(The Turkish Post) – Thousands of supporters of Pakistan’s jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan marched toward the capital, Islamabad, on Saturday, Oct. 10, demanding his release, while the government said it would not let the convoy enter the city.
The march, organized by Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, set off the previous Sunday from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the northwestern province that the party governs. Marchers carried the party’s red and green flags and pictures of the former cricket star.
Thousands of police and paramilitary troops have been deployed in and around Islamabad, and shipping containers have been placed to seal off the government district, which houses parliament, the prime minister’s residence and foreign embassies.
Government vows to keep the march out of Islamabad
The federal government said it would not allow the march into the capital because of security concerns. Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said the party could not be allowed to disrupt business in Islamabad at will.
Talks between the government and the PTI broke down in the early hours of the Sunday on which the march began. Naqvi, who represented the government, said the negotiations collapsed because the party refused to cooperate on a counterterrorism policy for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a province bordering Afghanistan that has seen rising militant violence.
Two rounds of talks have failed. The PTI says access to Khan is the main sticking point, and government officials have refused to let the party’s negotiating team meet him. Maulana Fazlur Rehman, head of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Fazl) party, is trying to mediate between the two sides.
Federal ministers have warned the PTI against taking the march beyond the province, linking the dispute over counterterrorism to a possible state of emergency or direct federal rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The march was first planned for Sept. 27 and was postponed by a week.
PTI convoy led by provincial chief
The PTI convoy is led by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s chief minister, Sohail Afridi, who has warned that Khan’s health is deteriorating in prison.
The march began on Oct. 4 in Lakki Marwat district and has so far stayed inside Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Afridi has called on people from across Pakistan to gather at the Swabi Interchange, a motorway junction in the province, on Oct. 11, where the party plans to announce its next steps. Party members expect the convoy to move on from there toward Attock in Punjab province and then Islamabad.
The party’s last large protest in Islamabad, in November 2024, ended in deadly clashes with security forces.
Imran Khan in prison since 2023
Imran Khan, 74, was removed from office by a parliamentary no-confidence vote in 2022. He blamed the military for his ouster, which the military denies. Khan, who captained Pakistan to the 1992 Cricket World Cup title, founded the PTI in 1996 and served as prime minister from 2018 to 2022.
He was arrested in May 2023, a move that set off riots in which his supporters attacked military installations. Thousands of people were detained in the crackdown that followed. Khan has been in jail since August 2023 and faces many cases, from corruption to charges linked to the 2023 unrest. In January 2025, a court sentenced him to 14 years in prison in a corruption case involving a land trust. He and his lawyers say the cases are politically motivated and aimed at keeping him out of politics.
The PTI says Khan is a political prisoner. The government and the military reject that claim and point to the independence of the courts. In 2024, a United Nations panel on arbitrary detention said his imprisonment was arbitrary and called for his release.
Concerns over Imran Khan’s health
Khan’s family has raised alarm about his condition. His sons have warned for more than a year that his health is getting worse, and his lawyers say he has lost much of the vision in his right eye while in prison.
In August, the courts ordered that Khan receive treatment in a private hospital. Pakistani officials say he is in good health and receives regular visits from relatives.
