Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi spent a busy day in Lahore on Tuesday and visited different areas in connection with the Punjab street movement. During the second day of his visit to Lahore, Afridi mingled with people while Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supporters chanted slogans against him and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) at different points. Stringent measures were taken for his security and a large number of police personnel were deployed to counter any untoward occurrence.
The KP CM visited the residence of detained Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader and former minister of Azad Kashmir Assembly Diwan Ghulam Mohiuddin at Shah Jamal. He expressed solidarity with the Diwan family and condemned the arrest of the elderly Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) member. Saba Diwan, wife of Ghulam Mohiuddin Diwan, Saqib Meer, Yousuf Khan and other party workers were present on the occasion.
Afridi also visited the residence of former Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MPA Mian Akram Usman who is also a close relative of detained party stalwart and former provincial minister Mian Mehmoodur Rasheed. The KP CM vehemently condemned maltreatment being meted out to the family of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) workers by the Punjab Police. His caravan also reached Hall Road where he addressed the public.
At some points, some shopkeepers protested against him. Earlier, in his video message released on Tuesday, Afridi said he was still in Lahore and would again take to the streets at 5pm for the street movement. He said no call had been given for Lahore the previous day, yet the people of Lahore came out onto the streets in large numbers on their own.
"We had not told anyone where we were going, but the people of Lahore came out themselves," he said and alleged that the Punjab Police had erected barriers along their routes and blocked all roads. "The lights were switched off wherever we were heading. Petrol pumps were closed and their owners were stopped from providing fuel to our vehicles," he said.
He alleged that tents at their place of stay were removed and workers arriving there were arrested. He said Ishtiaq Ahmed was a devoted follower of the prophet (PBUH) and had been busy preparing for a Milad gathering when he was allegedly thrown into a cauldron of hot oil and killed. He alleged that the media had maintained silence over the "brutal killing" of Ishtiaq Ahmed.
"The demand of journalism is that right should be called right and truth should be called truth," he said. Referring to slain journalist Arshad Sharif, the CM said he was killed for raising his voice for truth and justice, adding that the nation still holds him in high esteem. He said the Punjab Police arrested Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) workers the previous day and put them in a prison van.
"I stood on the police van in protest, but none of the Punjab Police officials showed any shame or decency." He said the police subsequently told him that they would negotiate and release the workers, but they were not released. "When I sat inside the police van in protest, they abducted me and drove the vehicle away," he alleged. "I was driven around the streets of Lahore for 15 minutes without security and then left midway.
It was a major security risk." The chief minister alleged that all this was being done as part of a planned strategy. Referring to Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, he said the "fake chief minister of Punjab" had said a few days earlier that she faced a threat not from India but from the other three provinces of Pakistan. "This imposed and corrupt group wants to break Pakistan," he alleged.
"I said yesterday as well that I do not face a security threat; rather, I face a threat from security itself." Afridi alleged that the Punjab Police had been politicised and made so "poisonous" that its officials no longer had any shame or manners. He alleged that the "fake rulers of Punjab and their courtier police" already had blood on their hands. "If they think they can stop us through such cheap tactics, they are mistaken," he said.
He urged the "fake government of Punjab and the police" to come to their senses, warning that if their attitude did not change, a strong reaction would follow after the ongoing session in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He left for Sialkot later.