PTI warns workers against carrying weapons at Sept 27 march, vows peaceful protest

• Gohar warns against using net launchers on political protesters.
• Sohail Afridi says going for peaceful protest not armed struggle.
• No one in online meeting suggested postponing long march: PTI.

PESHAWAR: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Thursday vowed to proceed with its September 27 long march on Islamabad “under all circumstances”, while strictly instructing workers not to carry sticks, slingshots or any weapons.

Speaking to Truth Wire, PTI KP Information Secretary Shaukat Yousafzai warned that anyone found in possession of sticks, slingshots or any weapons would have no connection with the party.

He further said that a party meeting had been held to finalise the long march strategy, with the consensus being that the march would proceed as planned.

“We will go to Islamabad — wherever we are stopped, we will sit and protest there,” he said, adding that all workers had been directed to remain peaceful throughout.

The PTI prepares for a major protest and march on Islamabad, with the party demanding the release of its incarcerated founder Imran Khan and what it describes as the restoration of constitutional supremacy.

Meanwhile, PTI central spokesperson Sheikh Waqas Akram confirmed that an online meeting had been held regarding the September 27 protest, during which the march strategy was discussed.

He said no participant in the meeting had suggested postponing the march.

Separately, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Khan said net launchers were not used against political people and that their grievances should instead be heard and resolved.

He said the time was not right for using net launchers against those coming for the long march, and that serious dialogue must take place when a major long march was underway.

Gohar added that the party’s programme had been announced well in advance and there would be no change in it.

Gohar also reaffirmed PTI founder Imran Khan’s confidence in Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, saying Afridi would remain chief minister and had the support of all party members. He met Senate Opposition Leader Allama Raja Nasir Abbas to consult on long march preparations and strategy.

‘We will protest’

Addressing a law and order meeting in Peshawar, CM Afridi said KP police and the public had been fighting terrorism for 22 years, with their sacrifices enabling peace in Islamabad, Rawalpindi and other areas between 2018 and 2022.

He said his government had provided unprecedented funding to the police, including Rs35 billion in additional funds beyond the annual budget last year, while increasing the police budget from Rs80 billion to Rs190 billion this year.

Afridi said modern armoured personnel carriers prepared for Islamabad had been handed over, but KP police had not received modern APCs themselves.

He said since taking office he had never given any police officer an unlawful order, a politically motivated order, an order for personal revenge or an order to register a false FIR.

Dismissing concerns about the nature of the march, he said PTI was going for a peaceful protest, not an armed struggle or an attack.

He warned that if federal institutions used police for political revenge, the provincial government would take its own measures.

“As long as the right to assembly exists in the Constitution, we will protest,” he said, challenging those trying to stop the peaceful protest to first remove the right to assembly from the Constitution.