Lahore: Pakistan’s jailed former prime minister Imran Khan has lambasted the Shehbaz Sharif-government for mistreatment of Afghan nationals saying, the current anti-Afghanistan policy will only breed more resentment and escalate terrorism in the country.
“The ongoing treatment of Afghan refugees is nothing short of disgraceful. The ruling mafia, desperate to cling to power, will stop at nothing. The current anti-Afghanistan policy will only breed more resentment and escalate terrorism,” Khan, 72, said in a post on X on Thursday.
The Pakistan government is currently deporting illegal and undocumented Afghans. Around 15,000 Afghan nationals have been deported from the Punjab province alone since March 31 deadline for them to return voluntarily.
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government of Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party has however refused to deport Afghans.
Khan said the innocent citizens and security personnel are already paying the price with their lives on a daily basis.
“A formal resolution must be tabled in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Assembly demanding an extension in the repatriation timeline for Afghan refugees. Furthermore, the federal government must grant KP the authority to engage directly with the Afghan administration.
“The KP has borne the brunt of terrorism and must be allowed to address it proactively. The matter must be resolved through statesmanship and common sense instead of fuelling this fire,” Khan said.
Regarding talks with the military establishment, Khan said that he had not authorised anyone to engage in negotiations with the establishment.
“I have never struck a deal in the past, nor will I entertain one now. Had I been interested in making a deal, I would have accepted the offer made two years ago, an offer that proposed complete immunity from legal action in exchange for two years of silence. I rejected it then, and I reject any such notion now.”
He said the doors to negotiations were never closed. “But let me be clear, any talks must be grounded in the supremacy of the Constitution, the rule of law, and the interests of the people, not in any personal arrangement for myself or my wife.”
For the past seven months, he said his close associates and for the past month, even his sisters and legal counsel have been denied their legal right to meet him.
“While (former premier) Nawaz Sharif was granted daily visitation, I am denied this right even on court-mandated days under false pretexts. This shows the sheer extent of the fear my presence commands.
“I am not allowed phone calls with my children, and even my personal physician is barred from access. I have now directed the legal committee to file a contempt of court petition without delay against the prison administration.”
A Pakistani court on Tuesday approved two petitions filed by Khan, granting him the right to undergo a medical check-up and to speak with his children living in the UK.
The PTI supremo has been in jail since August 2023 in multiple cases.
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