Imran Khan’s Party Revives Protest March After Talks Collapse Tooba Khan The party of Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan began a march toward Islamabad from the country’s northwest after talks with the government broke down over demands including access to the jailed leader. The march began in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a stronghold of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, and is being led by the province’s Chief Minister Sohail Afridi. Authorities have placed shipping containers and other roadblocks around Islamabad to prevent demonstrators from entering the capital.
Visuals shared by the party on X showed thousands of supporters setting off from Lakki Marwat, a town in the southern part of the province, in trucks, buses and cars. The demonstration threatens to intensify political tensions in the nuclear-armed nation, where Khan’s imprisonment and the sidelining of his party have fueled repeated standoffs with authorities. A large turnout — or clashes with supporters as they try to reach the capital — could disrupt businesses and transport, and add to the pressures facing a government already contending with economic and security challenges.
The protest was initially scheduled for Sept. 27 but was postponed to Oct. 4. Opposition representatives held talks with the government over the weekend but failed to reach an agreement. The government has been urging the party to postpone the protest amid a surge in militant attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, while accusing it of sympathizing with the Taliban.
Khan is serving a 14-year sentence in a corruption case. His family and lawyers have accused prison authorities of holding him in inhumane conditions, saying he spends 23 hours a day in a small cell without natural light or contact with other prisoners. Pakistani authorities deny the allegations.
Source: Bloomberg Markets · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing