As Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) prepares for its September 27 march, the Punjab government has said that “thugs” are on the way to Islamabad to “attack the state” with a single agenda of creating unrest and instability.
In a post on X, Senior Punjab Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb while sharing videos of previous PTI protests said that the party was once again preparing to “attack the state”.
She said PTI has a history of violent confrontations during demonstrations, including attacks on public property and clashes with law-enforcement personnel.
“Those thugs who smashed police officers’ heads and injured their eyes are on the attack again. The ‘kill them,’ ‘burn them,’ and ‘set them on fire’ thugs are once again coming to attack the state”, she said.
Referring to previous protests, Aurangzeb cited the 2014 Islamabad sit-in and the May 9, 2023 unrest, alleging that PTI supporters had attacked state institutions, injured police personnel, damaged property and disrupted public life. She said the government would not allow a repeat of such incidents on September 27.
وزیراعلی خیبر پختونخواہ مسلسل اپنے عہدے اور آفس کی بے توقیر ی اور تضحیک کروا رہے ہیں
2014 میں ڈی چوک پہ قبریں کھودنے والے ، پی ٹی وی اور ریڈیو پاکستان پہ حملہ کرنے والے ایک دفعہ پھر ریاست پہ حملہ آور ہیں
‘اوئے آئی جی’ ‘اوئے ایس ایس پی’ ، ‘اوئے وزیراعظم’ ‘میں تمہیں گھسیٹوں گا’… pic.twitter.com/naV7iM5FE3— Marriyum Aurangzeb (@Marriyum_A) September 25, 2026
Marriyum Aurangzeb questioned the purpose of another major protest at a time when Pakistan is recovering economically and rebuilding its diplomatic standing. She said that the planned mobilisation could once again disrupt businesses, education, transport and daily life while drawing police and other state resources into a political confrontation.
Punjab Information Minister Azma Bukhari also criticised the planned march, saying the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government should focus on security and governance in its own province. She questioned whether PTI’s preparations were genuinely for a peaceful protest and accused the party of repeatedly pursuing what she described as a politics of “chaos and agitation”.
The criticism stems from the questions of PTI’s priorities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where militant violence remains a serious security challenge. Punjab government figures have argued that KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi should devote greater attention to law and order in the province instead of leading a large political mobilisation towards Islamabad.
Independent security data confirms that KP remains Pakistan’s region most heavily affected by militant violence. The Center for Research and Security Studies reported that the province accounted for 61% of Pakistan’s violence-linked fatalities in the second quarter of 2026, with 475 deaths recorded during the period.
Consultations underway on governor’s rule in KP, says Faisal Kundi
