Jailed PTI leaders back regional diplomacy, question response to domestic crisis

LAHORE / ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s jailed senior leaders on Thursday said the government’s efforts for regional diplomacy were a responsible step, but asked why similar attention was not being given to Pakistan’s internal political situation.

In a joint letter sent from Kot Lakhpat Jail through their counsel Rana Mudassar Umer, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Dr Yasmin Rashid, Ejaz Chaudhry, Omer Sarfraz Cheema and Mian Mehmoodur Rasheed said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s move to seek a pause in the Middle East conflict was welcome. However, they said his ‘indifference’ to political polarisation at home was ‘beyond comprehension’.

The PTI leaders said the party had withdrawn its planned protest at Liaquat Bagh in Rawalpindi in order to give dialogue and diplomacy a chance. They added that the same approach was needed inside the country as well.

In the letter, they questioned whether the coalition government could win public confidence while dealing with what they called Pakistan’s ‘precarious economic situation’ in the absence of political stability.

"Can Pakistan successfully face the challenge of sponsored insurgency in Balochistan without national unity? Can we defeat the rising wave of terrorism without all the stakeholders being on the same page? Can we overlook the enormous blood loss from our Eastern border?," the letter stated.

They also asked whether governance problems in Sindh could be resolved and quality services provided to remote districts of Punjab under what they described as a ‘yoke of illegitimacy’. The jailed leaders further questioned whether democracy’s future could be secured without credible elections, and whether institutional reform and economic restructuring were possible without national consensus.

They also criticised what they described as a narrowing of political space for the opposition, especially PTI, and alleged that accountability was being used for ‘political engineering’.

PTI renews demand over Imran Khan’s health

Separately, PTI renewed its demand for party founder Imran Khan to be shifted from jail to Shifa International Hospital, citing concerns about his eyesight.

The demand came after his counsel, Barrister Salman Safdar, said following a meeting with him at Adiala jail on Wednesday that the former prime minister’s vision-related problems could not be improved.

In a statement issued on Thursday, PTI Central Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram said Mr Khan’s condition was ‘extremely alarming’ and called on the authorities to ensure immediate medical treatment under the supervision of his personal physicians.

Mr Akram also demanded that Imran Khan be allowed unhindered access to his family, lawyers and party leadership. He alleged that the PTI founder was being denied basic legal and constitutional rights, including proper healthcare, access to media and regular meetings, and said he was being kept in solitary confinement.

He also criticised the authorities over the treatment of Bushra Bibi, saying she had not been allowed to meet Mr Khan despite being a former first lady.

Referring to April 9 as a ‘black day’, Mr Waqas described the removal of the PTI government in 2022 as a ‘regime-change conspiracy’. He said the country had since experienced higher debt, inflation, unemployment and governance difficulties.

He reiterated that dialogue and diplomacy remained the only workable route for resolving both domestic and regional disputes, and urged all stakeholders to prioritise political stability and move towards a lasting settlement.