Ahead of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) march announced for 27 September 2026 in Islamabad, federal and provincial authorities have introduced extensive security and administrative measures that have significantly restricted access to the federal capital and raised concerns regarding the exercise of freedom of peaceful assembly.
PTI announced the march to press for the release of its founder, Imran Khan, and other political demands. On 23 September, it was reported that the Islamabad Additional District Magistrate had imposed Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code across Islamabad for two months, restricting gatherings, rallies, processions and demonstrations. The Islamabad administration also warned citizens against participating in activities prohibited under the order. In addition, major highways, entry points and intersections leading towards Islamabad were subsequently closed or restricted, including sections of the M-1 Islamabad-Peshawar Motorway, E-35 Hazara Motorway, M-14 and the N-5 Grand Trunk Road. Containers and other physical barriers were placed at several locations, affecting movement between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, northern Punjab, Rawalpindi and Islamabad.
Security arrangements were further intensified through the deployment of Pakistan Rangers in Islamabad and several districts of Punjab ahead of the planned march. According to a Ministry of Interior notification, Rangers deployment was authorised from 20 September to 5 October 2026 following requests from the Islamabad administration and the Punjab government. Police also intensified action against PTI leaders and activists, with reports of door-to-door searches, monitoring of party workers and the detention of around 150 activists under the Maintenance of Public Order framework. PTI has additionally alleged raids on the residences and offices of its leaders and described the actions as an attempt to prevent its supporters from participating in the march. The government, on the other hand, has maintained that these measures are being taken to preserve law and order and protect public life and property. Government hospitals in Islamabad have also been placed on high alert, with doctors, nurses and paramedical staff instructed to remain available, ambulances placed on standby, emergency beds reserved, and hospitals directed to maintain additional stocks of blood, medicines, medical equipment and oxygen.
The authorities have also decided to suspend mobile phone and internet services in Islamabad, Rawalpindi and parts of Attock on 26 and 27 September as part of the security arrangements for the anticipated PTI march. The decision was reportedly taken following high-level security discussions that also covered motorway closures, restrictions on the GT Road and other measures intended to control movement towards the federal capital. Dawn has separately reported that the Punjab government requested the Interior Ministry to downgrade or jam mobile and internet services at specified locations in Rawalpindi and Attock on 27 September. The proposed disruption of communications, particularly when combined with restrictions on physical movement and assembly, raises additional concerns regarding citizens’ ability to organise, communicate, access information and document developments during a political protest.
The scale and preventive nature of these arrangements raise serious concerns regarding Pakistan’s obligations to protect freedom of peaceful assembly. Article 16 of the Constitution guarantees citizens the right to assemble peacefully and without arms, subject to reasonable restrictions imposed by law in the interest of public order. While authorities have a legitimate responsibility to manage genuine security risks and ensure that roads, hospitals and essential services remain accessible, restrictions on peaceful political assemblies should remain necessary, proportionate and targeted. In the present case, the combination of a prolonged city-wide ban on gatherings, closure of major transport routes, extensive deployment of police and paramilitary forces, detention and monitoring of political workers, and physical measures designed to prevent participants from reaching Islamabad may substantially limit citizens’ practical ability to participate in peaceful political activity. Such measures therefore raise concerns that public-order arrangements are being used not merely to regulate the manner in which the assembly takes place, but potentially to prevent the assembly itself from occurring, with consequential implications for freedom of assembly, political participation and the broader civic space in Pakistan.