ISLAMABAD: As top officials gathered for a high-profile dinner hosted by Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir on Friday night, one notable seat remained vacant – that of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur.
Despite being on the guest list, Gandapur chose not to attend, instead prioritising a high-level PTI meeting focused on efforts to secure the release of the party’s jailed founding chairman, Imran Khan.
Gandapur’s absence, along with PTI’s broader no-show, served as a stark reminder that the divide between the ruling establishment and the former ruling party over Khan’s imprisonment is still unresolved – a gap that had briefly narrowed during the recent conflict with India.
The dinner, held to mark the success of Operation Bunyan-um-Marsoos, was attended by President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the three other provincial chief ministers, governors, top cabinet members, and senior political figures, including PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and ANP’s Aimal Wali Khan.
“CM Sahib didn’t attend the dinner because he was occupied with a party meeting to discuss Imran Khan’s release,” Gandapur’s spokesperson, Faraz Mughal, told The Express Tribune. “The meeting on Imran Khan’s release was more important than the Field Marshal’s dinner,” he added.
Mughal explained that Imran Khan’s sisters and senior PTI leaders had an extensive meeting to plan strategies for Khan’s release, and that’s why Gandapur didn’t participate in the dinner or the ceremony the previous day, where the army chief was formally elevated to Field Marshal.
Imran Khan has been imprisoned in Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail since August 2023, serving sentences in multiple corruption cases—charges he had frequently levelled against his opponents and refused to even shake hands with them over. Efforts by his party to secure his release have so far been unsuccessful.
Both Khan and the PTI maintain that these cases are politically motivated, aimed at sidelining him from the national political scene. His continued incarceration has become both a rallying point for PTI supporters and a central issue in the party’s standoff with the establishment.
PTI Central Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram told The Express Tribune, “No one from our party was present at the dinner. I have no information about any PTI leader receiving an invitation. If anyone had been invited, I would have known.”
The spokesperson for the party confirmed that Gandapur had indeed been invited, though he suggested the CM’s spokesperson could provide further details. However, he added that he had seen no evidence or photographs indicating Gandapur’s presence at the dinner.
The conspicuous absence of the PTI and Gandapur highlights the ongoing tension between the party and key power players, even as PTI leaders repeatedly express a willingness to engage in dialogue to ease the country’s political tensions.
Questions about the PTI’s absence arose after the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) released footage and images of the dinner, showing the Field Marshal greeting guests, including Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Aimal Wali Khan.
According to ISPR’s statement, the event was attended by President Zardari, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the deputy PM and foreign minister, the chairman Senate, the speaker of the National Assembly, federal ministers, governors, chief ministers, the chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, the air and naval chiefs, top government officials, and senior officers from all three armed forces.
The dinner celebrated the successful outcome of Operation Bunyan-um-Marsoos. Launched on May 10, 2025, in response to unprovoked Indian aggression—including missile strikes on Pakistani airbases and civilian areas—the operation aimed to neutralise key Indian military sites and assert Pakistan’s military resolve. Pakistani forces targeted facilities such as BrahMos missile storage in Beas, airbases in Udhampur and Pathankot, and an intelligence training center in Rajouri.
Additionally, Pakistan shot down at least five Indian fighter jets, including a Rafale aircraft. The strong military response drew international attention, with global powers urging both countries to de-escalate tensions.
A ceasefire has since been in effect.
