ISLAMABAD: The PTI leadership decided on Friday to postpone its planned long march towards Islamabad, originally scheduled for Sept 27, by more than a week.
The party had been preparing for a nationwide protest and march towards Islamabad on Sept 27 to press for the release of its founder, Imran Khan, who is currently incarcerated in Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail.
Speaking to Dawn, a senior PTI leader, who requested anonymity, said the march will now leave from Peshawar on Oct 4.
He added that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi would formally announce the postponement soon.
“There was a proposal to exhaust the federal government and law enforcement agencies, as they have already closed down the federal capital and a number of routes,” he said.
The leader claimed that the PTI had already achieved what it wanted to do via the march.
“They have closed down roads and are spending hundreds of millions on law enforcement,” he noted.
Asked if the PTI intended to march alongside the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI), which had postponed its own protest march against the petroleum levy on the request of the premier, the leader said that the decision had nothing to do with them.
“We are capable of arranging the march on our own,” he said.
The development comes a day after a PTI leader had hinted at the possibility of postponing its protest march if the federal government agreed to hold elections within six to eight months, release Imran and other political prisoners, and investigate the May 9 and November 26 crackdowns on the opposition party.
Advocate Naeem Haider Panjutha told Dawn that the protest could be postponed if these three assurances were given by the government.
Party spokesperson Sheikh Waqas Akram, however, had denied any such proposal was being discussed at any party forum, saying only Imran could take a decision even if such a proposal was on the table.
Preparations in the Rawalpindi Division and the federal capital territory to maintain security and deal with any emergency situation have been in full swing in light of the potential long march and other protests in Islamabad.
Punjab has already imposed a ban on gatherings across the province for 13 days and prohibited inciting people to “unlawful assembly”. A similar ban under Section 144 has been enforced in Islamabad for two months.
The Punjab government has also sent a letter to the interior ministry requesting mobile and internet services at specific locations in Rawalpindi and Attock to be downgraded or jammed on Sept 27.
Meanwhile, the federal government on Thursday approved the deployment of Rangers in Islamabad and several districts of Punjab from Sept 20 to Oct 5.
“The deployed troops may respond appropriately in self-defence to any threats or violent activities encountered in the course of their duties as per rules/regulations in vogue,” the notification stated.
