2,400 Containers for a 24-Kilometre City: Rauf Klasra Questions Islamabad Shutdown
ISLAMABAD: Senior journalist and analyst Rauf Klasra has criticised the extensive deployment of shipping containers across the federal capital ahead of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) proposed protest and long march on September 27.
In a post on social media platform X, Klasra questioned the need to seal off Islamabad nearly 10 days before the planned protest, saying the city had effectively been turned into a “prison” through the placement of containers.
He said that as interior minister, Rehman Malik, Chaudhry Nisar, Sheikh Rashid and Rana Sanaullah had also used similar measures in the past, but Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi had taken the practice to another level.
“Why was there a need to be so frightened and alarmed that the entire city was turned into a fortress with containers 10 days before the protest?” Klasra asked, arguing that the government should have shown greater confidence in its own administrative system.
اس دفعہ جو کام ہمارے پیارے محسن نقوی نے اسلام آباد کے ساتھ کر دیا ہے وہ آج تک نہیں ہوا۔وزیرداخلہ کے طور پر یہ کام رحمن ملک بھی کرتے رہے، چوہدری نثار، شیخ رشید اور رانا ثناء اللہ بھی کرتے رہے لیکن آپ تو اس کام کو next level تک لے گئے ہیں۔
اتنا بھی خوفزدہ اور دہشت زدہ ہونے کی کیا… pic.twitter.com/bNeYme4avS— Rauf Klasra (@KlasraRauf) September 22, 2026
Taking a sarcastic tone, Klasra said it appeared that Naqvi had brought in containers from an entire port on heavy rent, joking that Pakistan’s future imports and exports might now take place through Islamabad instead of Karachi.
He claimed that more than 2,400 containers had been placed across the capital, describing the extensive deployment as disproportionate for a city spanning around 24 kilometres.
Klasra said that instead of blocking the entire city, authorities should have focused on securing its entry points as part of security arrangements.
He further argued that the measures had effectively confined both Islamabad and its residents behind large containers, altering the appearance and disrupting normal conditions in the federal capital.
