By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: The government has extended the deployment of 3,000 paramilitary Rangers in Islamabad until 15 October, as negotiators worked on Saturday to head off a march on the capital by supporters of the jailed former prime minister Imran Khan.
The federal government notified the extension from 5 October to 15 October, following requests from the Islamabad chief commissioner and Punjab’s home department. The Rangers had been authorised from 20 September to 5 October.
A letter from the chief commissioner’s office to the interior ministry, dated 1 October, asked for the “provision of 3,000 personnel of Pak Rangers with command structure” to be extended. It followed an identical request from Islamabad police earlier that day. The police had originally sought the force “in the wake of upcoming law & order situation” and “to strengthen the existing resources”.
The extension is a sign of how seriously the authorities are taking the march, which Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party has called to demand his release from prison. The party first set the protest for 27 September, then postponed it to 4 October after routes towards the capital were blocked and security forces were deployed.
Talks produce an understanding, but no clear answer
The deployment was extended while the government and the opposition held a second day of talks at Parliament House, chaired by National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq. The first round, on Friday, ended without a deal.
On Saturday, negotiators reportedly reached an agreement over the march, according to local media, but the opposition leader Mahmood Khan Achakzai stressed that the party’s final decision would come only after a meeting with Khan. The government had agreed to let Achakzai and the Senate opposition leader, Allama Nasir Abbas, meet the PTI founder, and that the opposition had given its nod to calling off the march.
Achakzai reportedly then telephoned the PTI chairman, Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, and the former speaker Asad Qaiser to tell them that nothing should be announced before that meeting. Local media described a temporary deadlock within the opposition, and said tensions had flared more than once during the session. A joint statement and a press conference were expected.
The government delegation said it had asked the opposition to cancel the march to move the talks forward, and also complained of inappropriate language used against senior government figures. The PTI, for its part, demanded the immediate release of Mr Khan’s sisters and of its parliamentarians and workers. Another PTI figure, Salman Akram Raja, said there could be no compromise over Khan’s health, and demanded his transfer to Shifa International Hospital.
Provincial leader insists march will go ahead
The picture was further complicated by the PTI’s leadership in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The province’s chief minister, Sohail Afridi, who is due to lead the march, has remained adamant that it will start on 4 October from Lakki Marwat. The PTI’s provincial information secretary, Shaukat Yousafzai, said on Friday that the march would take place “at any cost”.
The talks followed weeks of escalating tension between the federal government and the PTI-led provincial administration. Federal officials have discussed constitutional options, including governor’s rule and an emergency, citing the security situation in the province.
Shipping containers have been placed across key routes into the capital, and transporters have complained of disrupted freight. The information ministry has said no roads in Islamabad are closed and that the containers are there to protect citizens. Additional police have been brought in from Punjab and Sindh.
Public gatherings in the capital are banned under the Peaceful Assembly and Public Order Act 2024, which was pushed through the National Assembly over the opposition’s objections. The interior minister, Mohsin Naqvi, has warned the PTI “not to enter a dead-end street” and hinted at a “permanent solution” to such protests.
The earlier interior ministry notification authorised the Rangers under the Pakistan Rangers Ordinance 1959 and the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997. It said the troops could “respond appropriately in self-defence” to threats or violence. The ministry has separately told the Rangers and police to take all necessary counter-action if disruptive and armed groups attack.
The army has also weighed in. On Friday, a Corps Commanders’ Conference chaired by Field Marshal Asim Munir stressed the importance of internal stability and warned against a repeat of the violence of 9 May 2023. That unrest erupted after Khan was briefly arrested in Islamabad, and protesters attacked military installations and other state buildings. The military’s media wing said any attempt to create a “9th May like situation, on any pretext whatsoever” would be met with “decisive force”. Mr Khan denies inciting the violence, and the PTI says the cases against him are politically motivated.
The memory of the party’s last big push on the capital also hangs over the capital. A march in November 2024 ended in a violent crackdown. The PTI claimed supporters were killed, while ministers denied any protesters died and said four security personnel were killed.
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