Since being ousted last month via a no-confidence motion, Khan has put pressure on the country’s weak new coalition government by holding massive rallies across the country.
Meanwhile, the coalition government led by Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif has vowed to stop Khan’s supporters.
Here are the latest developments:
Imran Khan leads a rally in the stronghold of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
Imran Khan led a convoy from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, the provincial stronghold of his party. Rallies have begun in major cities of Pakistan and everyone is expected to converge in Islamabad later in the day.
میری سب سے التماس ومی رچم ام ر رکھیں۔ اکستان ادی لئے ایک لہ ن دن … https://t.co/OF9oDamgWr
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) 1653474422000
Violent clashes with security forces continue as protesters make their way through containers and blockades to reach Islamabad.
Pakistan Police fired tear gas shells, lathicharged Imran’s supporters
Pakistani police fired tear gas shells and lathi-charged supporters Imran Khan asked them to stop reaching Islamabad.
“We are receiving reports that police lathi-charged and fired teargas shells to break up the protesters,” Amjad Malik, a Home Ministry official, told Reuters.
He said no one was seriously injured in the clashes, which have mostly been reported Punjab province, and the police had also arrested dozens of activists.
Pakistan government cracks down on PTI supporters who took part in protest march
Entry and exit points on major highways leading to the capital were blocked by police around the nearest major cities of Peshawar, Lahore and Multan.
The government imposed Section 144 to ban large gatherings in Lahore, Rawalpindi and the twin cities of Islamabad and Karachi, as well as other major cities.
Punjab Home Secretary Syed Ali Murtaza told the media that paramilitary rangers were called in to help the police maintain peace in the largest province, which would be the key to mobilizing large-scale protesters.
More than 4,000 police personnel have been called to Islamabad from other districts of Punjab.
Barricades were put up around Lahore and the twin cities to prevent vehicles from entering or leaving, bringing life and traffic to a standstill.
PTI member arrested
The police have reportedly arrested key members of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and cordoned off Islamabad under the direction of the Shahbaz Sharif government.
The government arrested over 1,000 PTI leaders and activists in an action designed to derail the party’s plans for a massive show of strength in Islamabad.
Weapons recovered from PTI leaders, claims Marine Nawaz
Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) leader Maryam Nawaz Sharif claimed that Punjab Police has recovered a large number of weapons from PTI leaders.
“Punjab Lahore Police recovers weapons from vehicles of PTI Lahore functionaries Zubair Niazi & Bajaj Niazi. Case registered. This is the ugly face of the so called Long March. These are intentions,” the PML-N leader tweeted. N leader tweeted.
According to the Dawn newspaper report, the Punjab government said that weapons have been recovered from the vehicles of PTI officials. The weapons were recovered on the day the Imran Khan-led PTI began its march. Other senior leaders of PTI were also rounded up.
Pakistan’s Supreme Court asks officials to provide alternate venue for ‘Azadi March’ to PTI
Pakistan’s Supreme Court has directed authorities to provide an alternative venue for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party supporters to protest their “Azadi March” so that they can protest and then go home.
A three-member bench headed by Justice Ahsan and comprising Justices Muneeb Akhtar and Syed Mazhar Ali Akbar Naqvi gave this direction while hearing a petition filed by Islamabad High Court Bar Association (IHCBA) President Mohammad Shoaib Shaheen on Tuesday.
The petitioner asked the court to intervene to remove the blockades put in place in the capital to derail the protest march called by ousted Prime Minister Imran Khan.
(with agency input)