Pakistan locks down capital, suspends cellphones to thwart opposition rally 

Islamabad — Pakistan Friday imposed strict security measures in and around Islamabad to deter supporters of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan from marching on the country’s capital.

Authorities have blocked highways and roads leading into the city with freight containers. They have suspended cellphone service and public transport, and closed schools.

Police and paramilitary forces were stationed at entry and exit points, and the government temporarily banned public gatherings in Islamabad.

Similar security measures were placed in the adjoining city of Rawalpindi, where Pakistan's military is headquartered.

Khan has urged supporters of his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or PTI, party from all over the country to assemble at D-Chowk, a public square, near Parliament and the prime minister's office, to peacefully protest claimed election rigging and government efforts to introduce contentious constitutional amendments

Friday’s antigovernment demonstration is the latest in a series of PTI rallies against Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's coalition government in recent weeks. Khan, 71, contends that the ruling coalition has neither moral nor legal jurisdiction to amend the constitution, citing alleged election fraud as the basis for its illegitimacy.

"I want you all to reach D-Chowk today for a peaceful protest rally," read an Urdu-language statement posted on Khan’s social media platform X on Friday. "This war has entered a decisive phase,” he added.

Police in the capital were seen rounding up dozens of PTI activists Friday, including women, trying to make their way to the protest site. Khan’s two sisters, Aleema Khan and Uzma Khanum, were among the detainees.

Meanwhile, thousands of Khan supporters were heading to Islamabad from the PTI-ruled northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The provincial chief minister was leading the rally. Police also clashed with protesters and fired tear gas shells elsewhere to try to stop their march.

Amnesty International denounced the clampdown on the right to protest and subsequent arrests, calling on Pakistan to adhere to international obligations and refrain from using “unlawful force” against peaceful PTI protests.

“The blanket shutdown of mobile network[s] and internet in Islamabad and Rawalpindi and complete blockade of roads to the capital imposed ahead of … protests today infringe on people's right to freedom of expression, access to information, peaceful assembly and movement,” said the global rights watchdog.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi warned PTI supporters against storming and holding the rally in Islamabad.

“Anyone caught will not be shown any leniency, and no one should complain later,” he told a late Thursday news conference.

Naqvi defended the government's response to the opposition rally, saying Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim was in the capital, and preparations were under way for an October 15-16 Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting.

He said Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang is scheduled to visit Islamabad before the SCO gathering, adding that the government "can't allow any chaos" before these high-profile events, and urged Khan’s party to move the rally to a later date.

Khan has been in jail since August of last year on highly contentious corruption and other criminal charges, while his party remains a target of a military-backed government crackdown. He rejects all the charges as politically motivated, and his convictions have either been quashed or suspended for lack of evidence.

Despite facing challenges, PTI-backed candidates won the most seats in the general election in February, but not enough to form a government. That enabled Khan’s opponents, led by Sharif, to cobble together a ruling coalition, allegedly with the help of the powerful military.

Khan, a former cricket star turned prime minister, was ousted from power in a 2022 opposition parliamentary no-confidence motion led by Sharif. The deposed Pakistani leader rejected the move as illegal and claimed the military orchestrated it, charges Sharif and army officials subsequently denied.