Pakistan's effort to keep supporters of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan out of the capital is creating a nationwide supply-chain crisis. Reuters reported on October 2 that authorities have seized trucks and shipping containers to barricade Islamabad ahead of an October 4 march by Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party — and the fallout has reached Karachi's port, 1,400 kilometres away, where containers are piling up. Truckers are now refusing to drive north. "Right now, going toward Punjab is like committing suicide," said Javid ur Rehman, a 35-year-old driver. "The police seize the vehicles and snatch the containers, and then we are left distressed."
Reuters reporters in Karachi and Islamabad described steel shipping containers, packed with sand and welded together, positioned along the roads into Islamabad for weeks, ready to seal key entry points at a moment's notice. Rana Mohammad Aslam, president of the Karachi Goods Carrier association, said authorities began stopping vehicles around September 5 — weeks before the march's original September 27 date. "This is not the way to stop protests," he said.
Many of the requisitioned vehicles were seized while still loaded with cargo and held for days with little or no compensation. Pakistan's home, information, commerce and finance ministries did not respond to Reuters' requests for comment.
The lockdown targets supporters of Khan, jailed in 2023 after being ousted by parliament. PTI had planned a long march from Peshawar to Islamabad on September 27 to demand his release, then postponed it to October 4. Party spokesperson Zulfi Bukhari warned the march could start earlier: "We can now do it whenever we deem fit. The question is to the government, as to how long they're willing to keep the country closed off?"
The bill is mounting. The Dawn newspaper, citing police sources, reported that the capital police had requested PKR 820 million for one week of security arrangements — covering container rentals, accommodation and meals for police brought in from Punjab and Sindh provinces. With the march postponed by a week, the cost is expected to double to more than PKR 1 billion. Nisar Hussain Jaffri, chairman of the All Pakistan Goods Alliance, said police are renting 1,550 containers at PKR 46.5 million per day; 16,000 personnel have been requested from Punjab Police and 2,000 from Sindh, with meals for the Sindh contingent alone costing PKR 1.2 million a day.
Transporters feel the pain first. Drivers and fleet owners told Reuters that police requisitioned more than 2,000 vehicles in September, and with fuel prices already high, they cannot afford to lose their trucks. RMN News reported on September 26 that Islamabad had deployed 22,000 security personnel and more than 1,000 containers, with sandbags on key bridges, the central highway to Peshawar closed and public gatherings banned — leaving local businesses struggling to receive essential goods.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister Sohail Afridi, from the PTI-ruled province, announced the postponement to October 4 while warning the march could begin sooner. Authorities have already detained three of Khan's sisters and hundreds of party activists. Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi warned police to respond forcefully if the march turns violent: "It is not like that they come and they fire shots and you do nothing."
A march meant to free a jailed former prime minister has not yet begun — yet Pakistan's logistics arteries and its treasury are already paying the price. As October 4 approaches, the truckers are still watching to see whether Islamabad's container wall will truly close in.