ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani religious party on Saturday announced its decision to stage a sit-in at a major traffic junction connecting Rawalpindi and Islamabad to express solidarity with the people of Palestine and pressure the government to meet its demands regarding the ongoing war in Gaza.
Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), known for its hard-line stance on blasphemy laws, has previously staged sit-ins at the Faizabad Interchange.
The presence of large numbers of protesters in the area significantly disrupts traffic, forcing drivers to take longer, alternative routes between the two cities.
The TLP workers, led by their young leader Saad Rizvi, took out a protest rally from Liaquat Bagh in Rawalpindi to Faizabad before deciding to set up a protest camp at the interchange.
“We will stay here until our demands are met,” Rizvi was quoted as saying in a TLP statement.
“Our first demand is to send food and medical aid to the oppressed Palestinians,” he continued. “Our second demand is for the Pakistani government to announce a boycott of Israeli products on an official level. Our third demand is to declare Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a terrorist.”
The war in Israel began last October and has so far claimed the lives of about 39,000 people, mostly women and children.
While Pakistan’s civil society and political factions have consistently brought out pro-Palestinian rallies, it is not clear what prompted the TLP to initiate the sit-in nearly nine months into the war.
Pakistani religious party stages pro-Palestine sit-in at key Rawalpindi-Islamabad traffic junction
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Pakistani religious party stages pro-Palestine sit-in at key Rawalpindi-Islamabad traffic junction
- Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan says it will stay at Faizabad Interchange until the governments meets its demands
- The party wants official boycott of Israeli products along with a proclamation declaring Netanyahu a terrorist
Pakistan PM orders accelerated privatization of power sector to tackle losses
- Tenders to be issued for privatization of three major electricity distribution firms, PMO says
- Sharif says Pakistan to develop battery energy storage through public-private partnerships
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s prime minister on Monday directed the government to speed up privatization of state-owned power companies and improve electricity infrastructure nationwide, as authorities try to address deep-rooted losses and inefficiencies in the energy sector that have weighed on the economy and public finances.
Pakistan’s electricity system has long struggled with financial distress caused by a combination of factors including theft of power, inefficient collection of bills, high costs of generating electricity and a large burden of unpaid obligations known as “circular debt.” In the first quarter of the current financial year, government-owned distribution companies recorded losses of about Rs171 billion ($611 million) due to poor bill recovery and operational inefficiencies, official documents show. Circular debt in the broader power sector stood at around Rs1.66 trillion ($5.9 billion) in mid-2025, a sharp decline from past peaks but still a major fiscal drain.
Efforts to contain these losses have been a focus of Pakistan’s economic reform program with the International Monetary Fund, which has urged structural changes in the energy sector as part of financing conditions. Previous government initiatives have included signing a $4.5 billion financing facility with local banks to ease power sector debt and reducing retail electricity tariffs to support economic recovery.
“Electricity sector privatization and market-based competition is the sustainable solution to the country’s energy problems,” Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said at a meeting reviewing the roadmap for power sector reforms, according to a statement from the prime minister’s office.
The meeting reviewed progress on privatization and infrastructure projects. Officials said tenders for modernizing one of Pakistan’s oldest operational hubs, Rohri Railway Station, will be issued soon and that the Ghazi Barotha to Faisalabad transmission line, designed to improve long-distance transmission of electricity, is in the initial approval stages. While not all power-sector decisions were detailed publicly, the government emphasized expanding private sector participation and completing priority projects to strengthen the electricity grid.
In another key development, the prime minister endorsed plans to begin work on a battery energy storage system with participation from private investors to help manage fluctuations in supply and demand, particularly as renewable energy sources such as solar and wind take a growing role in generation. Officials said the concept clearance for the storage system has been approved and feasibility studies are underway.
Government briefing documents also outlined steps toward shifting some electricity plants from imported coal to locally mined Thar coal, where a railway line expansion is underway to support transport of fuel, potentially lowering costs and import dependence in the long term.
State authorities also pledged to address safety by converting unmanned railway crossings to staffed ones and to strengthen food safety inspections at stations, underscoring broader infrastructure and service improvements connected to energy and transport priorities.
