Swabi [Pakistan], October 12 (ANI): Police launched a series of raids across Swabi district on Sunday to arrest Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) workers and prevent a major rally that former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister Sohail Afridi was scheduled to address in the Shewa Adda area of Razaar tehsil.
According to Dawn, the security crackdown and heightened police vigilance commenced immediately after the imposition of governor’s rule and a state of emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister Sohail Afridi was scheduled to arrive at Shewa Adda on Sunday evening to address party supporters; however, the event was disrupted by the emergency declaration, Dawn said.
Dawn, citing sources, said that despite the disruption, some PTI leaders instructed workers to shift the gathering to the Razaar Sports Complex in Shewa Adda.
To scuttle any potential gathering, police personnel actively patrolled Shewa Adda and nearby localities, Dawn reported, citing police sources.
Additionally, significant police deployments were made at Karnal Sher Khan Chowk in the district headquarters to handle potential protests, as well as along the Islamabad-Peshawar Motorway, according to Dawn.
Earlier in the day, Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s son Kasim Khan on Monday condemned the federal government’s imposition of a state of emergency and governor’s rule in the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI)-led Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province.
Accusing Army Chief Asim Munir of invoking “terrorism to justify another military operation in Pashtun lands,” Kasim asserted that “Pakistan belongs to its people, not its military.”Weighing in on the crisis via a post on X, Kasim Khan described the federal actions as desperate yet characteristic of Army Chief Asim Munir, linking them to a wider pattern of governance failures.
“Now, as Pakistanis have taken to the streets to protest my father’s release, Asim Munir’s regime imposes emergency rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (my father’s political stronghold). Having failed to secure Balochistan or Azad Kashmir, Munir once again invokes terrorism to justify another military operation in Pashtun lands. Yet again sacrificing lives in an attempt to cling on to power,” Kasim wrote.
Demanding an immediate reversal of the measures, Kasim called for the restoration of the democratic mandate in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa while pressing for the freedom of detained figures.
“Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s democratic mandate must be restored. My father, our detained family members, PTI representatives and all political prisoners must be released immediately,” he emphasised, adding that the people’s right to protest “must be respected.”
The emergency rule was authorised under Articles 232 and 234 of the Pakistani Constitution following presidential approval of recommendations submitted by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s federal cabinet, effectively stripping the opposition-ruled provincial government of its powers and centralising control under federal authority.
Islamabad justified the crackdown by accusing the PTI-led provincial administration of “deliberate indifference in the war against terrorism,” pointing to a rapidly deteriorating security climate and the absolute “failure of negotiations with government delegations” that collapsed on October 3.
The administrative takeover was immediately accompanied by a stringent security crackdown. KP Information Minister Shafi Jan claimed that KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, who was leading PTI’s long march demanding the release of Imran Khan, was taken into custody by security personnel shortly after the emergency decree.
The federal setup installed Dr Muhammad Fakhr Alam Irfan as the new KP chief secretary and transferred senior officer Muhammad Yahya Akhunzada to oversee operations. (ANI)
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