PESHAWAR — Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi has accused jail authorities of disregarding a court order and said the incident exposed a weakness in the system that prevented him from meeting PTI chairman Imran Khan.
Speaking at a ceremony to distribute grant cheques to the Peshawar High Court Bar and local bar associations, Afridi said he had come to meet the party chairman as part of normal political consultation but was stopped by a jail official despite an order from three Islamabad High Court judges allowing the visit.
“It is a sign of the judiciary’s weakness if an order issued by three judges can be tossed into a dustbin by a jailer,” he told lawyers and guests, expressing frustration over what he described as repeated obstacles to his work. Afridi said he had not been “brought” into office but had assumed the post through democratic means, and that meeting the party leader was his right.
Appealing to the legal community, the chief minister urged lawyers to help defend the constitution by insisting that decisions be respected and the rule of law upheld. He said his government would pursue reforms in education and public safety, stressing that fighting violence must be done within constitutional bounds and with care to avoid harm to innocent civilians.
Afridi warned that the current turmoil would not be confined to one group or province. “This fire will reach your homes too,” he said, adding that authorities should unite behind lawful institutions rather than allow extra-legal actions to decide the country’s future.
