PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi said Tuesday that a long march by the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party will not be allowed to proceed beyond Attock, a Punjab district bordering the province, claiming the party lacks the capacity to go further.
The march, led by KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, aims to press for the release of jailed party founder and former Prime Minister Imran Khan. The federal government has warned it will prevent any gatherings in Islamabad.
"They cannot go any further than Attock," Kundi told Geo News' "Geo Pakistan" program, urging PTI to "try to take a step." He dismissed the party's claim that it has 2 million supporters on the march. "Show us the people, they don't have the capacity," he said.
Security concerns raised
Kundi said KP was suffering from terrorism, "yet they want to march to Islamabad instead." He questioned what screening measures PTI had in place to keep out anyone from southern KP who might seek to reach the capital to carry out an attack.
He also criticized the PTI-led provincial government for what he called silence on militant violence. When asked by the federal government for support against militancy, he alleged, PTI responds that the army should leave the province and that talks should be held with Afghanistan.
Kundi also accused Khan of having allowed militants to settle in KP in the past, saying he was once called "Taliban Khan." He further claimed that Afridi takes direction from PTI leader Muraad Saeed, whom he described as a "runaway" who "will be brought before the people and made to pay for his actions." PTI has not been quoted in response to those claims.
Kundi said he and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi met last week in Peshawar and discussed both security and "dialogue with the PTI as well as the way forward in relation to PTI's long march."
Governor's rule discussed
Asked about the possibility of imposing governor's rule in the province, Kundi said it would be implemented if the president and prime minister deemed it necessary. He called it a last resort.
"Surgery is the last option; first, you are put on medication. No one wishes to do it," he said.
March route
The convoy launched the already-postponed march Sunday afternoon from Lakki Marwat and reached Karak that night, where Afridi addressed supporters at Jail Chowk. It stayed Monday night in Kohat, where Afridi told supporters in Lachi tehsil that the struggle "is a long one" requiring endurance. He said that from Oct. 8, a "T20 match" would begin.
The caravan planned to resume travel Tuesday at 3 p.m. toward Peshawar. On Wednesday afternoon, it is due to depart Budh Bair in Peshawar and spend the night near Charsadda Interchange. It will then proceed to Khairabad, which borders Punjab, on Oct. 8, where Afridi is to announce the next phase. He has not detailed how the march will reach the capital.
Authorities restricted movement under Section 144 on several roads in Dera Ismail Khan, Upper and Lower South Waziristan, Tank and Hangu ahead of the march. On Sunday, former KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, who was leading workers from Dera Ismail Khan to Lakki Marwat, turned back from Yarik because of road blockades and the law-and-order situation. He said the move was temporary and not a withdrawal from the protest.
Arrests in Sindh
In Karachi, a planned protest campaign was disrupted when police deployed at several locations, blocked roads and detained party workers and leaders. PTI said police detained more than 75 leaders and workers, including women, in the city, and that arrests elsewhere in Sindh, including Sukkur, brought the provincial total to more than 100.
Talks collapse
The march followed the failure of weekend negotiations. On Saturday night, a delegation from PTI and the Tehreek-i-Tahafuz-i-Ayin-i-Pakistan alliance held hours of talks with a joint team of the government and the Pakistan Peoples Party, ending in deadlock.
The federal government blamed Afridi for the breakdown. PTI denied that, saying the main sticking points were access to Khan, his medical treatment and the government's counterterrorism policy.
According to PTI, the government agreed to restore meetings between Khan and his family and lawyers starting Tuesday but declined to make access to him part of the proposed agreement.
