options blocked, we will now take the case directly to the people of Pakistan and place the facts before the public.
Responding to Federal Information Minister Atta Tarar’s statement, he said Tarar’s remarks were “fabricated, misleading and devoid of legal merit.”
“The Chief Minister’s demand to meet Imran Khan is a constitutionally protected right. Calling it illegal is either a sign of ignorance or a deliberate attempt to mislead the nation,” he said.
He further added that before levelling baseless accusations against the KP Chief Minister, Atta Tarar should explain the IMF’s reported Rs 5,300 billion corruption figures, and the federal government should focus on clearing the dues owed to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa instead of engaging in political theatrics.
Shafi Jan criticised the Punjab government’s role in spreading misinformation, stating that under Chief Minister Sohail Afridi’s leadership, the governance and development agenda in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is progressing without interruption, while federal and Punjab ministers appear to be tasked with “routine propaganda operations.”
He specifically called out Punjab Information Minister Uzma Bukhari as a key figure in the “associate-gang defending the mandate-less Punjab Chief Minister.”
Concluding his statement, Shafi Jan said that the federal and Punjab governments are deliberately targeting Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to conceal their own failures and corruption.
“Instead of manufacturing political narratives, both governments should focus on fixing their governance crises,” he asserted.
