More than 5,000 supporters of imprisoned former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan began a dayslong march toward Islamabad on Sunday, after last-ditch negotiations between the government and his party collapsed over the weekend. The standoff is shaping up as Pakistan's most serious political confrontation in two years.
 |
| PTI supporters during an earlier party demonstration in Pakistan (file photo). |
The March Sets Off From Lakki Marwat
The convoy departed from Gandi Chowk in Lakki Marwat, in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party holds power, according to reports from both the Associated Press and Reuters. Demonstrators are traveling in a convoy of trucks, buses and cars, with overnight stops planned along the route to the capital.
Leading the march is Sohail Afridi, the province's chief minister and a staunch Khan supporter. Speaking from a specially designed container truck emblazoned with a large portrait of Khan, he expressed confidence the movement could press its demands into the heart of the capital. "I call upon you all to come out, the youngsters to come out for the sake of your leader who is sitting in jail," Afridi said, according to Reuters.
The party announced the first phase of the route on its official social media: the convoy was to camp near Karak on Sunday night, with supporters from Karak joining on Monday, before moving through Kohat, Peshawar and Charsadda in the days that follow. All caravans are scheduled to gather at Khairabad on Thursday, October 8, where Afridi has said he will announce the next course of action.
Why the Talks Collapsed
The march was originally scheduled for September 27 but was delayed after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's government offered negotiations over the party's demands, Reuters reported. Those negotiations fell apart over the weekend.
PTI chairman Barrister Gohar Khan said the talks remained deadlocked after two rounds, according to the AP. Pakistani outlets reported three rounds of talks before Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi declared on Sunday that "talks have collapsed," blaming Afridi for sabotaging them.
Both sides pointed at each other over the breakdown. Naqvi said the talks fell apart because Khan's party refused to cooperate on a counter-terrorism policy for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the province bordering Afghanistan that has seen a surge in militant violence. PTI secretary general Salman Akram Raja countered that the real sticking point was the federal government's insistence that the provincial government take ownership of anti-terrorism operations it had unilaterally initiated in the province.
PTI negotiator Allama Raja Nasir Abbas added that unresolved demands around access to Khan, including meetings with his family and visits by his personal physician, had also poisoned the talks. PTI member Talal Chaudhry, meanwhile, said the KP government's failure to provide assurances of cooperation in the fight against terrorism had doomed the negotiations.
A Sealed Capital Awaits
Authorities have responded with a show of force. Roadblocks made of shipping containers have been erected at the entrances to Islamabad and inside the city, according to the AP, while Reuters reported that thousands of police and paramilitary personnel have been stationed in and around the capital, with containers barricading the government district that houses parliament, the prime minister's residence and foreign embassies.
The government has announced it will not allow the marchers to enter Islamabad. "We will finish it once for all," Interior Minister Naqvi said, adding that the party could not be allowed to disrupt business in the capital at will. PTI's opponents say the party has created a law-and-order situation every time it has entered the federal capital in the past.
The rhetoric has escalated further. Naqvi warned Afridi he would be held responsible for any loss of life during the march, and several ministers have suggested the PTI-led provincial government could be removed through legal and constitutional provisions if it failed to follow a state-backed counter-terrorism policy. Rana Sanaullah, a senior ruling-party figure, said the march would not be allowed to enter Islamabad under any circumstances.
 |
| Imran Khan, founder of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, pictured in an earlier photograph (file photo). |
What This Means
This is the first major street mobilisation by PTI since its last large-scale protest two years ago, which ended in deadly clashes with security forces. The march is a test of how much support Khan still commands from behind bars — and early signs suggest that base remains substantial.
Khan, 74, a former cricket star turned prime minister, has been imprisoned since 2023 on corruption and other charges that he and his party say are politically motivated. His rift with the powerful military dates to his 2022 ouster by parliament, which he blamed on the army, a charge the army denies. After his arrest in May 2023, riots erupted 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. All but one of Khan's convictions have since been suspended or overturned, with appeals still pending, according to Reuters.
The confrontation is unfolding at a moment when Pakistan is already under severe strain. The country is grappling with a surge in militant attacks, including a separatist insurgency in Balochistan, where a new report showed a 213 per cent surge in violence-related deaths in the third quarter of 2026. Just days ago, Pakistan confirmed airstrikes against militant camps inside Afghanistan. The government's attempt to link the march talks to counter-terrorism cooperation suggests it views the PTI-led provincial administration as an obstacle — and PTI sees that linkage as political pressure.
 |
| PTI's container truck from an earlier protest convoy; similar container trucks lead the party's marches (file photo). |
What Happens Next
The next week will be decisive. The march is expected to grow as it passes through Kohat, Peshawar and Charsadda, gathering additional supporters before the October 8 rally at Khairabad. Whether it proceeds toward Islamabad — and whether the government lets it through — remains uncertain.
Three scenarios are in play. The government could hold its line and physically block the marchers, risking violent clashes that would deepen the crisis. Fresh negotiations could be attempted, though both sides have hardened their positions and the blame game is in full swing. Or the march could lose momentum before reaching the capital, a possibility the sealed-off Islamabad seems designed to encourage.
What is clear is that the standoff has already deepened Pakistan's political uncertainty. As the AP noted, the country now faces a political showdown and a militant surge at the same time — a combination its fragile institutions can ill afford.
Post a Comment