PESHAWAR (Kashmir English): Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi has announced that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) will launch a public protest campaign from Gandi Chowk in Lakki Marwat on October 4.
Afridi said the struggle would continue until the supremacy of the Constitution and law was ensured, an independent judiciary was restored and legal rights were secured.
He maintained that PTI’s demands were in accordance with the Constitution and law and that citizens had a constitutional right to peaceful protest.
The chief minister also claimed that peace could be established in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa within 100 days if the current policy was changed.
He said terrorism was not merely a battle of narratives, as people across the province and the country were directly affected by violence.
Afridi opposed military operations that, according to him, target local populations and cause displacement, saying such measures could not provide a lasting solution to terrorism.
He also argued that drone strikes and what he described as “collateral damage” contribute to further violence.
Questioning the federal government’s counterterrorism policy, Afridi said the federal and Balochistan governments were on the same page, yet peace had not been established in Balochistan. He reiterated that a change in policy was necessary for lasting peace.
He also raised questions over the arrests of ministers and party workers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, police-related issues and alleged obstacles to the provision of arms.
On the May 9 incidents, Afridi said PTI would neither allow such events to happen again nor let anyone else repeat them.
He further alleged that the person who stole CCTV footage was the same person who orchestrated the May 9 events.
The PTI march is scheduled to depart from Gandi Chowk at 1pm on October 4, with Karak and Kohat planned as stops before the procession reaches Peshawar on October 6.
