Islamabad deploys over 1,000 containers ahead of PTI, JI protests
Interior Ministry released Rs40 crore, while owners say they have not been paid for containers used in previous protests.
More than 1,000 freight containers have been parked along Islamabad’s main roads ahead of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s 27 September long march and a separate Jamaat-i-Islami protest call against the petroleum levy, BBC Urdu reported.
The term ‘container city’ has followed Islamabad since August 2024, when then Islamabad High Court Chief Justice Amir Farooq used it while hearing a PTI contempt petition. The party had challenged the district administration’s cancellation of its no-objection certificate to protest at D-Chowk.
An Islamabad police official told BBC Urdu that the containers have been stationed along major highways, including in the Red Zone. The Red Zone (home to the diplomatic enclave, Prime Minister’s House, President House, Parliament House, the high court and the Supreme Court) will be completely sealed before 27 September.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said at a press conference on Friday that, after a recent Islamabad High Court decision, no one would be allowed to enter Islamabad.
Police officials said the empty containers are being filled with sand, soil and construction material so they cannot be moved easily. Some containers near the diplomatic enclave have been welded together.
The administration and police have requested more than 15,000 personnel from Punjab and Sindh. According to BBC Urdu, local media reported that the visiting police would be housed in government schools and schools closed for several days. Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry told BBC Urdu that no decision has been made to close educational institutions and personnel are being placed in available buildings.
A district administration official said the Interior Ministry has released Rs40 crore in initial funds. Most containers are rented: a 40-foot container costs Rs20,000 per day and a shorter one Rs10,000, with owners to be paid after the protest for the days used.
Owais Chaudhry, president of the All Pakistan Goods Transport Association, claimed more than 1,000 containers have been seized from his members and hundreds from Punjab districts including Jatli, Mandi Bahauddin and Gujranwala. He said no payments were made after previous protests, including in 2022. Talal Chaudhry rejected the claim as false, saying a regular procedure exists under which the association provides containers and receives rent.
In the National Assembly on 19 March 2025, the Minister of State for Interior said the government spent over Rs1.35 billion in five years on managing protests in the federal capital, including Rs72.40 crore in 2022-23 and Rs27.79 crore in 2021-22.
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