Qureshi, three other jailed PTI leaders urge political dialogue

ISLAMABAD: Four senior jailed leaders, including former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, have publicly advocated political dialogue as the only way out of the country’s deepening crisis — a position that stands in contrast to the party founder Imran Khan’s stated stance of engaging only with the establishment.

The letter, signed by Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Dr Yasmin Rashid, Mian Mehmood-ur-Rasheed, and Omar Sarfraz Cheema, emphasizes the urgent need for dialogue “at every level” — both political and institutional — and calls for immediate initiation of talks at the political level.

Sources said this letter by the jailed leaders has been issued in consultation with some key PTI leaders who were in favour of responding positively to the prime minister’s offer of dialogue but Imran Khan vetoed them.

The leaders, currently imprisoned in Lahore, urged that they be included in any such dialogue process. The only way out of the worst crisis in the country’s history is dialogue, they said, adding that dialogue is essential at every level — it is necessary at the political level, and also at the level of the establishment.

The PTI leaders further warned that blaming any side for initiating the dialogue would amount to sabotaging the entire process and stressed that such obstruction would be the government’s responsibility. They also urged that to nominate a negotiation committee, access to Patron-in-Chief Mr. Imran Khan must be made easier so that consultations with the leadership of the movement can be held, and the dialogue process can continue from time to time.

When contacted, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan confirmed to The News the authenticity of the letter. “Yes, I have received it from them (jailed leaders), and that is genuine. We are considering their view,” he said.

The letter’s contents, however, diverge sharply from Imran Khan’s recent public statements.

The former prime minister has ruled out negotiations with the current ruling coalition, stating that he is only willing to talk to the establishment, not political opponents whom he accuses of coming to power through alleged electoral manipulation.

The development points to a growing divergence within PTI’s top leadership over how to approach the ongoing political stalemate, with key imprisoned figures now publicly advocating broader engagement — including with the political forces currently in power.

Mumtaz Alvi and Shakeel Anjum add: PTI founder chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan’s sister Aleema Khan Tuesday said her brother had directed the party to launch a movement against the ‘illegitimate’ regime after Muharram 10th.

“How will Maryam Nawaz and the jail administration be able to stop when the party legislators will gather here to take line of action from their leader in the jail?” she asked while talking to the media outside the Adiala jail soon after meeting Imran.

Aleema said she and her sister Noreen Khan got 15 minutes for the meeting. Counsel Zaheer Abbas was allowed to meet for one and a half minutes, while Salman Safdar, Salman Akram Raja, Niazullah Niazi were not allowed to meet him. Aleema alleged that efforts were on to minus her brother. “If they are not scared of him, then why they are keeping him in jail,” she wondered. She said Imran also talked about the 26th Amendment, saying the results of the amendment were becoming clear. “If you steal votes and say it is not important, then it means you have brought martial law.

“If you make the judiciary a government department and do this to the judges, then the rule of law has ended,” she noted.

According to Aleema Khan, the founder said the people sitting in the assemblies did not come through vote. She said the voice of the media had been silenced, while the 27th Amendment was being brought. “In such circumstances, it is better to declare monarchy in the country because the voice of the people has been silenced,” Imran said.

She pointed out that Imran Khan said after the 10th Muharram, a movement should be started against ‘this system of slavery’. Imran asked the party leaders to prepare for the movement and passed instructions to Salman Akram Raja. She added that the party will give the plan for the movement shortly.

She claimed that Imran had been kept in solitary confinement. The founder is not getting his rights; he is not even being given books, she added. She said Pakistan was created in the name of Kalma after independence from India. “It was the Kalma that kept Pakistan alive, but the nation is now being completely enslaved. It is better for me to spend my whole life in prison than to live in such slavery,” Aleema said. She said Imran had appreciated the resistance in the Punjab Assembly and praised the opposition leader, saying currently, 26 members were under restriction, and it would be better if they held their own assembly outside the official one.

Aleema complained that they were forced to walk 1-2 kilometers adding, “Perhaps, it made Maryam Nawaz happy.”

Replying to a question, Noreen Khan said her brother had made it clear that he was ready for talks but with those who had the power and not with those who stole votes. “Imran is not prepared to talk to those who lost in the elections,” she maintained. “Who did the US speak to? Even the US knows where the real power lies,” she said.

She concluded by saying that isolating the PTI founder will not erase him from the people’s hearts. Separately, PTI lawyer Faisal Chaudhry said there were many ways and strategies for the release of the party founder. Talking to the media outside the Adiala jail, he said there was an atmosphere of disappointment in the country. “I think the path of resistance and reconciliation go hand in hand; the path of reconciliation should not be left out; the option of resistance should never be left out as well,” he remarked.