Govt mulls relocating PTI founder from Adiala jail, says PM’s coordinator

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister’s Coordinator for Information and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Affairs, Ikhtiar Wali Khan, said on Wednesday that the government is considering relocating Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan from Adiala Jail, Rawalpindi, to a prison in another province.

Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, Ikhtiar Wali Khan said daily PTI protests outside Adiala Jail had made life difficult for residents. He claimed the PTI leadership itself wanted “prisoner number 804” to be shifted from Punjab to another province.

The coordinator accused PTI of pursuing an agenda aimed at creating instability in the country. “Under the name of protest, they are trying to spread chaos and disorder,” he said, adding that PTI activists are creating a situation to have the former prime minister transferred to another province for political motives.

Ikhtiar Wali further alleged that PTI was “attacking the country’s dignity and progress on a daily basis” and misleading the youth.

He also levelled serious accusations against the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government, claiming there was “collusion between the provincial government and terrorists.”

He said KP authorities were acting as “facilitators” and added that vehicles belonging to two provincial ministers were currently impounded over drug-related cases. “Even in the chief minister’s own district, drugs are being openly traded,” he alleged.

Ikhtiar Wali said all doors of negotiation with the PTI founder were closed. “Even a local councillor in Rawalpindi is not willing to talk to them,” he remarked.

He added that a clear line must now be drawn “between those who stand with Pakistan and those who act against it.”

“They attacked the federation and now want to become political martyrs,” he said.

Last week, DG ISPR Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry in his press conference, strongly criticized what he described as “poisonous propaganda” against the Pakistan Army, attributing it to a “mentally unstable individual” and his associates.

“He who criticizes Pakistan Army and its leadership, is he trying to create space for some other power or force?” asked the DG ISPR.

He was of the view that this “mentally ill” person thinks that Pakistan and its politics revolves around him and only him and if he isn’t in power, the whole system is either corrupt, built on injustice or is mere dictatorship.