Gohar seeks to mend PTI rifts as Afridi slams ‘snakes’ in party

ISLAMABAD/KOHAT: Workers and some leaders of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) have reacted angrily to reports that the name of a lawyer and committed party worker from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) had been removed from the list of candidates for the Senate.

Two senior leaders and Members of the National Assembly (MNAs), Shehryar Afridi and Sher Afzal Marwat, have openly warned elements within the party against ignoring loyal and committed workers.

Speaking at a rally in Kohat, Shehryar Afridi warned the ‘black sheep’ in the PTI to mend their way or they would be expelled forcibly from the party.

A big public meeting was held at the Kutchehry Chowk for the release of jailed PTI founder Imran Khan. Shehryar said there was no place for hypocrites in the party and it would be better for them to come back on the right track or they would be kicked out of the party with the support of people.

Provincial Minister for Law Aftab Alam, Member Provincial Assembly Shafi Jan and others also addressed the gathering.

Shehryar Afridi said people had stood with the PTI and they were ready to expel hypocrites from the party. Afridi, in his speech, said the PTI tigers had launched a movement for the release of ‘Prisoner No 804’ (Imran Khan), vowing that they would not sit idle until their leader was released.

Differences among the PTI leaders came to light with the warning issued to ‘black sheep’ by Shehryar Afridi; earlier MNA Sher Afzal Marwat had also issued a statement against certain leaders’ attempts to occupy the party.

The cold war among the PTI leaders surfaced when Shehryar Afridi and Khurram Zeeshan applied for the Senate seat but the central committee rejected their applications.

Sher Afzal Marwat told the media in the presence of Barrister Gohar Ali that Khurram Zeeshan is a loyal worker, who sacrificed much for the party. He continued that removing his name from the list of Senate candidates is an insult to the decision of Imran Khan.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf had nominated Khurram, a new face, for a seat in the Upper House of Parliament. He remained loyal and committed to the PTI and its chairman during the troubled times and was nominated for a general seat in the Upper House in the coming polls.

A lawyer by profession, Khurram also served as a civil judge in the KP judiciary for some time. He is a poet as well as a pilot. Apart from law, he also holds master’s degree in Mass Communication. His house was raided a number of times in the last several months for being vocal in favour of Imran Khan. He also defended cases of a number of PTI leaders and workers in different courts. Along with other leaders, he led a successful election campaign for the PTI candidates in Kohat in the recent polls.

Khurram was nominated by the party as the covering candidate for the National Assembly seat from Kohat in the February 8 general election. However, Shehryar Afridi contested the polls from the constituency and won the seat. Later, Khurram’s name appeared among the contenders for an Upper House seat.

Meanwhile, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali said on Saturday they had great regard for senior party leader Shehryar Afridi, but they were trying to ensure that anything regarding the party was raised properly.

Talking to reporters after having a meeting with PTI founder chairman Imran Khan in Adiala jail, he said, “Shehryar Afridi is our very good worker and we have great regard for him. He has rendered so many sacrifices for the party.”

However, Sher Afzal Marwat, standing next to him, whispered to him that ‘Afridi is a leader’. Gohar then called him a leader and a hero and clarified that they only wanted that whosoever wants to speak about the party should desist from speaking publicly, and instead use the PTI platforms for the purpose.

“I have no evidence about what he has said but yes in parties, leaders tend to say such things to each other,” Gohar added.

Marwat chipped in to lend support to Khurram Zeeshan and said Afridi was referring to him, who was dropped as a candidate for the Senate election and this was an insult to Imran Khan’s decision. “I support Afridi’s stance that party’s devoted workers should be brought forward,” he said.

The PTI has been facing seething rifts in its ranks and following the general election, this trend has intensified; only recently, the outspoken Marwat and Imran’s close aide Salman Ahmad were engaged in a war of words on social media platform X after the latter called the former ‘wrong number’.

To another query, Gohar said medical tests of Bushra Bibi should be conducted at the Shaukat Khanum Hospital in the presence of her personal physician. “We will accept the medical report based only on tests conducted at Shaukat Khanum,” he added.

Separately, founding PTI leader Akbar S Babar could not resist expressing his views on the PTI state of affairs and took to his X social media account to say that “too many cooks spoil the broth”, while referring to saying in Urdu. “Nowadays, there are many groups active in PTI: London’s Baji’s group; Lahore’s Baji’s group, Bhai logon’s [gangsters] group, lawyers group, jailbirds group… poor PTI,” he wrote.