Paramilitary called in, cell phone services and roads blocked in Islamabad ahead of opposition protest

ISLAMABAD: Mobile phone services were suspended, all highways leading to the Pakistani capital as well as major roads inside Islamabad were blocked off and paramilitary forces were requisitioned on Friday ahead of a planned protest by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), with the government warning the opposition party against violence or clashes.
The PTI party of ex-premier Imran Khan has called a protest at Islamabad’s famed D-Chowk against proposed constitutional amendments that it says are aimed at curtailing the independence of the judiciary, a charge the coalition government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif denies. The PTI is also trying to mobilize the public through large public gatherings to put pressure for the release of Khan, who has been in prison since August last year and faces a slew of legal challenges.
“I want you all to reach D Chowk Islamabad today (Friday Oct. 4) for a peaceful protest and citizens of Lahore and its surrounding districts to prepare for a protest at Minar-e-Pakistan on Saturday Oct. 5,” Khan said in an X message to his supporters from prison.
“You should not be afraid of any kind of sacrifice for your freedom and do not retreat from it. Freedom is your right … Democracy and the rule of law have completely ended in our country, for which we have to fight hard.”
As social media footage shared by the PTI and its supporters showed caravans of supporters traveling to Islamabad for the protest from nearby cities, the Punjab government issued a notification saying it had summoned the paramilitary Rangers force “to maintain law and order” in Rawalpindi, Islamabad’s twin city.
Section 144, which allows the district administration to outlaw gatherings of more than four people on account of security threats, was imposed in Islamabad as well as the cities of Lahore, Rawalpindi, Attock and Sargodha. The Punjab government had also imposed the Section 144 provision in Bahawalpur, Faisalabad and Mianwali cities ahead of demonstrations by the PTI on Wednesday.
“Gatherings can be a soft target for the terrorists,” a notification announcing the imposition of Section 144 stated.
Pillion riding, when someone sits behind the main rider on a motorcycle, was also banned in Rawalpindi and Attock for Friday and Saturday, a separate notification said.
The PTI says the measures are being used by the federal and provincial Punjab government to suppress the party’s constitutional right to protest and to block the growing popularity of a party that has a track record of attracting hundreds of thousands of people to demonstrations and rallies.
On Thursday, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi held a strongly worded press conference against the PTI’s protest plans, especially as Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is in Pakistan on a three-day visit.
“This is a very sensitive time for us [government] because the Malaysian prime minister is here … then a high-level Saudi delegation is coming, then the Chinese prime minister is coming and then there is the SCO [Shanghai Cooperation Organization] conference [in Islamabad on Oct. 15-16],” Naqvi told reporters.
“PTI is a Pakistani party, not a foreign party and I would like to tell them that it is not acceptable at any level that a head of state is here and you want to charge at Islamabad.”
He said there would be no “leniency” or “second thoughts” in security arrangements in Islamabad while the Malaysian PM was visiting.
In a message on X, Islamabad police warned citizens not to be “part of any illegal activity.”
“The law will act against those who disturb peace and order. Observe traffic adviseries for road closures while traveling.”
On Friday morning, an Arab News survey showed major roads inside Islamabad and Rawalpindi blocked off with shipping containers and long lines of traffic jams on main roads that connect the two cities. Entry and exit points of Islamabad were also sealed and even people on foot complained of being able to travel.
“You don’t want people to come into the city [Islamabad] and get to D-Chowk where the protest is but at least let people go outside the city,” taxi driver Arshad Shad told Arab News.
“Buses can’t move, there is no Internet, no mobile phone service. Families are stuck, they can’t come or go. So I don’t understand what the government is doing, they are only making life more difficult for the public.”
Zafar Iqbal, who deals in sale and purchase of property, lamented frequent protests were affecting businesses in the twin cities.
“Every fourth day there is a protest. This is very wrong. This shouldn’t happen. People’s businesses are getting affected and the public is being humiliated,” he told Arab News.
“This is a curse for the public, for businessmen. There is already no business and people are worried.”
Asif Khan, a Rawalpindi resident who works with a bike raid-hailing service, equally criticized the government and the opposition for the situation.
“This government has no shame nor do the PTI people have,” he said. “It’s been four hours, we have been sitting here since morning, but we didn’t get any passenger. What will the poor earn and eat?“
PREVIOUS PROTESTS
The PTI also held protests in a number of cities in Punjab province on Wednesday.
In Mianwali, Internet services were blocked city-wide and police used tear gas shelling to disperse demonstrators. A protest in Faisalabad was also blocked as all roads leading to the venue were shut down amid heavy deployment of police. Clashes between PTI supporters and law enforcers were also reported. Similar scenes occurred in Bahawalpur also.
Last Saturday, the garrison city of Rawalpindi, which borders Islamabad, remained tense as police fired tear gas shells to disperse hundreds of Khan supporters ahead of a protest in the city to demand the release from prison of Khan.
The PTI also held a rally on the outskirts of Islamabad on Sept. 8 against Khan’s incarceration, which was largely peaceful though a policeman was injured in clashes with some supporters en route to the rally venue.
The day after the rally, however, over a dozen legislators from the party were arrested on charges of violating an agreement based on which permission for the gathering was issued, including abiding by a time limit and supporters sticking to certain routes to reach the designated venue for the rally on Islamabad’s outskirts.
Khan’s party says the challenges in holding rallies and protests are part of an over-year-long crackdown.
Khan, who has been in jail since last August, was ousted from the PM’s office in 2022 in a parliamentary vote of no confidence after what is widely believed to be a falling out with Pakistan’s powerful military, which denies being involved in politics.