Pakistan interior minister Mohsin Naqvi on Monday warned jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) ahead of the party’s planned protest in Islamabad, saying it “can never achieve anything through such drama."
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The PTI plans to march towards the capital on September 27 to demand the release of its founder Imran Khan, who has been in jail since 2023 after being arrested following his conviction in a corruption case. Currently, the cricketer-turned-politician is lodged at the high-security Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi.
“We will not allow PTI to enter Islamabad and shut down the city for several days. We have clearly told them that they can never achieve anything through such drama, and I will say again that there is still time; they should not go into this situation,” Naqvi told reporters.
He also referred to an Islamabad high court order directing the federal government to ensure peace in the capital and claimed that a majority of PTI leaders did not support the planned protest.
“Do not harm yourself and your workers,” he told the PTI leadership, urging it to adopt a “different approach”.
Asked about measures to find a long-term solution to the PTI’s repeated protests, Naqvi replied, “This time we will find a permanent solution; we will not leave it halfway. We can't afford this every time.”
On reports of a possible ban on the party, he said the government would seek a “once-and-for-all solution.”
Meanwhile, the federal government was stepping up security measures ahead of the protest, including placing shipping containers along roads and bringing in police personnel from other provinces.
More than 22,000 security personnel, led by eight senior police officers, were to be deployed in Islamabad, while more than 30,000 were to be stationed in Attock district, which connects Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with Punjab.
Police in Rawalpindi, Islamabad’s twin city, have separately sought 9,000 additional personnel to assist the local administration.
The PTI is not the only group planning protests in Islamabad. Right-wing Jamaat-e-Islami launched a demonstration against rising petroleum prices on Sunday and was heading towards the capital from Karachi.
The Kissan Ittehad farmers’ group has also announced a sit-in in the city this week, seeking relief for farmers.
(With agency inputs)
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