Sept 27 long march will be ‘decisive’: CM

BANNU
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Muhammad Sohail Afridi on Saturday said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s long march scheduled for September 27 would be “decisive” and called for thorough preparations.
Speaking at a street rally in Bannu during a one-day visit, Mr Afridi thanked residents for attending “despite the intense heat” and said the same spirit must be maintained for the march to Islamabad.
PTI Provincial President Junaid Akbar Khan, provincial ministers Shafi Jan and Meena Khan Afridi, MNA Shahid Khattak and other party leaders also attended the rally.
The chief minister said the country was at a “critical juncture” and that people had to determine their own future. “No one will come from outside to change our destiny; we have to do it ourselves,” he said.
On the security situation, Mr Afridi said peace prevailed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa when Imran Khan was prime minister until 2022. He held the current federal government responsible for the deterioration in peace in the province.
He said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had been “treated as a laboratory for experiments for the past two decades” and that his government would resist decisions that undermined the province’s interests and rights.
Mr Afridi said the people of KP had made “immense sacrifices, including thousands of lives” for peace, but decisions taken “behind closed doors” had undermined those gains. He added that peace was essential for development and economic opportunity.
Paying tribute to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police, the chief minister said the provincial government had allocated Rs191 billion for the police in the budget. He said resources were also being spent on police infrastructure, modern equipment and training.
He further said that between 2018 and 2022 decisions taken in the public interest had improved conditions, while at present “even the courts had been held hostage” and the country’s “most popular leader” remained in jail.
Mr Afridi urged people to come out on September 27 for a system where the law applied equally to all. He said the struggle for “genuine freedom” must include the independence of the judiciary and media, and paid tribute to journalists including the late Arshad Sharif.
Addressing the youth, he said they must decide whether to live “under subjugation or as free citizens” and called on them to continue preparations “with faith and conviction”.