Islamabad, September 25, 2026: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has postponed its planned march towards Islamabad from September 27 to October 4, with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi saying the march will now begin from Peshawar.
Speaking at a press conference in Peshawar on Friday, Afridi said the party’s political committee had met and unanimously agreed to reschedule the march.
He said the PTI’s stated objectives included the supremacy of the Constitution, restoration of judicial independence, media freedom and what the party describes as “Haqiqi Azadi”.
The PTI has been preparing for a nationwide protest and march towards Islamabad, with the release of party founder and former prime minister Imran Khan among its central demands. The planned September 27 protest had prompted extensive security preparations in Islamabad, Rawalpindi and parts of Punjab.
Afridi alleged that court directives concerning Imran Khan’s medical treatment and meetings with his family had not been implemented. He said the Constitution allowed citizens to protest peacefully when legal and constitutional avenues failed.
The KP chief minister also criticised the reported arrests and detentions of PTI leaders and workers and alleged that authorities had placed containers and other obstacles along routes near the KP-Punjab border.
A senior PTI leader, speaking to Dawn on condition of anonymity, separately confirmed that the march would now leave Peshawar on October 4. The leader said the postponement would also give the party time to respond to the security measures already introduced around the federal capital.
The development followed uncertainty within the PTI over the timing of the protest. A day earlier, party lawyer Naeem Haider Panjutha had said the march could be postponed if the government agreed to hold elections within six to eight months, release Imran Khan and other political prisoners, and investigate the May 9 and November 26 crackdowns on the party. PTI spokesperson Sheikh Waqas Akram, however, denied that such a proposal was being discussed at a party forum.
Meanwhile, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) called for de-escalation and expressed concern over reported arrests and preventive detention of PTI workers, lawmakers and leaders ahead of the planned protest.
The HRCP said the right to peaceful assembly should be upheld and called for dialogue between the government and opposition.
The federal government, meanwhile, has defended the security measures taken ahead of the planned march. Punjab has imposed restrictions on gatherings under Section 144, while similar restrictions are in force in Islamabad. The federal government has also approved the deployment of Rangers in Islamabad and several Punjab districts through October 5.
Information Minister Attaullah Tarar criticised the KP government at a press conference on Friday, accusing it of failing to adequately address law-and-order and terrorism concerns in the province.
Tarar alleged that the provincial government was providing “full facilitation” to militants and described its approach to counterterrorism as evasive. These allegations were made by the federal minister and were not independently established.
He also criticised Afridi personally and questioned the KP government’s response to attacks and security incidents in the province.
Tarar said 2,456 terror attacks had occurred in KP during 2026 and claimed that 472 personnel from the police, army, Rangers and Frontier Corps had been killed, with more than 1,500 people injured. The figures were cited by the minister during his press conference.
The PTI has rejected the federal government’s criticism and maintained that its planned march is a political protest centred on its demands concerning Imran Khan, constitutional rights and the electoral and judicial system.
