By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: The opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party planned to launch a nationwide movement to press for the release of its founder, former Prime Minister Imran Khan, who has been imprisoned for over two years.
While party leaders urged members and supporters to prepare, they stopped short of announcing a specific date for the campaign.
The decision emerged from a six-hour meeting between PTI leaders and Khan at Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi, where he is serving sentences stemming from convictions in four cases. These include two charges tied to the alleged illegal sale of state gifts, a case involving a leaked diplomatic cable, and another related to his marriage to Bushra Bibi, who is also imprisoned. Khan’s detention began in August 2023, following a series of legal battles that have polarised Pakistan’s political landscape.
PTI Senator Ali Zafar, in a post on X, said the party had deliberated launching a “countrywide movement” during the jailhouse talks.
“Some very important matters were discussed. Amongst them was a countrywide movement for which the party should prepare and be well-organised,” Zafar wrote. “There is no room for anyone in PTI to play both sides, and everyone must stand united for the cause of truth and justice.”
Zafar added that Khan framed his imprisonment as a sacrifice for the nation, urging party leaders to embrace similar resolve. “I am bearing all the hardship in jail for the sake of the nation, and PTI leadership should not be scared of sacrifice,” Zafar quoted Khan as saying.
Outside Adiala Jail, Khan’s sister, Aleema Khanum, told reporters that her brother had tasked the party with preparing for the campaign but voiced reluctance to summon supporters to Islamabad, citing safety concerns.
“Imran Khan has said that the party should get ready, as he will announce a mass movement across Pakistan soon,” she told reporters. “He said, ‘I will not call anybody to Islamabad, since they (authorities) sit with sniper rifles and people get shot … it brings me great pain, I will not do this.’”
The announcement follows a tumultuous PTI-led march on Islamabad in November 2024, which devolved into intense clashes with security forces. That confrontation ended with the party’s leadership and supporters retreating from the capital’s heavily guarded Red Zone after a day of unrest
Since Khan’s imprisonment began in August 2023, PTI has kept up a drumbeat of protests, framing his detention as an assault on democracy by a government aligned with the powerful military establishment.
Monday’s announcement signals another effort by a party facing internal discord and divisions, and its open-ended timeline also leaves room for speculation about the movement’s scale and immediacy.
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