By Sumayya
ISLAMABAD: Hundreds of followers of jailed former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan are ready to start a long march toward Islamabad on Sunday to demand his freedom after talks between the state and the opposition failed.
Khan is current Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s biggest political rival and has been in prison since 2023 on corruption and other charges that he and his group say are made-up. He is still very popular.
The protest will leave Lakki Marwat district in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where Khan’s group runs the government, with night stops planned along the way. Sohail Afridi, the province’s chief minister and a Khan follower, shared the plan on X. Officials have placed massive roadblocks, using shipping containers, at the entry points to Islamabad and inside the city area.
Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf group, or PTI, and the federal state were holding talks to delay the march but failed to find a solution two days ago. Gohar Khan, the group’s head, stated negotiations stayed stuck after two rounds.
Sharif pressed for a delay, pointing to a rise in militant strikes in the northwest, where the Pakistani Taliban have stepped up fighting. His state has blamed PTI of supporting the Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan.
The planners now promise to reach the capital after gathering with hundreds of thousands of Khan followers.
Along with Khan’s freedom, protesters are demanding his shift to a hospital and permission for his family to see him. Officials state he is in fine health and gets regular family visits but argue that meetings with the jailed former leader cannot be deployed for political goals.
The march stood originally planned for Sept. 27 but was delayed after group leaders stated officials blocked vital roads to Islamabad, including Attock Bridge, a main crossing for groups from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Past protests by Khan’s followers have turned violent, including single in 2024 in which safety workers and civilians were killed.
Khan, a former cricket star, was removed in a parliamentary vote in April 2022. Sharif returned to power after the February 2024 vote, which Khan’s group states was rigged to stop it from winning. The state denies the claim.
