Naqvi warns PTI against Sept 27 Islamabad march

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi warned the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf on Monday against carrying out its planned September 27 long march to Islamabad, saying the government would act "once and for all" to stop protests from shutting down the capital.

The warning came during a press conference in Lahore, as PTI prepares for nationwide protests demanding the release of its jailed founder Imran Khan and what it calls supremacy of the Constitution. Naqvi said the government would not allow the country to remain closed for 10 or 20 days because of demonstrations.

Naqvi said the government would implement the Islamabad High Court's September 14 order "in letter and spirit" if PTI went ahead. The order states that no political party or its leadership has a lawful right to occupy public roads, highways, interchanges, toll plazas or buildings in Islamabad.

The minister said many in PTI's senior leadership did not favour the march, and urged the party to change course. "Do not harm yourself and your workers," he said.

Asked whether the government had a permanent solution to PTI's repeated protest calls, Naqvi said: "I believe this time we will find a permanent solution; we will not leave it halfway."

On Imran Khan's health, Naqvi said doctors examined the PTI founder the previous night and that treatment would be provided according to law, not on the party's demands.

Naqvi also said the matter of creating new provinces was moving rapidly, with chambers, traders and individuals participating, and that he was hopeful new provinces would be created if the public wanted them.

Asked about the possibility of governor's rule in PTI-led Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Naqvi said the government would use whatever legal options were available, but the party would not be allowed to come to Islamabad and shut down the city for ten days.

Naqvi commented on rising petroleum prices, saying they follow global market trends and that fuel shortages were reported in several countries amid the Middle East situation.

Later in Kohat, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said no violent group would be allowed to descend on Islamabad. He said he could not remember a peaceful PTI protest in the recent past, adding that Rangers and police personnel had been martyred and that peaceful protesters did not leave home armed with sticks, nails, glass or slingshots.

The Guardian reported that Imran Khan's sisters were jailed ahead of the protest, though it did not provide further details. ARY News reported that Raja Nasir Abbas offered to hold talks with the government to resolve the political crisis.