In recent weeks, Islamabad’s roads have been lined with shipping containers, acting as makeshift roadblocks ready to control protests at a moment’s notice. The capital has grown accustomed to entire neighborhoods being sealed off whenever unrest seems imminent. This constant preparedness serves as a reminder that the city’s peace could unravel at any time.
Last Sunday, the containers were deployed in force, blocking 29 routes as supporters of Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) marched toward Islamabad. Thousands of followers, waving flags and banners, made their way through. A large poster of the former prime minister, suspended by balloons, floated overhead as the crowd chanted, “Imran Khan Zindabad” (long live Imran Khan).
Despite the roadblocks, social media footage showed PTI supporters moving the containers aside, making their way to the rally venue. Yet the man they came to support, Imran Khan, was not present. Khan has been imprisoned for over a year after being convicted of corruption and charged with leaking state secrets, accusations he insists are politically motivated. Despite having his sentences overturned and receiving support from a UN working group declaring his detention “arbitrary,” there has been little movement toward his release. Many analysts believe that unless Pakistan’s military gives its consent, Khan’s freedom will remain out of reach.
PTI leaders, however, remain defiant. Addressing the crowd, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur declared, “If in one to two weeks Imran is not released legally, then we will release Imran Khan ourselves. Are you ready?”
The Crackdown:
The authorities responded swiftly. By the next evening, reports of a crackdown circulated on social media and TV news. Footage emerged showing PTI Chairman Gohar Ali Khan being escorted out of Pakistan’s parliament by police, while other party members were rounded up. CCTV footage from National Assembly member Shoaib Shaheen’s office showed him being forcibly removed by police officers.
There was widespread confusion about the number of arrests, with the police confirming only three arrests by the following morning, while PTI claimed the figure was much higher. Though Gohar was later released, several others remained in police custody.
It is believed that these arrests were carried out under the recently passed Peaceful Assembly and Public Order Act 2024. The law, condemned by Amnesty International as an “attack on the right to peaceful assembly,” restricts public gatherings and proposes three-year jail terms for those participating in “illegal” assemblies, with 10-year sentences for repeat offenders. While the PTI had received permission for their rally, police complained that it exceeded the time limit and posed a “serious law and order situation.”