{"id":2179729,"date":"2026-10-05T03:59:03","date_gmt":"2026-10-05T00:59:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2179729"},"modified":"2026-10-05T03:59:03","modified_gmt":"2026-10-05T00:59:03","slug":"imran-khan-supporters-of-jailed-ex-pm-begin-march-in-pakistan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2179729","title":{"rendered":"Imran Khan: Supporters of jailed ex-PM begin march in Pakistan"},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/1024\/branded_news\/3eaa\/live\/091199c0-c06e-11f1-9135-d3a6369912e1.jpg”]<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\"GettyGetty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Some 5,000 people took to the streets on Sunday carrying red and green flags of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

Thousands of supporters of Pakistan’s jailed ex-prime minister Imran Khanhave begun a march from the country’s north-westas they call for his release. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

Concerns over the 74-year-old’s health have grown louder in recent months. His family claims he has lost most of his vision in his right eye after prison authorities failed to take action.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

The cricket star-turned-politician, who faces charges in more than 100 cases, was jailed for 17 years over corruption last year. Khan said all the cases against him are politically motivated.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

Even behind bars, he remains a force in Pakistani politics, and demonstrations in his support have led to deadly violence and crackdowns in the past.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

The march began on Sunday in Lakki Marwat, a city 275km (170 miles) from Islamabad, and was expected to resume on Monday after pausing for the night. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

Originally scheduled for last week, it was postponed to allow for talks between the government and Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party but the talks ended in deadlock.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

Khan, who faces charges ranging from leaking state secrets to selling state gifts, was first imprisoned in August 2023. His wife Bushra Bibi was jailed along with him last year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

Sohail Afridi, chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province which is governed by the PTI, expects the march to make its way to a town about 80km west of the capital Islamabad by Thursday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

“[By then] this movement will have reached every corner of the country and every square will have become a centre of activity,” he said on Sunday, urging the people to “play an active role in the political process”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

While the march organisers have not announced that they were heading for Islamabad, authorities have stacked up shipping containers to block key access routes to the capital.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

The PTI said talks with government failed because authorities rejected the party’s request for access to Khan so that its leaders could consult him on national and political issues.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

The party also said it had demanded that Khan be given an immediate medical examination and treatment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi meanwhile accused Afridi of “sabotaging” negotiations, saying the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government had backed out of earlier commitments on counter-terrorism issues, according to Pakistan’s local media reports.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

In August, Khan was briefly transferred from jail to a state-run hospital for medical examination and treatment following complaints about his deteriorating health. The doctors later deemed him “medically fit”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

The intervention was the most significant relief Khan has received from the courts since he was imprisoned in 2023 on corruption charges, which he says were politically motivated.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

Khan’s family and the PTI, however, criticised the authorities for defying a court order that he be examined by physicians at a specific private hospital.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

On 20 September, Khan’s sister Aleema Khanum was arrested in the eastern city of Lahore. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

The arrest order said Khanum had been mobilising people to “create law and order situations” and “raising\/chanting objectionable slogans amongst the general public against the Government”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

Khan, who previously captained the Pakistan national cricket team, served as the country’s prime minister from 2018 to 2022.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

His arrest in May 2023 sparked large-scale, violent protests by supporters, who ransacked the corps commander’s residence in Lahore, smashing chandeliers and making away with furniture, paintings, and even peacocks, among other things.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

At least eight people died in the protests and the army were called in to quell the violence.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

Former international cricket captains have made several appeals in recent months to Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif urging Khan to be given proper medical care.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

[analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/cmkg79z04w4zo”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/1024\/branded_news\/3eaa\/live\/091199c0-c06e-11f1-9135-d3a6369912e1.jpg”] Getty Images Some 5,000 people took to the streets on Sunday carrying red and green flags of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party Thousands of supporters of Pakistan’s jailed ex-prime minister Imran Khanhave begun a march from the country’s north-westas they call for his release. Concerns over the 74-year-old’s health have grown louder in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[35,226],"class_list":["post-2179729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-bbc-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2179729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2179729"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2179729\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2179729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2179729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2179729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}