PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Tuesday ordered the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government and police to ensure the reopening of roads blocked by PTI supporters and protesters in recent days.
The protesting PTI workers have blocked KP’s entry and exit points for the past five days, demanding that the federal government move incarcerated party founder Imran Khan from jail to a hospital for medical treatment.
A two-member bench headed by Justice Ijaz Anwar and including Justice Farah Jamshed took up the set of petitions filed by MPA Sobia Shahid, lawyer Tariq Afghan, Swabi resident Yousaf Ali and Shaoor Khan.
Upon the bench summoning them, KP Inspector General Zulfiqar Hameed, Chief Secretary Shahab Ali Shah and Advocate General Shah Faisal Utmankhel appeared in court.
At the outset of the hearing, Justice Anwar inquired about how many days it had been since the roads were blocked.
“The roads have been shut for the past three days. Initially, 14 points were blocked, and now protests are underway at six points,” the KP IG replied.
Justice Anwar wondered whether shutting roads was not a violation of the law, pointing out that lawyers for six cases were unable to reach the PHC from Islamabad.
He remarked, “Such is the security situation in the province that even today, 14 have been martyred. These are the conditions, but despite this, there are protests and roads are closed.”
The judge highlighted that the laws guaranteed citizens the right to freedom of movement, but they were still “facing difficulties”. He inquired about the number of first information reports (FIR) registered over the road blockades.
“The traffic situation in Peshawar is the worst in the entire country. In fact, there is no traffic system in this province,” Justice Anwar observed, at which IG Hameed expressed his strong agreement.
“We are now trying to streamline this, and are initiating e-challans,” the police chief assured the court.
Justice Anwar quipped, “When the police want to take action against someone, they do. When they don’t want to, then this happens.”
At one point during the hearing, Justice Anwar said it was “unfortunate that the ruling party here is protesting.” [and] hurting the province’s people”.
Utmankhel assured the bench that “no one would defend any wrong act.”
IG Hameed sought two days for the police to “fix the situation”, but Justice Anwar declined the request, ordering that the roads be opened today.
“Begin today, and don’t let anyone block the roads,” he stressed. “The entire country is open, but Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is shut. This is against our own people.”
“The motorway should not be closed off under any circumstances,” he added, noting that people could not leave their houses due to the blocked routes.
Protesters had blocked the Peshawar-Islamabad Motorway (M-1) at Swabi’s Anbar Interchange, GT Road at Khairabad Bridge, Dera Ismail Khan-Bhakkar Road, Lakki Marwat-Mianwali Road, Hazara Motorway at Abbottabad-Havelian Interchange, Kohat-Pindi Road near Khushal Garh and Upper Kohistan-Gilgit Karakoram Highway.
“Reopen the roads and ensure the same,” Justice Anwar ordered, telling the KP IG and the chief secretary to submit their reports regarding the matter by tomorrow.
Subsequently, the bench adjourned the hearing until Wednesday.
Following the court directives, the provincial police chief issued instructions for all regional and district police officers for reopening the roads, a statement by KP police said.
“Instructions have been issued to start the process of reopening the blocked roads across the province on the PHC’s directives,” the statement read.
The closure of M-1 — the main artery connecting Peshawar with the rest of the country — has put the GT Road, the other major road, under immense strain as the neglected highway is unable to cater to the traffic diverted from the motorway.
Also, the GT Road is facing closures by PTI activists, causing massive inconvenience to people traveling to attend urgent business meetings and exams, take international flights from Islamabad airport and seek treatment.
The businessmen, whose supplies have got stuck along the road, are also distressed.
Roads reopen in DI Khan
Hours after the court’s directives, District Police Officer (DPO) Sahibzada Sajjad Ahmed said that all highways in Dera Ismail Khan had been cleared and traffic flow had been restored.
The protesters would remain at certain points “symbolically”, they would not obstruct vehicular movement, he said while speaking to the media.
The reopened road links include the Dera-Darya Khan bridge that connects KP with Punjab.
DPO Ahmed said that its closure had caused significant hardship for the public, particularly daily commuters, patients and members of the business community.
“Public convenience is our priority, and traffic has now been fully restored,” he said, adding that police personnel had been deployed at key locations to maintain law and order.
KP CM reacts
Reacting to the developments regarding sit-ins in KP, Chief Minister Sohail Afridi said in a post on social media platform X that PTI workers, who had been staging a sit-in of their own accord, “have just one demand: the best treatment for Imran Khan.” sahib in the presence of his personal physicians and family members”.
He added: “In my opinion, the respected court should also inquire about the issue before issuing an order.”
The CM went on to allege that “the KP IG’s response to the court directives is clear proof that the khaki uniform’s directives are behind the black uniform”.
He added that police IGs were representatives of the Centre. “When top police officials, brought to a terrorism-affected province from outside, and the province’s chief executive are brought face-to-face, in which direction are the conditions being pushed?”
CM Afridi said the PTI did not want to politicize the matter of Imran’s health and “we … have been patient despite immense difficulties”.
Additional input from Irfan Mughal
