Pakistan25 September, 20262 min read
PTI Postpones Islamabad Long March From Sept 27 To Oct 4, Sohail Afridi Says
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PTI shifts Islamabad march from Sept 27 to Oct 4. Security measures and government crackdown cited as postponement drivers.
March pushed to Oct 4
PTI leadership is considering postponing its planned long march towards Islamabad, scheduled for Sept 27, by more than a week, and the march would now leave from Peshawar on Oct 4. A senior PTI leader told Dawn that the party had already achieved what it wanted to do via the march.
PTI decided to postpone its planned march to Islamabad from September 27 to October 4, and the decision would be formally announced by Sohail Afridi. Afridi asserted at a press conference in Peshawar that the planned long march would go ahead despite road blockades and other measures, and he said, “Our long march will definitely take place.”
Security lockdown and rights
The federal government approved the deployment of Rangers in Islamabad and several districts of Punjab from Sept 20 to Oct 5, and the notification stated that the deployed troops may respond appropriately in self-defence to any threats or violent activities encountered. Punjab imposed a ban on gatherings across the province for 13 days and prohibited inciting people to “unlawful assembly,” while Islamabad had a similar ban under Section 144 enforced for two months.
HRCP said in a statement on Friday that it “deplores the mounting arrests and preventive detention of PTI workers, lawmakers and leaders ahead of the party’s planned protest march,” and it urged the government to de-escalate political tensions. Information Minister Attaullah Tarar accused the KP government of avoiding steps to maintain law and order and giving “full facilitation” to terrorists, and Tarar said, “In one way or another, terrorists have attacked all political parties in KP.”
Negotiations hinge on delay
Rana Sanaullah said formal negotiations with PTI could not proceed unless the party postponed its planned September 27 long march, and he told a private television channel that containers had been placed along roadsides in Islamabad as a security measure. Rana Sanaullah said backchannel contacts with PTI leadership were still continuing, but formal talks could not begin while the party maintained its plan for the long march, and he warned that no one would be allowed to “storm” Islamabad.
Rangers were being deployed and roads blocked as authorities prepared for the march ahead of PTI’s planned September 27 protest march. The Times of India reported that PTI chairman Gohar Ali Khan urged the government to open negotiations and warned against confronting political workers with force, as the decision to delay the protest was linked to the federal government’s measures.