Peshawar: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Barrister Gohar Khan termed Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s offer for talks a “merely symbolic” one, saying that no positive step has been taken beyond extending the invitation.
Speaking to journalists in Rawalpindi, Barrister Gohar said his party had been denied a meeting with its jailed founder Imran Khan for a year, with the last meeting taking place in October last year.
“We have always stood with the state of Pakistan,” he said, adding that despite the party’s good intentions, it was still not being allowed to meet its leader.
The PTI chairman’s remarks came hours after the prime minister extended a conditional offer of talks to the PTI, provided it ends its ongoing long march towards Islamabad.
Addressing an event in Islamabad, PM Shehbaz warned that the politics of sit-ins and long marches would first target the country’s economy. “I urge you to come to your senses, end the long march and sit-in, and then we will sit with you,” PM Shehbaz said.
Meanwhile, Barrister Gohar said the PTI founder’s sisters were non-political but had been taken into custody.
He added that when he arrived at Adiala jail on Tuesday, he was informed that the PTI founder’s cousin, Qasim Zaman — who he said was non-political and had never issued any political statement — had also been detained.
The PTI chairman said that the party had entered talks with the government in good faith and sincerity, but the government had failed to demonstrate “generosity and seriousness”.
Barrister Gohar maintained that none of the demands presented by PTI was illegal. On terrorism, he said the party’s position was clear and called for implementation of the National Action Plan.
He said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was the province worst affected by terrorism and noted that its provincial assembly had unanimously passed a resolution on the issue.
He said another one or two rounds of talks could have taken the matter towards a solution, adding that after the failure of negotiations, the parties should not shift the blame onto one another. –Agencies
