PESHAWAR — Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s long march reached Charsadda on Friday, the sixth day of the protest caravan led by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, who promised supporters he would announce the “next plan of action” at Swabi on Oct. 13.
Addressing workers in Charsadda, Afridi signaled the march would continue beyond Swabi without naming a destination, and dismissed federal warnings about crossing the provincial boundary as empty threats. Per the party’s announced route, the march heads to Mardan on Saturday, where local leaders said an overnight camp was arranged at the under-construction Chamtar Bus Terminal on Charsadda Road, and on to Swabi on Oct. 11.
The march drew a sharp response from KP Governor Faisal Karim Kundi, who told a press conference in Peshawar that he doubted the march would even reach Swabi, which borders Punjab’s Attock district. Kundi challenged participants to cross the district, demanded the chief minister and his cabinet resign on ethical grounds — citing strikes by doctors, teachers, nurses and municipal officers — and said the president and prime minister would decide on any emergency or governor’s rule.
Meanwhile, the All Pakistan Lawyers Action Committee, led by chairman Ali Ahmed Kurd, formally backed the march on Friday, demanding the release of jailed PTI founder Imran Khan and warning against governor’s rule, according to Nation Press, which cited Dawn. Zark News could not independently verify the report.
The march is the latest chapter in PTI’s campaign pressing for Khan’s release. The federal government has so far ruled out concessions under pressure, with ministers warning that protest tactics will not unlock relief for the jailed former prime minister.
