ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has decided to postpone its planned long march until October 5.
According to reports, PTI decided during a meeting in Peshawar, where it agreed to defer the march scheduled for September 27 to October 5.
PTI leaders will make the formal announcement after taking Mahmood Achakzai and Allama Nasir into confidence.
Meanwhile, the critics have accused the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-led Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government of failing to give adequate attention to the province’s worsening security situation, saying the postponement of the party’s long march does not address the “real issue” of terrorism.
The critic alleged that the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were paying the price of terrorism with their lives, while public security was not among the provincial government’s priorities.
According to the statement, Chief Minister Sohail Afridi has not visited several terrorism-hit districts, including North and South Waziristan, Mohmand and Orakzai, nor attended the funerals of those killed in terrorist attacks.
The statement further claimed that only one formal meeting of the Apex Committee had been held during the provincial government’s tenure, describing this as evidence that counterterrorism was not a priority for the administration.
The critic also accused PTI leaders of focusing on political rallies and plans for the long march while families of victims were mourning.
The statement questioned the absence of what it described as a clear condemnation of the banned militant group Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), also known as Fitna al-Khawarij, and alleged that measures weakening the police’s capabilities amounted to deliberate disengagement rather than mere negligence.
“Whether the long march is postponed or continues, the fundamental question remains: who will take responsibility for protecting the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa?” the statement asked.
