'Barrister Gohar meets top army officials, again'

Prominent journalist Mansoor Ali Khan revealed on Tuesday that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Barrister Gohar Khan once again held a meeting with army officials between January 21 and 22.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Mansoor, while revealing details of the meeting, stated that PTI demanded the release of the incarcerated Imran Khan, urging the establishment not to try him in military courts.

Without naming names, he said, “A federal minister was also present in the meeting along with an intelligence officer. However, Chief of Army Staff General Syed Asim Munir was not there this time.”

Earlier, political analyst Muneeb Farooq, while speaking to a private media outlet, had claimed that a meeting was held between the army chief, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister (CM) Ali Amin Gandapur, Barrister Gohar Khan, and other provincial political leaders in Peshawar.

Initially, the PTI Chairman had denied meeting the army chief. However, taking a U-turn in his statement, Gohar, while speaking to the media in the Adiala Jail courtroom on January 16, confirmed that, indeed, he had held a meeting with COAS.

Explaining what had transpired during their rare talk with the COAS, the PTI chairman said that all matters and demands of the party were presented directly to General Asim Munir.

Barrister Gohar had said, “Ali Amin Gandapur and I held a meeting with the COAS, during which we outlined all of PTI’s concerns and priorities.” Imran Khan had also confirmed the development to reporters by saying that Gohar had met the army chief in Peshawar.

According to Mansoor Ali Khan, PTI leaders tried to discuss the role of the Chief Secretary of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) in the province. However, the meeting attendees refused to discuss it.

“During the gathering, the discussion about the Public Accounts Committee also took place,” he said while referring to the recent unopposed appointment of Junaid Akbar as PAC chairman.

As per the journalist, Gohar, along with the army officials, expressed a wish to hold another meeting in the last week of January or the first week of February, which both sides agreed upon. However, no time frame for the next meeting was announced, Mansoor said.

Terming the meeting cordial, Mansoor stated that the meeting attendees did not behave aggressively, and there was no row during the gathering.