Pakistan’s Political Turmoil: Thousands Rally in Support of Jailed Ex-Prime Minister Imran Khan

KHYBER LINE: Punching the air and roaring in unison, ecstatic crowds joined a growing demonstration on Wednesday in support of Pakistan’s jailed former prime minister, Imran Khan. The opposition show of force is one that authorities had desperately sought to avert.

Supporters of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party launched their so-called “long march” on Sunday, demanding the release of the former prime minister. The protest has also become a vent for deep-seated anti-government sentiment, fueled by harsh economic conditions and widespread frustration over governance.

“I joined this procession for one reason: Imran Khan’s release. I will not return under any circumstances until he is released,” 58-year-old Qalandar Khan told AFP in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, a PTI stronghold.

“If the government and the establishment think they can remove Imran Khan … they should know that he has a place in our hearts,” added the protester from the mountainous North Waziristan region.

A hugely popular former cricket star, Imran Khan has been in detention since August 2023. He faces dozens of charges, ranging from corruption to treason, stemming from anti-establishment protests in 2023. Khan and his legal team reject these allegations, branding them as politically motivated cases designed to neutralize his political popularity.

“Imran Khan wanted to establish peace in the country and eliminate corruption,” said protester Pir Fayyaz, 40, a property dealer from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

“We have become deeply frustrated with inflation, lawlessness, poor governance, and terrorism in the country,” he added.

’KHAN’S SOLDIERS’

“We are Khan’s soldiers,” Sohail Afridi, the PTI chief minister for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, shouted into a microphone as he addressed crowds south of Peshawar city, ahead of the fourth day of the march.

From atop a truck with a five-meter-high (16-foot) platform adorned with smiling images of the jailed former prime minister, Afridi reiterated PTI’s demands, including access to Khan in prison for doctors, party officials, and relatives.

Raising his fist in the air, Afridi asked the crowd: “Are you ready to march to Islamabad?”

The packed crowd of protesters, some holding red-and-green party flags or clutching pictures of Khan, cheered back: “We are ready.”

A police intelligence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP that there were approximately 1,500 vehicles and between 5,000 and 6,000 people traveling within the convoy in the PTI’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa stronghold.

Fearing potential violence, authorities have spent weeks preparing for the possible arrival of demonstrators in the capital, Islamabad. The march was originally scheduled for September 27 but was postponed until Sunday.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif urged the PTI to call off the march and re-enter negotiations with the government. However, talks between the two sides hit an impasse in the early hours of Sunday, just before the march commenced.

’DECLINE’

The Pakistani premier also warned of the demonstration’s negative impact on the economy, stating that undermining the government’s efforts would be met with the full force of the law.

As of now, the march has yet to pass outside the confines of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, leaving open the possibility of a negotiated agreement between the opposition and the government to end the demonstration.

“We are not taking the law into our own hands,” 40-year-old Bismillah Jan said from the march.

He added, however, that: “All party workers, including myself, are ready to make any sacrifice for Imran Khan.”

The demonstration pressed into the Khyber tribal district, with PTI and Pakistan flags flying, music blaring from loudspeakers, and vehicles showered in flower petals.

Farmer Changiz Khan, 58, was dressed in the red and green colors of Khan’s party.

“The country is currently experiencing a continued decline,” he told AFP. “We believe that after Imran Khan’s release, the country will return to the path of development.”

“We will continue the struggle until we achieve our objective and gain control over our own land,” he added.

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