Peace marathon: 840 km left in Khyber-to-Karachi walk

Rai left Khanpur on Thursday, will reach Sindh on October 30.

KHANPUR:

Kharalzada Kasrat Rai, who is on a journey across the country to promote peaceful coexistence on Thursday left Khanpur for Kot Samba.

Rai had arrived in the city on Wednesday after covering a distance of about 1,400 kilometers across Khyber-Pukhtunkhwa and the Punjab. He was received in the city by Assistant Commissioner Malik Muhammad Ayub. Rai, 35, who belongs to Hafizabad district of Punjab, said he had started the journey on September 14 from Khyber Pass in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) after a ceremony attended by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Barrister Masood Kausar.

Rai said the endeavor was meant to spread a message of peace and tolerance among the people living in the country. He said he hoped his walk would discourage people from militancy and terrorism and persuade them to work for building a better image of Pakistan. Rai urged people to raise their voices against extremism. He said there was a need for all Paksitanis to overcome their ethnic and communal differences and work for the development of the country. Rai said he expected to reach Sindh through Obaro on October 30. He said his journey would end at Mazar-e-Quaid on November 24.

Talking to The Express Tribune, he said he was hoping for a mention in the Guinness Book of World Records for completing his journey from Khyber Pass, FATA, to Mazar-i-Quaid in Karachi in 72 days.

Rai said he needed to walk for another 840 km to reach Karachi.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 28^th, 2011.