ISLAMABAD (AFP) – Thousands of supporters of Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan gathered in Islamabad on Sunday despite authorities’ attempts to block the protesters’ main routes into the capital, AFP journalists noted.
The demonstration, led by Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, is the largest in Islamabad since the retired international cricketer was jailed last year on several charges, some of them still before the courts.
The rally’s “size and popularity ensure (PTI’s) mobilisation capabilities remain intact despite relentless attempts to curb it,” said Pakistan specialist Michael Kugelman at the Wilson Center, a United States-based think tank. Protesters on Sunday cleared containers used by Pakistani authorities to block major roads into Islamabad ahead of the demonstration.
“They closed the city with containers. But despite this, thousands are here. They cannot stop this motivation and emotions the people have right now,” PTI senator Humayun Mohmand told AFP. In jail since August 2023, Khan insists along with his party that the charges against him are designed to prevent him from returning to office.
Khan’s first arrest, on corruption charges in May 2023, sparked nationwide demonstrations by supporters.
