KOHAT: Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Chief Minister Sohail Afridi led the PTI convoy towards Kohat on Monday after spending the night in Karak, as the party resumes its long march following the collapse of talks between the government and opposition. The march began on Sunday from Lakki Marwat after government-opposition talks failed to resolve a dispute over the PTI’s planned protest. The convoy later in the night reached Karak, where CM Afridi addressed participants at Khatam-e-Nabuwwat Chowk on the Bannu-Karak border. Internet services were also suspended in Karak Addressing the gathering before moving towards Kohat, CM Afridi thanked the people of Karak for welcoming marchers from across southern K-P and said renewed violence in the province was the result of what he called a deliberate policy failure He sharply criticised the country’s counterterrorism policy, saying Pakhtuns were again bearing the cost of what he described as flawed decisions. CM Afridi also responded to Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, who had described him as “immature” a day earlier “An establishment operative sits on television and says that I am immature,” CM Afridi said. “If standing with my people is immaturity, then I will commit this immaturity again and again.”“If loving the country is immaturity, then I will commit this immaturity again and again,” he added. CM Afridi alleged that the country was being divided because of flawed policies and accused those in power of promoting provincial divisions and prejudice.“Because of your wrong policies, the country is being divided. Those who have been imposed want to divide Pakistan and create prejudice in the country,” he said. “I am Imran Khan’s player. I have said ‘absolutely not’ to the powerful,” he added. The chief minister also accused what he called a dominant “mindset” of treating K-P unfairly.CM Afridi also referred to remarks attributed to Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz regarding security threats, arguing that such statements risked deepening divisions between provinces. “Our democratic demands will have to be accepted. The policy made in Pakistan will have to be one that is in the interest of the people,” he said. Turning to PTI’s political campaign, Afridi reiterated his support for jailed former prime minister Imran Khan and portrayed the march as part of a wider struggle against the existing political system “There is only one leader of the whole of Pakistan, and his name is Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi. Imran Khan is the heartbeat of our hearts. Ninety per cent of people want Imran Khan,” he added. CM Afridi claimed only Imran could pull Pakistan out of its current difficulties and restore respect for state institutions. CM Afridi said he saw growing resentment against the political system across the country and claimed supporters from Khyber to Karachi wanted to join the mobilisation towards Islamabad. He praised Imran for remaining in prison rather than compromising for political relief. “We have to fight the battle for true freedom alongside Imran Khan.” He called on supporters from across Pakistan to gather in Swabi, where he said the next phase of PTI’s strategy would be announced. The march is due to continue towards Peshawar after covering the southern districts. According to the route announced by Afridi, caravans from Kohat, Hangu, Kurram and Orakzai will join the procession on Tuesday before it travels from Kohat towards Peshawar. The convoy is then scheduled to move through Peshawar, Charsadda and Mohmand before reaching Khairabad on October 8, where the next phase of the march was to be announced. The march followed a failure by the government and opposition to reach an agreement over the PTI’s protest. The talks, chaired by National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, ended on Saturday without a breakthrough. The government wanted the PTI to cancel the march, while the opposition sought assurances that a meeting with jailed PTI founder Imran Khan would be facilitated. PTI leaders subsequently said the march would proceed as planned. CM Afridi announced that its first phase would begin from Gandi Chowk in Lakki Marwat on Sunday, with caravans from several southern districts joining the procession. K-P Governor Faisal Karim Kundi warned on Sunday that an emergency could be imposed if necessary to “save the province”, as the PTI began its planned long march. He said the president, prime minister and other institutions could consider imposing an emergency if they believed the situation in the province had deteriorated. Kundi also issued a warning to those taking part in the march, saying, “If an emergency is imposed, I alone will be enough for them.” He claimed PTI workers were currently “hiding and getting themselves arrested”. CM Afridi, addressing participants of the march at Khatam-e-Nabuwwat Chowk on the Bannu-Karak border, rejected military operations and drone attacks in K-P and said decisions affecting the province should not be made in “closed rooms”. He said the southern districts had repeatedly been subjected to terrorism and military operations, while also suffering collateral damage from drone attacks. The chief minister also rejected the possibility of governor’s rule or an emergency in the province, saying the PTI founder’s “vision and policy” would prevail in K-P.
