ISLAMABAD: Thousands of supporters of Pakistan's jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan have started a long march to Islamabad to demand his release, his party said on Monday, amid deep divisions with the Pakistani leadership.
The rally began on Sunday in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which is ruled by Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, with stops planned at several places before reaching Islamabad.
"I call upon you all to come out, the youngsters to come out for the sake of your leader who is sitting in jail," said Sohail Afridi, the chief minister of the province, who is leading the march.
The rift between Khan's party and the Pakistani leadership dates to Khan's 2022 ouster by parliament, which he blamed on the military - a charge the army denies.
It deepened after Khan's arrest in May 2023 sparked riots in which his supporters attacked military installations, prompting a crackdown in which thousands of PTI supporters were detained and dozens of people were later sentenced by military courts.
Khan, 74, a former cricket star, has described himself as a political prisoner.
Before his 2023 arrest, he had fallen out with the military, which is seen by analysts as the ultimate arbiter of politics in the nuclear-armed nation. The military and current civilian government deny that he is a political prisoner and point to the independence of Pakistan's judiciary.
Khan was convicted in several trials. All convictions but one have since been suspended or overturned, with appeals pending.
The march was originally scheduled for September 27.
It was delayed after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's government offered negotiations over the party's demands, which fell apart over the weekend.
The PTI's last large-scale protest two years ago ended in deadly clashes with security forces.
Thousands of police and paramilitary have been stationed in and around Islamabad. Shipping containers have been placed to barricade Islamabad's government district, home to parliament, the prime minister's residence, and foreign embassies.
'ONCE FOR ALL'
The government has announced that it would not allow the marchers to enter Islamabad.
"We will finish it once for all," Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said, adding that the party could not be allowed to disrupt business in the capital at its will.
Naqvi represented the government in the talks, which he said fell apart due to Khan's party's refusal to cooperate on a counter-terrorism policy to fight rising militancy in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders Afghanistan.
The PTI denied that explanation, saying the government sought to pressure the party into concessions unfairly.
The region has been the scene of rising militant attacks in recent months.
Naqvi and other government ministers have suggested that the provincial government, which is led by Khan's party, could be removed through legal and constitutional provisions if it failed to follow a state-backed counter-terrorism policy.
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