Pro-Imran Khan mass rally launched after Pakistan government talks fail

Government warns of crackdown as supporters of jailed former prime set off from northwest Pakistan towards Islamabad.

Supporters of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party join the march in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on October 4, 2026 [Marwat Akbar/AFP]

Supporters of jailed former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan have set off on a protest march from the country’s northwest after talks with the government to call off the demonstration failed.

More than 5,000 were reported to have begun the rally on Sunday. The march, planned by Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, was originally scheduled for September 27 but was postponed until October 4 to allow talks between the government and the PTI leadership to take place.

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However, two rounds of talks over the weekend failed to break the deadlock, and the PTI decided to carry out its plan, which is the latest attempt to pressure the government into releasing Khan, the country’s most popular political figure according to polls, who has been behind bars since August 2023 following a series of convictions that his party calls politically motivated.

All but one of the convictions against the former PM have since been suspended or overturned on appeal.

Videos posted on the PTI’s official social media showed supporters joining the march in different areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, which is ruled by the party, and setting off in convoys.

Sohail Afridi , the region’s chief minister, had earlier posted on social media that the demonstration in support of Khan would go ahead.

He said the march will make its way to Khairabad, 80 kilometres (50 miles) west of Islamabad, by Thursday, where the plan for the “next phase” will be announced.

Government warns protesters

The government has been preparing for weeks for the arrival of PTI demonstrators in Islamabad. It has erected barriers using shipping containers to block main access routes to the capital.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi confirmed earlier on Sunday that the talks between the two sides had failed. He accused Afridi of “sabotaging” the negotiations, and added that the government would not allow the PTI to “create a disturbance”.

He also cited an Islamabad High Court order from September 14, ruling that no political party or its leadership has the “lawful right to occupy public roads, highways, interchanges, toll plazas and buildings in Islamabad”.

“If they violate the orders, whether they are workers or politicians, whether they are protesting within KP or outside KP, we will pursue them one by one. This time, we want to ensure that these repeated episodes of creating disturbance in Islamabad come to an end,” Naqvi said.

Traffic moves past shipping containers used to block a planned march by former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, in Islamabad [File: Reuters]

Concerns about the 73-year-old Khan’s health, in particular the condition of his right eye that has required months of specialist treatment, have prompted the PTI’s campaign for his release.

The party has also called for the release of Khan’s three sisters, whose arrests last month further heightened tensions.

James Dorsey, a fellow at the National University of Singapore, said Khan was “essentially a populist leader” with “a genuine popular movement that had broad popular support”.

That is behind the “determination by the government to prevent [the protesters] from entering Islamabad,” he told the AFP news agency.

Given Pakistan’s security concerns, particularly following its unresolved February 2026 conflict with Afghanistan , Islamabad wants to avoid escalation in the face of the protests, he added.

“It’s a problem for the government, but I don’t think it’s an existential threat,” he said.

巴基斯坦政府警告将进行镇压，被监禁的前总理的支持者从巴基斯坦西北部出发前往伊斯兰堡。

2026年10月4日，被监禁的前总理伊姆兰·汗的巴基斯坦正义运动党（PTI）的支持者在巴基斯坦开伯尔-普赫图赫瓦省参加游行。[Marwat Akbar/AFP]

在与政府就取消示威活动进行的谈判失败后，被监禁的巴基斯坦前总理伊姆兰·汗的支持者从该国西北部出发，举行抗议游行。

据报道，超过5000人于周日开始集会。此次游行由伊姆兰·汗领导的巴基斯坦正义运动党（PTI）策划，原定于9月27日举行，但为了便于政府与PTI领导层进行会谈，游行被推迟至10月4日。

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然而，周末的两轮会谈未能打破僵局，巴基斯坦正义运动党决定执行其计划，这是向政府施压以释放伊姆兰·汗的最新尝试。根据民意调查，伊姆兰·汗是巴基斯坦最受欢迎的政治人物，自2023年8月以来，他一直被关押在监狱中，此前他因一系列被其所在政党称为出于政治动机的定罪而被捕。

除一项外，对这位前总理的所有定罪均已在上诉后被中止或推翻。

巴基斯坦正义运动党（PTI）官方社交媒体上发布的视频显示，支持者们在由该党执政的开伯尔-普赫图赫瓦省（KP）的不同地区加入游行队伍，并组成车队出发。

该地区首席部长索海尔·阿夫里迪此前在社交媒体上发帖称，支持汗的示威活动将继续进行。

他说，游行队伍将于周四抵达伊斯兰堡以西 80 公里（50 英里）的海拉巴德，届时将公布“下一阶段”的计划。

政府警告抗议者

政府已为巴基斯坦正义运动党（PTI）示威者抵达伊斯兰堡做准备数周，并利用集装箱设置路障，封锁通往首都​​的主要道路。

内政部长莫辛·纳克维周日早些时候证实，双方会谈已经破裂。他指责阿夫里迪“破坏”谈判，并补充说，政府不会允许巴基斯坦正义运动党“制造混乱”。

他还援引了伊斯兰堡高等法院 9 月 14 日的一项命令，该命令裁定任何政党或其领导人“均无合法权利占用伊斯兰堡的公共道路、高速公路、立交桥、收费站和建筑物”。

纳克维表示：“如果他们违反命令，无论是工人还是政治人物，无论是在开伯尔-普赫图赫瓦省境内还是境外进行抗议，我们都将逐一追究他们的责任。这一次，我们一定要确保在伊斯兰堡制造骚乱的事件彻底结束。”

在伊斯兰堡，车辆从用来阻挡前总理伊姆兰·汗领导的巴基斯坦正义运动党计划游行的集装箱旁驶过。[图片：路透社]

人们担心73岁的伊姆兰·汗的健康状况，特别是他右眼的病情，该病情需要数月的专科治疗，这促使巴基斯坦正义运动党发起运动，要求释放他。

该党还呼吁释放汗的三位姐妹，她们上个月被捕进一步加剧了紧张局势。

新加坡国立大学研究员詹姆斯·多尔西表示，汗“本质上是一位民粹主义领导人”，拥有“一场真正获得广泛民众支持的民众运动”。

他告诉法新社，这就是“政府决心阻止（抗议者）进入伊斯兰堡”的原因。

他补充说，鉴于巴基斯坦的安全顾虑，特别是考虑到其与阿富汗之间尚未解决的2026年2月冲突，伊斯兰堡希望避免在抗议活动中局势升级。

“这对政府来说是个问题，但我认为这并非生死攸关的威胁，”他说。