PESHAWAR: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) long march demanding the release of party founder and former prime minister Imran Khan has reached Karak from Lakki Marwat and is set to move towards Kohat today, with Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Sohail Afridi, Junaid Akbar and other party leaders participating in the march.
The PTI’s long march began on Sunday as a large convoy of workers and supporters departed from Dera Ismail Khan under the leadership of former KP chief minister Ali Amin Gandapur. The caravan was part of the party’s ongoing political campaign for the release of Imran Khan.
Before leaving DI Khan, Gandapur urged participants to keep the protest peaceful, maintain discipline and avoid violence, vandalism or confrontation with law enforcement personnel. He said the party would follow a “live and let live” policy during the march and directed workers not to take the law into their own hands.
Gandapur said those blocking roads or engaging in confrontation were not PTI workers and urged participants to avoid any activity that could lead to clashes or damage to public or private property. He described the march as part of PTI’s political struggle for Imran Khan’s release, saying the party had previously made sacrifices for its founder and would continue its peaceful political struggle.
The convoy was scheduled to pass through Yarik and Pezu before reaching Gandi Chowk in Lakki Marwat, where PTI workers from several southern districts had gathered along the Peshawar-Karachi Highway in Serai Naurang.
A heavy security presence was deployed at Gandi Chowk, including police personnel, armoured personnel carriers and bomb disposal squads. KP Chief Minister’s Special Assistant for Home and Tribal Affairs Tariq Saad said the peaceful march would formally begin from Gandi Chowk, with convoys from southern districts joining the caravan.
He said workers from Bannu, DI Khan, Tank, North Waziristan and South Waziristan were expected to participate. Saad added that workers who could not join the march on Sunday because of curfews or other law-and-order restrictions would join the caravan on its route to Peshawar the following day.
The march has now moved from Lakki Marwat to Karak, while participants are scheduled to leave for Kohat today. The march is being led by KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, with Junaid Akbar and other PTI leaders accompanying the participants.
Addressing the marchers at Khatm-e-Nabuwwat Chowk on the Bannu-Karak border, Sohail Afridi said the protest was currently a Test match and would be turned into a T20 match after two days. He said the struggle was not only for Pashtuns but for the entire country.
Sohail Afridi said his leader had told America “Absolutely Not,” while he had said the same to the decision-makers behind closed doors. He said the PTI founder and the chief minister of the Pashtuns had rejected military operations and drone attacks the previous evening, adding that decisions concerning the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would now be made within the province.
The KP chief minister said they had repeatedly maintained that the policies being implemented for the past 22 years had led to an increase in terrorism. According to Sohail Afridi, peace was witnessed only during the three-and-a-half-year tenure of the PTI founder, adding that they would say “Absolutely Not” to every policy that was not in the interest of the people.
He said he had no weapons and only the power of the people. He added that the people of the southern region had rejected every policy that was not in their interest and said the entire nation wanted the PTI founder to be released and take charge of the country’s leadership.
Meanwhile, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said in a post on X that KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi had used an official helicopter to participate in the long march. Naqvi said Afridi’s helicopter journey from Peshawar to Lakki Marwat was presumably for official duties.
The march follows PTI’s announcement in August that it would march on Islamabad against what it termed the “illegal imprisonment” of Imran Khan. The party had initially scheduled the march for September 27 but later postponed it until October 4.
The planned protest has intensified tensions between the federal government and PTI. Federal ministers have warned that the Centre could consider imposing governor’s rule or an emergency in KP, citing security concerns and the planned protest, while PTI leaders have warned of serious consequences if such measures are taken.
Following weekend talks, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah also warned that protesters would not be allowed to enter Islamabad.
