Photo via Dawn

CM Afridi adamant on holding long march, says will not allow repeat of May 9 events

Read the original at Dawn ↗
Cite

News Desk. (2026, October 3). CM Afridi adamant on holding long march, says will not allow repeat of May 9 events. Dawn. https://www.dawn.com/news/2034465/cm-afridi-adamant-on-holding-long-march-says-will-not-allow-repeat-of-may-9-events

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

Dawn · collected 2026-10-03 · by News Desk

Quick Summary

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi is determined to proceed with a PTI long march to Islamabad on October 4, insisting it will not end like May 9's incident. He stated that an "ocean of people" would join the protest from Gandi Chowk in Lakki Marwat at 1pm. Despite calls from opposition parties and allies to cancel the march, Afridi emphasized that PTI’s demands align with constitutional law and vowed to ensure an independent judiciary. The government and opposition are scheduled for talks today to address the ongoing political crisis.
Written by AI on 2026-10-03, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi remained committed to holding a PTI-led long march towards Islamabad on October 4. He vowed this after announcing plans to prevent incidents similar to those that occurred during an earlier rally in May, which saw violent clashes and disruptions. The event is part of ongoing protests against the alleged illegal detention of party founder and former Prime Minister Imran Khan. PTI postponed its initial march from September 27 until October 4 due to government pressure. Afridi insisted on his social media post that PTI, as Pakistan’s largest political party, has a right to peaceful protest under the Constitution. Talks between the government and opposition are set for the day before the march to address issues including the planned demonstration.

Written for “Long March Protest Pakistan” on 2026-11-04, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Long March Protest Pakistan
Politics · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 13% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Dawn
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 6 of 22 claims Outlet record 72/100
“While both articles discuss PTI's planned protest march on October 4, they refer to different points in time leading up to the march and do not describe the exact same occurrence.”
Dawn
Hedges 1 of 19 claims Outlet record 72/100
“The articles discuss different stages of PTI's long march planning and warnings about it, not a single specific incident.”
Dawn
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 4 of 53 claims Outlet record 72/100
“Article A discusses the intent and planning for a long march on October 4, while Article B describes the actual ongoing march beginning from Lakki Marwat on October 4, reaching Kohat by Monday night. Although related, they describe different stages of the same type of event.”
Dawn
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 1 of 25 claims Outlet record 72/100
“The articles refer to different planned marches by various political groups at distinct times, not a single incident.”
BBC News
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 3 of 25 claims Outlet record 66/100
“Article A discusses CM Afridi's stance and preparations for a planned long march on October 4th, while Article B reports on the actual start of the march with supporters from Lakki Marwat on October 5th.”
Dawn
Hedges 4 of 39 claims Outlet record 72/100
“The articles describe different stages of planning and responses regarding PTI's long march, not a single specific incident.”
Dawn
⚖️ Leans right Hedges 1 of 36 claims Outlet record 72/100
“The articles describe different points in time related to political tensions, with Article A covering PM Shehbaz's consultations before planned protests and Article B focusing on Chief Minister Afridi's stance on the long march after initial talks.”
Politics of agitation Different event
Dawn
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 1 of 40 claims Outlet record 72/100
“The articles discuss different phases of planned protests, with Article A focusing on postponements in September, while Article B discusses ongoing plans and talks for October.”
Dawn
Hedges 0 of 11 claims Outlet record 72/100
“While both articles discuss talks between government and opposition regarding PTI's planned protest march on October 4, they describe different points in time and distinct meetings.”
Dawn
Hedges 3 of 48 claims Outlet record 72/100
“The articles describe different stages of ongoing negotiations before a planned protest, rather than the same specific incident or meeting.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
15
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
13%
2 of 15 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
72/100
Dawn's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-03 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Dawn · 2683 article(s) · 3 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 3 correction(s)

Who wrote this

News Desk
363 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik on Tuesday assured the public that the government will make utmost efforts to meet the demand for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) during the winter months.
🔮 Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik on Tuesday assured the public that the government will make utmost efforts to meet the demand for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) during the winter months.
🔮 Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik on Tuesday assured the public that the government will make utmost efforts to meet the demand for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) during winters.
🔮 Following the revision, petrol will retail at Rs374.51 per litre, while HSD will cost Rs395.20.
🔮 The PTI founder also faces pending trials in terrorism cases related to the May 9, 2023 riots.
🔮 Also last week, the two countries launched the China-Pakistan Information Corridor (CPIC), which will be based on four pillars — media, business and enterprises, think tanks, and culture/tourism.
🔮 “The foundation he has laid will be critical to the carrier’s future commercial viability and success,” it added.
🔮 week, the two countries launched the China-Pakistan Information Corridor (CPIC), which will be based on four pillars — media, business and enterprises, think tanks, and culture/tourism.
🔮 The government announced on Monday that oil refineries would bear a burden of approximately Rs15 billion each month, which would allow petrol to be sold Rs15 cheaper than what it was in the global market amid the US-Israeli war on Iran.
🔮 Pakistan is also set to host the next meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of State (CHS) after assuming its chairmanship in September.
Wire or desk byline, not an individual reporter.
Also by News Desk
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 363 articles by News Desk →

Topics

Constitution Islamabad Khyber Pakhtunkhwa PTI Pakistan

Subjects

PTI ORG · 4× Afridi PERSON · 3× Pakistan GPE · 3× Gandi Chowk GPE · 1× Imran Khan PERSON · 1× Islamabad GPE · 1× Khyber Pakhtunkhwa GPE · 1× Lakki Marwat GPE · 1× PPP ORG · 1× Sohail Afridi PERSON · 1×

Narrative

In a post on X a day earlier, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, an ally of the PML-N government, pressed PTI to unconditionally call off the long march, which, he said, would allow the country to come together to address the threat of terrorism and threats emanating from neighbouring countries.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-03
🔮 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi on Saturday remained adamant about holding the long march on October 4, vowing to prevent a repeat of the events of May 9.

Claims (15 extracted, 2 hedged)

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi on Saturday remained adamant about holding the long march on October 4, vowing to prevent a repeat of the events of May 9. uncertain
Afridi → remain → May
His remarks came as the government and the opposition are scheduled to hold the second round of talks today in the Speaker’s Chambers at 2pm. asserted
government → come → 2
In the first round, both sides apprised each other of their respective positions on different issues, including the long march. asserted
sides → apprise → march
In August, PTI announced a long march to Islamabad on September 27 against what it called the “illegal imprisonment” of the party founder and ex-prime minister Imran Khan. asserted
it → announce → founder
However, a couple of days before its scheduled long march, the party postponed the march till October 4. asserted
party → schedule → October
In a social media post on X, CM Afridi said PTI was the largest and most popular political party in Pakistan. asserted
PTI → say → Pakistan
“Pakistan is a democratic country whose Constitution grants us the right to peaceful protest.” asserted
Constitution → grant → protest
On October 4, he said an “ocean of people” would begin its journey from Gandi Chowk in Lakki Marwat at 1pm. asserted
ocean → say → pm
The party would continue its struggle until the supremacy of the Constitution and the law was ensured in Pakistan and an independent judiciary was restored, CM Afridi added. “All demands of the PTI are in accordance with the constitution and the law.” asserted
demands → continue → constitution
In his post, he stressed that the party would “neither allow May 9 to happen again nor allow anyone else to repeat it”. uncertain
anyone → stress → it
In a post on X a day earlier, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, an ally of the PML-N government, pressed PTI to unconditionally call off the long march, which, he said, would allow the country to come together to address the threat of terrorism and threats emanating from neighbouring countries. asserted
country → press → countries
Bilawal also welcomed the government’s decision to work with his party and jointly engage with the opposition “to find political solutions to political problems”. asserted
Bilawal → welcome → problems
On Friday, PTI Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Secretary Information Shaukat Yousafzai said that the party’s protest march would start from the southern districts and be led by CM Afridi. asserted
march → say → Afridi
“The march on October 4 will take place at any cost,” he said in a statement. asserted
he → take → statement
The meeting on Friday between government and opposition representatives, chaired by National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, was aimed at defusing the country’s ongoing political crisis. asserted
meeting → chair → crisis
💬Give feedback
🕘History 🎫Support