Imran Khan’s PTI postpones Islamabad march to October 4 amid security clampdown

Islamabad: Pakistan's jailed former prime minister Imran Khan's party has decided to postpone its protest march towards Islamabad until October 4, party insiders said on Friday.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party had announced the launch of a long march to the capital on September 27 to force the government to release party founder Khan but apparently decided to delay it due to the tough measures taken by the federal government to stop the protest.

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Khan, 73, has been incarcerated since 2023, when he was arrested after conviction in a corruption case. He is lodged at the high-security Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi.

Party sources said the decision to postpone the protest was taken at a meeting and would be formally announced by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi.

"The protest will be launched on October 4 instead of September 27," the source said.

Earlier in the day, Afridi said at a press conference in Peshawar that the planned long march on Islamabad would go ahead despite road blockades and other measures.

"Our long march will definitely take place. This time, we will definitely come out," said Afridi, who leads the PTI-led Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial government.

He expressed concern over reports of nails being driven into roads at the provincial boundaries, asking whether a conspiracy to cut Khyber Pakhtunkhwa off from the rest of the country had formally begun.

The chief minister said the PTI's long march would take place "at all costs" and remain peaceful.

"Put nails on the roads, place containers or fire bullets, we will come out," he said, adding that the party would this time seek to bring an end to what he described as the "corrupt system and fake rulers."

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"Pakistan will not break at any cost and we will save Pakistan," he said.

Afridi said a meeting of the PTI's political committee was underway and the party's future course of action would soon be announced.

Meanwhile, the government placed shipping containers along the main roads to close them on short notice ahead of the protesters' march to Islamabad.

Hotels in the Faizabad area of Rawalpindi have been closed while restaurants and shopkeepers were directed to close their businesses. Guest houses and transport terminals at Faizabad have been ordered to close from tonight, according to police sources.

Thousands of security personnel were being deployed in the Islamabad and Rawalpindi region to control the protesters.

Tensions over the protest continued despite PTI Chairman Gohar Ali Khan urging the government to open negotiations over the party's planned long march, warning that political workers should not be confronted with force.

Reacting to the postponement, information minister Attaullah Tarar said the PTI had run away as it had no preparations to come to Islamabad.

"There are no preparations for the PTI's long march either, and that is why they have backed out of this protest. If they have the courage, let them come and hold the march," he said.