A video of Chief Minister (CM) of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Sohail Afridi’s earlier announcement that PTI’s long march will take place on Sept 27 has resurfaced after he denied mentioning the date and said that the march will now take place on Oct 4.
Afridi, speaking at a press conference on Friday, rejected a question about his earlier announcement of Sept 27 as the date for the march.
“Show me my words where did I say Sept 27 so that I can get up and leave from here right now,” he said when asked about his previous statement.
Afridi said that he had only announced that a long march will take place and did not give Sept 27 as the date.
“I said there would be a long march it will happen in any case, so it will happen on Oct 4,” he stated.
Afridi also described the delay as part of the party’s political strategy.
“A person only surrenders when you say that we are canceling and completely not showing up. Now, this is our political strategy, and from the screams you are hearing, you must have realized why we are delaying this,” he stated.
He also referred to criticism from the government, ministers and journalists while talking about the decision.
Following the press conference, an older video of Afridi began circulating on social media in which he had directly referred to Sept 27 as the date of the protest.
In the video, recorded around the time of Aleema Khan’s arrest, Afridi said, “So September 27th is our peaceful protest, which, God willing, will happen in any case.”
He then called on Pakistanis to participate in the protest, saying, “All Pakistanis, this is the time to stand up and say no to these tyrants, these oppressors who are tearing apart the honor of your mothers, sisters, and daughters, who are violating the sanctity of your homes and walls, and who have paralyzed all institutions.”
“This is the exact time to stand against them,” he added.
“On September 27th, all of Pakistan will come out, and you will see that, by the grace of God, on September 27th, the history and destiny of Pakistan will change,” Afridi said.
The resurfaced video prompted reactions questioning Afridi’s latest account of the date.
One person wrote, “How could Suhail Afridi so blatantly deny it? You clearly stated not once, but three times in plain and unambiguous words that it was September 27.”
Another reaction focused on the postponement, saying, “Now or never in short it means never.”
Some users pointed to a distinction between two press conferences, saying: “Actually, there were two press conferences. In the first one, the Chief Minister said that there would be a long march, but he didn’t specify the date. In the second press conference, when asked that you had announced the long march for September 27 in the first press conference, the Chief Minister replied that he hadn’t mentioned the date in the first press conference.”
Other users accused Afridi of lying. One reaction said that, “These are just liars,” while another called him “a compulsive liar.”
Another user described the development as “Sohail Afridi’s major U-turn,” saying that he had made “big claims until yesterday” before “suddenly changing his stance today” and backing away from his announcement.
One social media user also questioned the handling of funds linked to the planned protest, writing that, “Sohail Afridi raised massive funds by making big claims about the September 27 protest, only to call off the long march at the last minute. People who trusted him with their hard earned money deserve clear answers about where every rupee went.”
