Massive protest in Pakistan demanding former PM Imran Khan’s release

Islamabad: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party organised a massive rally in capital Islamabad on Sunday demanding the release of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, Al Jazeera reported.

Thousands of people joined the protest just as Khan has been doing time in jail for over a year on what PTI termed ‘politically motivated charges’.

The Sunday’s protest showcases Khan’s party’s strength despite he is not around to lead it.

Khan’s close associate Hammad Azhar reportedly told the rally that the party would not rest until Khan was released from jail.

Salman Akram Raja, a prominent lawyer and PTI leader from Lahore, said that only Khan could save the country from the ‘corrupt and incompetent politicians’.

The government deployed riot police and blocked city’s key entry points with shipping containers and protesters pushed away containers at an entry point to clear the way.

One protester named Robina Ghafoor told Al Jazeera that all roads were blocked but ‘We are with him till our last breath’.

Meanwhile, PTI accused authorities of ‘harassing’ supporters to ‘suppress attendance’ at the rally.

It is reported citing visuals that protesters threw stones at the riot police as they hurled tear gas at the protesters.

The outlet reported that a court allowed PTI to hold a rally on the outskirts of Islamabad for the first time since Khan’s arrest last year.

However a police spokesman alleged that protesters pelted stones at them injuring many personnel including a senior official.

Khan, the former cricket star, was ousted from power through a no-trust vote in April 2022 and has been in jail since 2023, facing trial on charges of inciting violence on May 9 of that year when his supporters attacked military installations.