24-Kilometre City, 2,400 Containers: Why So Much Fear? Rauf Klasra Asks
Sajid Ali
Published September 22, 2026 | 12:42 PM
You only needed to secure the city's entry points, but instead you imprisoned the city and its residents inside these gigantic containers, locking the keys in your pocket and leaving, the senior journalist and analyst said sarcastically.
ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 22nd Sep, 2026) Renowned senior journalist and analyst Rauf Klasra has strongly criticized Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi for completely sealing the Federal capital and blocking it with containers ahead of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s proposed protest and long march on September 27.
He stated that, driven by fear and panic, Naqvi had transformed Islamabad into a prison. In a post on social media platform X, he wrote that former interior ministers Rehman Malik, Chaudhry Nisar, Sheikh Rashid, and Rana Sanaullah had also taken similar measures, but Mohsin Naqvi had elevated the practice of imprisoning the city to an entirely different level.
Klasra questioned the need for such extreme fear and alarm, stating that the entire city was turned into a fortress with containers 10 days before the protest. He suggested that the minister should have displayed more confidence in himself and his administrative system.
Sarcastically, he noted that it seemed Mr Naqvi had rented all the available containers at high costs, implying that Islamabad would now handle the country’s future imports and exports instead of Karachi.
He described the 24-kilometer city, usually devoid of trucks, as now crammed with containers, with an estimated 2,400 deployed. He predicted that in the coming days, one container might be placed at every house, street, and corner, requiring even more to be imported from abroad if needed.
According to Klasra, turning the entire city into a fortress 10 days before the protest reflected the government’s and interior minister’s fear, anxiety, and uncertain mindset. He emphasized that the government should have had confidence in itself, suggesting that only the city’s entry points should have been secured instead of effectively imprisoning all residents from within by these giant containers, significantly impacting Islamabad's appearance and conditions.