Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders and workers are rolling towards Islamabad to stage their “do-or-die” protest against the incumbent rulers on Sunday (today), following a call from the party’s imprisoned founder, Imran Khan, ordering his supporters to march on the federal capital.
The PTI has made four demands — revoke the 26th Constitutional Amendment, “restore” democracy and the Constitution, return the public’s mandate, and release all “innocent political” prisoners.
Caravans of PTI workers, led by their leaders, are en route despite the Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) orders directing the authorities not to allow the party to stage protest demonstrations in the federal capital, in violation of the newly enacted peaceful assembly law.
The Imran Khan-founded party has marched to the federal capital multiple times in recent months, with its workers clashing with law enforcement agencies (LEAs), and causing damage to public property.
Furthermore, today’s protest comes a day ahead of the Belarusian president’s visit and coincides with the arrival of a sizable delegation from the landlocked republic in Eastern Europe.
The government has taken strict security measures to tackle the former ruling party’s protest including restricting communications services in major cities across the country.
The Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif-led government has also imposed Section 144 in Islamabad for two months with 8,000 additional police officers being stationed in Islamabad, alongside Rangers and Frontier Constabulary (FC) units.
In addition to the Islamabad administration, the Punjab government has also imposed Section 144 across the province for three days, from November 23 to November 25, with over 10,700 police personnel on standby.
The Imran Khan-founded party has held numerous protests since the founder’s ouster as prime minister in April 2022 through a no-confidence motion.
From the Azadi March to being shot in the leg at a rally demanding early elections, here is a list of the major protests Khan has announced since losing power.
May 25-26, 2022: Imran Khan held the much-touted “Azadi March” in Islamabad during which scuffles broke out in different parts of the country, leading to the arrest of a few PTI leaders.
Law enforcement agencies were on high alert to take “all possible measures” to stop the PTI’s “Azadi March” from proceeding.
Police also resorted to tear gas shelling to disperse PTI workers on their way to Islamabad when they broke through the roadblock at Lahore’s Batti Chowk.
Workers, who succeeded in reaching the capital entered the off-limits Red Zone, clashed with law enforcers and injured multiple Rangers, police, and FC personnel, according to the Islamabad Police spokesperson.
Khan ended the protest on May 26 by giving the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government a six-day ultimatum to dissolve the assemblies and announce an election.
He claimed that three PTI workers lost their lives in Karachi, two were thrown off Ravi Bridge, and thousands of others were arrested.
“My message for the imported government is to dissolve assemblies and announce elections, otherwise I will return to Islamabad after six days,” he said.
October 28, 2022-November 27, 2022: Khan launched his party’s second long march from Lahore to the federal capital demanding early elections. However, it was interrupted after the former premier was shot and injured after gunfire rang out at a protest rally in Wazirabad.
The march continued till the end of November with Khan announcing that he had decided they would not be a part of “this system” and quit all the assemblies.
Later, the then-PTI chief ended the march by thanking his supporters for joining his long march. “I want to thank all the people who came in such huge numbers from across Pakistan to our Rawalpindi Azadi March yesterday.”
May 9, 2023: After Khan was arrested in the Al-Qadir Trust case, infuriated party activists took to the streets in several cities across the country, vehemently protesting their leader’s arrest.
The violence saw multiple deaths and attacks on public properties and military installations with thousands of PTI workers ending up in lockups.
Following the attack on General Headquarters (GHQ) and the ransacking of the Lahore Corps Commander’s home, the police also registered cases against the senior PTI leaders.
Later, many senior leaders parted ways with the PTI over the attacks on sensitive defence and public installations during the nearly three-day-long riots.
March 2024: Workers of the PTI held protests across various cities against alleged rigging, manipulation of election results, and stealing of the party’s mandate in the February 8 polls.
The party alleged the government of altering the Form 47s and held various demonstrations both inside and outside the parliament many times.
September 2024: The former ruling party organised a public gathering — aimed at demanding that Khan be freed immediately — amid clashes with the police and violation of the rally deadline despite extraordinary security arrangements made by the Islamabad authorities.
The rally kicked off amid tight security in the federal capital as the participants gathered at the venue — Sangjani locality. Multiple caravans moved towards the city led by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, despite roadblocks at various points.
The PTI gave a two-week deadline for the Khan’s release with Gandapur saying, “If the founder of PTI is not legally released within one to two weeks, we will have him freed ourselves.”
October 4-5, 2024: The Imran Khan-founded party tried to stage a protest at D-Chowk amid the imposition of Section 144 ahead of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s meeting for the independence of judiciary and the Khan’s release.
Clashes also broke out between the law enforcers and party workers, with both sides claiming that the other had attacked them first.
Police fired tear gas at the protesters in the capital as well as the convoys tried to enter Islamabad, while the workers used slingshots to hit the law enforcers with stones.
The PTI’s protests entered the second day in Islamabad and then in Lahore, badly affecting daily life due to the blockade of roads, police-protesters’ clashes, and suspension of metro bus services.
October 18, 2024: The major opposition party staged protests in major cities against the proposed 26th constitutional amendment amid the imposition of Section 144.
