Supporters of Imran Khan start march on locked-down Islamabad

Imran Khan’s supporters have begun a march to Islamabad to demand his release from jail after efforts by the government to halt the protest failed.

The march began in the former prime minister’s stronghold province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in north-west Pakistan on Sunday, according to leaders of his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party.

Concerns have grown over the health of the 74-year-old former Pakistan cricket captain who has been in prison since 2023. Party colleagues and family claim he is being held in solitary and has been denied visits by his doctor or relatives despite having a serious eye condition and high blood pressure.

The government had gone to extreme lengths to try to stop PTI holding the long march, including shutting down Islamabad and barricading the capital’s entrances with shipping containers and sandbags. Khan’s three sisters were among those detained last week on grounds of national security.

Two rounds of negotiations between the government and PTI leaders took place over the weekend but broke down when Khan’s allies insisted that he be part of political talks.

Attaullah Tarar, the information minister, accused the PTI of “double standards and hypocrisy”.

Thousands of supporters had joined the protest by Monday afternoon and the crowds are expected to grow on the way to Peshawar, the main city in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which the marchers should reach by Wednesday.

The march is being led by the province’s chief minister, Sohail Afridi, who described those taking part as “Imran Khan’s soldiers”.

“I call upon you all to come out, the youngsters to come out for the sake ​of your leader who is sitting in jail,” he said.

Khan was prime minister from 2018 to 2022, when he was toppled by a parliamentary vote of no confidence. Since then, he and the PTI have faced mounting government pressure, which culminated in his arrest in 2023. The harassment and detention of other PTI leaders continues.

Khan is widely considered the country’s most popular politician, while the ruling coalition government, which is backed by the military, is facing discontent over an economic crisis and a surge in terrorism.

Ministers say the march is illegal and all measures will be taken to ensure it does not break through the capital’s boundaries.

Tens of thousands of police and paramilitary personnel were deployed to Islamabad and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa last week, raising fears that Khan’s supporters will be met with state violence. Government politicians falsely claimed that the PTI was allowing militants from the Pakistan Taliban to take part in the march.

Opposition leaders fear the prime minister will impose emergency rule on Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to stop the march.