{"id":1112,"date":"2026-05-29T15:27:33","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T15:27:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/?p=1112"},"modified":"2026-05-29T15:27:33","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T15:27:33","slug":"ptis-junaid-akbar-lawmakers-held-during-gilgit-baltistan-poll-drive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/2026\/05\/29\/ptis-junaid-akbar-lawmakers-held-during-gilgit-baltistan-poll-drive\/","title":{"rendered":"PTI\u2019s Junaid Akbar, lawmakers held during Gilgit-Baltistan poll drive"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

ISLAMABAD<\/strong>: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa President Junaid Akbar Khan was arrested by the Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) Police at Hunza while campaigning for the upcoming elections, according to party leaders and officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ahead of the general elections scheduled in G-B on June 7, Akbar was visiting various areas of the region as part of the party\u2019s election campaign when he was detained along with Members of the National Assembly Saleemur Rehman and Syed Mehboob Shah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking after the incident, Akbar said he was told to leave Gilgit because he did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was told that since I do not have an NOC, I should leave Gilgit,\u201d he said, questioning, \u201cIs Gilgit-Baltistan not part of Pakistan?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reacting to the arrests, PTI Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram strongly condemned the detention of Akbar and other party leaders in G-B.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He termed the move \u201ca failed attempt to suppress political activities and influence the elections\u201d, and urged the National Assembly speaker to intervene immediately to ensure the release of the detained leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDemocracy cannot be silenced through arrests and pressure,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Responding to the development, K-P Chief Minister Suhail Afridi warned that he would personally travel to G-B if the detained parliamentarians were not released soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said questions would be raised regarding the alleged mistreatment by the \u201cpuppet government\u201d in G-B and those seeking to form a government there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese attitudes are harming Pakistan and increasing hatred,\u201d the chief minister said, adding that denying PTI a level playing field in the elections through \u201cforce and oppression\u201d was damaging the democratic system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He further said that the G-B chief minister was not responding to his calls and described the situation as \u201cundemocratic and unpolitical\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe will not allow Gilgit-Baltistan to become a no-go area,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

K-P Minister for Higher Education and Local Government Meena Khan Afridi also condemned the arrest, calling it \u201cregrettable\u201d that Akbar was detained during the election campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said harassment of political workers and leaders ran counter to democratic values and warned that suppressing dissent by force was not a positive sign for democracy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Afridi demanded that Akbar be produced immediately and called for a transparent and free political environment for the G-B elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also condemned what he described as \u201cpolitical victimisation and undemocratic tactics\u201d, urging law enforcement agencies to act in accordance with the Constitution and the law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Provincial Information Minister Shafee Jan also criticised the arrests, calling them \u201cthe worst example of political revenge\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said the detention of elected lawmakers was against democratic norms and amounted to disrespecting the public mandate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTaking part in an election campaign is the constitutional, legal and democratic right of every political party,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jan alleged that while other political parties were being allowed to campaign freely in G-B, the PTI was being obstructed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He questioned why the G-B government was \u201cafraid\u201d to the extent that elected lawmakers were being arrested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSuch tactics cannot weaken the resolve of PTI workers,\u201d he said, adding that the party would continue to contest elections despite what he termed political revenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He further said the people of G-B would reject the politics of political victimisation through the power of the vote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe government has become so fearful of Imran Khan\u2019s public popularity that it has resorted to such tactics ahead of the elections,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa President Junaid Akbar Khan was arrested by the Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) Police at Hunza while campaigning for the upcoming elections, according to party leaders and officials. Ahead of the general elections scheduled in G-B on June 7, Akbar was visiting various areas of the region as part of the party\u2019s election […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1007,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58,7,16,2],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[27],"class_list":["post-1112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-imran-khan","category-latest","category-national","category-pakisstan"],"authors":[{"term_id":27,"user_id":3,"is_guest":0,"slug":"afnanwasif","display_name":"Web Desk","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cbec8328241e98fefcd32e00f20f7a6b502086a0b95d395db4b1565c51681914?s=96&d=mm&r=g","0":null,"1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":"","8":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1112"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1112\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1113,"href":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1112\/revisions\/1113"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1007"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1112"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=1112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}