PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi told party workers that their “T20 match” would begin on October 8, urging them not to exhaust themselves as their struggle was a long one.
Addressing workers in Kohat, Afridi said, “Our fight is a long one, so do not tire yourselves too much.”
He also said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa belonged to PTI founder Imran Khan and would remain so.
Addressing participants of long march at Jail Chowk in Karak, KP CM Sohail Afridi criticised what he called “wrong policies” and said the country was being pushed towards division.
He claimed that the terrorism “imposed” on the province had been carried out as part of a deliberate plan. “Blood is being shed once again, while we are being displaced and our businesses are being destroyed,” he said.
The chief minister alleged that those “imposed” on the country wanted to create prejudice among the people and said the situation had gone beyond their control. He further claimed that even those who had been “rehabilitated” had subsequently moved beyond their control.
Afridi said the KP government had been pressured into becoming part of what he described as a wrong policy. “I am a player of the PTI founder and I have said ‘absolutely not’,” he said.
Participants of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) long march, led by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, have camped in Karak, with the chief minister announcing that their next stop will be Kohat.
Addressing the participants, Afridi said the long march would proceed to Kohat for its next stay.
Earlier, speaking to party workers in Lakki Marwat, the KP chief minister said they would not accept any “behind-closed-doors” policy that was not in the province’s interest.
Afridi also criticised the federal government’s counterterrorism policy, saying it had failed to eliminate terrorism and had instead led to a further increase in militancy.
Earlier, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan has said the party’s long march will continue and has not been postponed.
Speaking in Swat, Gohar said there was no issue that could not be resolved, adding that the party’s demands were straightforward.
“Our demands are simple. Arrange a meeting with Imran Khan,” he said.
He said the PTI would neither leave the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government nor dissolve the provincial assembly.
He urged the federal government to stop interfering in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, claiming that “governor’s rule” was already in place in the province without a formal imposition of governor’s rule. –Agencies
