Imran Khan supporters enter Islamabad in a major show of force

Supporters of Imran Khan march towards Islamabad after clearing shipping containers placed by authorities. (Photo/AFP)

Thousands of protestors calling for the release of Pakistan's jailed ex-prime minister Imran Khan have defied roadblocks and tear gas to enter the nation's capital Islamabad.

In the early hours of Tuesday, protestors clashed with police firing tear gas and rubber bullets at a western motorway entry to Islamabad.

"After overcoming the police blockade, the convoys continued their journey, with vehicles stretching over two kilometres as they moved forward," local news website The Express Tribune reported.

Khan was barred from standing in February elections that were marred by widespread allegations of rigging, sidelined by dozens of legal cases that he claims were confected to prevent his comeback.

The cricketer-turned-politician has been jailed since August 2023, facing a procession of legal accusations ranging from illegal marriage to graft and inciting riots.

His Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party has defied a government crackdown with regular demonstrations aiming to seize public spaces in Islamabad and other large cities.

The capital has been locked down since late Saturday, with mobile internet cut and more than 20,000 police flooding the streets, many armed with riot shields and batons.

According to the daily Dawn, the protest was originally scheduled to be staged on November 24, but the convoys took a breather last night after PTI leaders said they were in "no hurry" to reach the federal capital for their "do or die" protest.

Overcoming police blockade

Last week, the Islamabad city administration announced a two-month ban on public gatherings.

But PTI convoys travelled from their power base in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and the most populous province of Punjab, hauling aside roadblocks of stacked shipping containers.

"We are deeply frustrated with the government, they do not know how to function," 56-year-old protestor Kalat Khan told AFP news agency. "The treatment we are receiving is unjust and cruel."

The government cited "security concerns" for the mobile internet outages, while Islamabad's schools and universities were also ordered to shut on Monday and Tuesday.

"Those who will come here will be arrested," Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi told reporters late on Monday at D-Chowk, the public square outside Islamabad's government buildings that PTI aims to occupy.

Meanwhile the US State Department has urged Pakistani authorities to respect human rights and called on protestors to demonstrate peacefully.

Spokesman Matthew Miller said the US supports freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association.

"We call on Pakistani authorities to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms and to ensure respect for Pakistan's laws and constitution as they work to maintain law and order," said Miller.

'Panic' in Islamabad

PTI's chief demand is the release of Khan, the 72-year-old charismatic former cricket star who served as premier from 2018 to 2022 and is the lodestar of their party.

They are also protesting alleged tampering in the February polls and a recent government-backed constitutional amendment giving it more power over the courts, where Khan is tangled in dozens of cases.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's government has come under increasing criticism for deploying heavy-handed measures to quash PTI's protests.

"From the scale of preparations, one wonders if the Islamabad Police is preparing for war," said an editorial in Dawn.

"The city administration may have intended to demonstrate strength by sharing the plans it has made, but instead, it looks like it is panicking."

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said "blocking access to the capital, with motorway and highway closures across Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, has effectively penalised ordinary citizens".

PTI sources meanwhile told Anadolu Agency that negotiations with the government are under way to designate a site in the capital for a sit-in, and if agreed, protesters would not march towards the Parliament House.

Accompanied by Khan's wife Bushra Bibi, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur is among the demonstrators.

Bibi, in a brief address to the protesters, said the march will end only after Khan's release.

"My brothers, as long as Imran is not with us, we will not end this march," she told supporters at a stop near the Hazara Interchange on Monday. "I will stay there till my last breath, and all of you have to support me. This is not just about my husband but about the country and its leader," a veiled Bibi said on an open-roof truck.

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Source: TRT