Thousands March Towards Islamabad Demanding Imran Khan's Release as Talks Fail

Thousands of supporters of Pakistan's jailed former prime minister Imran Khan are marching towards Islamabad to demand his release, in a protest that has renewed attention on his health in prison and on the government's handling of his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party.

The march set off from Lakki Marwat, a city about 275km from the capital, and halted overnight. Organisers expect it to resume around midday local time on Monday. Sohail Afridi, chief minister of the PTI-ruled Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, said on Sunday that he expected the procession to reach a town about 80km (50 miles) west of Islamabad by Thursday. "[By then] this movement will have reached every corner of the country and every square will have become a centre of activity," he said, urging people to "play an active role in the political process".

Authorities in Islamabad have stacked shipping containers across key access routes to block the marchers from entering the city.

Khan, 73, captained the Pakistan national cricket team before entering politics and served as prime minister from 2018 to 2022. He was first imprisoned in August 2023 and was sentenced to 17 years last year in a corruption case. He faces charges in more than 100 cases, ranging from leaking state secrets to selling state gifts, and says all of them are politically motivated. His wife, Bushra Bibi, was jailed along with him last year.

The march was originally scheduled for last week but was postponed to allow talks between the government and the PTI. Those talks ended in a deadlock. The PTI said the negotiations failed because authorities rejected its request for access to Khan so that party leaders could consult him on national and political issues. The party said it had also demanded that he be given an immediate medical examination and treatment.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi accused Afridi of "sabotaging" the negotiations, saying the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government had backed out of earlier commitments on counter-terrorism issues, according to Pakistani local media reports.

Concerns about Khan's health have grown louder in recent months. His family says he has lost most of the vision in his right eye after prison authorities failed to act. In August, he was briefly moved from jail to a state-run hospital for examination and treatment following complaints that his health was deteriorating; doctors later declared him "medically fit". His family and the PTI criticised the authorities for defying a court order that he be examined by physicians at a specific private hospital. Former international cricket captains have made several appeals in recent months to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, urging that Khan be given proper medical care.

On 20 September, Khan's sister Aleema Khanum was arrested in the eastern city of Lahore. The arrest order said she had been mobilising people to "create law and order situations" and to raise "objectionable slogans amongst the general public against the Government".

Khan remains a significant force in Pakistani politics even from behind bars, and demonstrations in his support have earlier led to deadly violence and crackdowns. His arrest in May 2023 sparked large-scale protests in which supporters ransacked the corps commander's residence in Lahore. At least eight people died in the unrest, and the army had to be called in to quell the violence.

With the talks stalled, both sides appear to be positioning themselves ahead of the march's arrival near the capital. How the authorities handle the procession — and whether any channel for negotiation reopens — will shape the next phase of a confrontation that has already reshaped Pakistan's political landscape.