Dera Ismail Khan: Hundred of activists and supporters part of a “peace march” arranged by Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI) have reached Dera Ismail Khan town of province Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa on Saturday.
The marchers will leave for South Waziristan on Sunday morning after an overnight stay in D.I. Khan.
Imran and his party, along with British and US activists, set off from Islamabad in a giant convoy to drive around 440 kilometres to South Waziristan.
“PTI is not scared of anyone. The government tried to make this march unsuccessful but we are determined to bring peace to the country,” Khan said, addressing the convoy in Mianwali.
Peace campaigners condemn the strikes as a violation of international law, Pakistanis as a violation of sovereignty that breeds extremism, and politicians including Khan as a sign of a government complicit in killing its own people.
Imran says he wants to show the world the damage inflicted on innocent people by the drone campaign.
But critics accuse the former cricketer of blatant electioneering ahead of polls next year and of ignoring both atrocities blamed on Islamist militants and abuses by the Pakistani army.
Former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi insisted the march would not be a failure if the authorities stopped it from reaching Waziristan.
“The point is it’s symbolic,” he said.
“The government is saying we are against drones. The people are saying they are against drones. What are they afraid of? Why are they blocking us?”
Khan was accompanied by US anti-drone campaigners from the group Code Pink and the British head of legal lobby organisation Reprieve, Clive Stafford Smith.
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