Peshawar, September 24, 2026: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Thursday reaffirmed its decision to proceed with its September 27 long march towards Islamabad, while directing party workers not to carry sticks, slingshots or any weapons.
Speaking to a news channel, PTI Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information Secretary Shaukat Yousafzai said the party had finalised its strategy for the march and decided to proceed “under all circumstances”.
He said workers had been instructed to remain peaceful and warned that anyone found carrying sticks, slingshots or weapons would have no association with the party.
“We will go to Islamabad — wherever we are stopped, we will sit and protest there,” Yousafzai said.
The PTI is organising the protest to demand the release of its incarcerated founder Imran Khan and what the party describes as the restoration of constitutional supremacy.
PTI central spokesperson Sheikh Waqas Akram separately confirmed that an online meeting had been held to discuss the September 27 protest and said no participant had proposed postponing the march.
PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Khan also said the party’s programme had already been announced and there would be no change in it. Referring to reports of the possible use of net launchers, he said political grievances should instead be addressed through dialogue and that the timing was not appropriate for using such measures against participants of the march.
Gohar also reaffirmed Imran Khan’s confidence in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, saying he would remain chief minister with the support of party members. He also met Senate Opposition Leader Allama Raja Nasir Abbas to discuss preparations and strategy for the march.
CM Afridi backs peaceful protest
Addressing a law and order meeting in Peshawar, Chief Minister Sohail Afridi said the PTI would hold a peaceful protest and rejected the characterisation of the planned march as an armed struggle or attack.
He said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police and the public had been fighting terrorism for 22 years, adding that their sacrifices had contributed to peace in Islamabad, Rawalpindi and other areas between 2018 and 2022.
Afridi said his government had provided additional funding of Rs35 billion to the police beyond the annual budget last year, while the police budget had been increased from Rs80 billion to Rs190 billion this year.
He said modern armoured personnel carriers prepared for deployment in Islamabad had been handed over, while KP police itself had not received modern APCs.
The chief minister said that since assuming office, he had not issued any unlawful, politically motivated or revenge-driven orders to police officers, nor directed the registration of false FIRs.
Afridi said his government would continue to support the right to peaceful assembly under the Constitution.
“As long as the right to assembly exists in the Constitution, we will protest,” he said.
