Police personnel detained PTI protesters in Lahore and Karachi on Tuesday after party activists took to the streets to officially kick off a nationwide movement for the release of ex-premier Imran Khan, who has been in jail for two years now.

Imran, imprisoned since Aug 5, 2023 in a case related to state gifts, is serving a sentence at the Adiala Jail in a ￡190 million corruption case and also faces pending trials in alleged terrorism cases related to the May 9, 2023 riots.

Imran had issued a nationwide protest call, with a statement attributed to him saying that the “movement that begins on August 5 will continue until democracy is restored in its true spirit”. According to PTI leader Asad Qaiser, August 5 was the inception of the protest, but it should not be considered a “final call”.

Lahore Deputy Inspector General (operations) Faisal Kamran told Dawn.com: “More than 30 PTI activists trying to block roads in different areas of the city were taken into custody.”

He denied reports of the police arresting hundreds of activists.

At around 1pm, the PTI claimed that one of its leaders, Rehana Dar, had been detained by the police in Lahore.

“An elder like Rehana Dar is being dragged by the shameless Punjab Police, a disgraceful sight,” the PTI said on its official X account.

It shared a video showing Dar, who contested the 2024 general elections in Sialkot against PML-N’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, being dragged into a police van by personnel with riot gear.

The PTI said Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz and Punjab Inspector General Dr Usman Anwar “have sunk to a new low with this act” and “abandoned all sense of shame and decency”.

Raja Shahbaz Bhatti, president of the PTI’s Insaf Youth Wing in north Punjab, claimed on X that he was injured due to police action and that four others were arrested.

The PTI’s Multan chapter alleged that its Lahore rally was “attacked by police”, with multiple vehicles participating in it facing damage. Visuals shared by it showed the back window of a car shattered with a hole in it.

PTI Balochistan President Dawood Shah Kakar claimed “several” PTI workers, including five leaders, were arrested after they gathered at a place in Balochistan’s Kohlu district for a protest.

Qaiser yesterday said raids had begun in Punjab and Kashmir, while PTI Punjab media cell head Shayan Bashir claimed that the police carried out some 200 raids and picked up party workers, who were released after allegedly submitting affidavits.

Meanwhile, Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari mocked the protest turnout, alleging that the PTI was inflating the crowd size by stopping traffic.

Separately, Kashmir Affairs Minister Amir Muqam criticised the PTI for choosing today’s date for its protest and said it took away attention from the Kashmir dispute, PTV News reported.

Opposition leaders stopped while heading to Adiala Jail

Ahead of today’s planned protests, the Rawalpindi administration banned all assemblies and gatherings till August 10 under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, citing an “imminent threat”.

Today, PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja, Tehreek Tahafuz Ayin-i-Pakistan (TTAP) chief Mahmood Achkazai, MNA Shandana Gulzar and others departed for Adiala Jail, where Imran is imprisoned, the party said at 3pm.

“We will record our protest under any circumstance as it is our Constitutional right,” Achakzai said on X.

However, they were stopped by the Punjab police, with the TTAP sharing a video of Achakzai’s exchange with the personnel. “This route is closed,” a cop was heard saying.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur also separately led a convoy in Peshawar.

According to other videos it posted, the party organised rallies in various cities across the country.

Former Azad Jammu and Kashmir premier Sardar Abdul Qayyum Niazi, who was recently detained under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) Ordinance, also led a rally after his last-night release, the PTI said.

KP protests

The PTI also shared a video of convoys departing from Peshawar, Mansehra and other cities for Swabi.

The Islamabad-Peshawar Motorway was closed at 5pm at Swabi Interchange and both lines from Peshawar and Islamabad remained closed despite the various attempts made by the Motorway Police. The police failed to persuade the PTI workers, due to which the motorway has remained closed and commuters were forced to wait on the side of the road in scorching heat.

The motorway was opened at 7:30pm when the gathering was dispersed.

PTI leader Asad Qaiser alleged that Imran was offered to be allowed to go home, but he turned down such offers and declared that he would not go anywhere but continue the struggle for Pakistan from jail.

He criticised the parties in government for losing the people’s trust and lashed out at them for the sugar scandal.

“The people will not allow the operation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa under any circumstances. This is the decision of the people and the general public does not want any more operations here,” he said.

He said that their agenda was constitutional supremacy, true authority of the Parliament according to the Constitution and democratic principles and norms.

“We have launched a movement today which will focus on releasing of our leader, Imran Khan, immediate withdrawal of all fake cases against him, supremacy of the Parliament, upholding of country’s Constitution in all circumstances and people’s civil rights, independence of judiciary and let the people and leaders and religious parties to express thier views without any fear and hesitation.”

He announced that the second phase of the PTI’s efforts would take place on August 14, after which the party planned to head to Sindh. “We will unite the entire country to rid ourselves of this oppressive government,” he concluded.

PTI workers from Malakand division gathered at Lower Dir’s Chakdara interchange, where their local leaders addressed the major rally.

PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Khan led a rally from his home district of Buner.

Provincial Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs Syed Fakhar Jahan addressed a big protest demonstration at Sawari Chowk, Buner. Barrister Gohar was also present on the occasion.

The provincial minister said on the occasion that Imran was unjustly imprisoned for two years. He said PTI MNAs and MPAs were also being intimidated, illegally arrested and the rights of people were being violated, while their families were also being harassed.

Another big rally was held in the Khairabad area of Nowshera district where MPAs and provincial ministers were present.

The protest demonstration in Khairabad escalated into chaos as workers and party leaders clashed. The workers demanded that the protest leadership travel to Islamabad, saying that they had not come to listen to rote speeches but to engage in practical action.

They expressed frustration over being repeatedly asked to rally in the streets only to return without taking further action.

Party leaders and MPAs present on the stage abruptly left without delivering their speeches. Consequently, the workers exited the pavilion, sat down on GT Road, and began a protest that blocked the road, refusing to open it despite persistent requests from party leaders.

Police resort to tear gas shelling, baton charge to foil PTI rally in Karachi

In Sindh, the Karachi Police resorted to tear gas shelling and baton charge to disperse the PTI rally in the city, according to witnesses, police and party officials.

PTI Sindh spokesperson Muhammad Ali Bozdar told Dawn.com that as part of the party’s call, small rallies were held across the metropolis, which reached their scheduled protest venue at Hassan Square in Gulshan-i-Iqbal.

The protest rally was being led by PTI Sindh President Haleem Adil Sheikh. When they reached near Jail Chowrangi, contingents of the police that had already blocked the main University Road by parking vehicles in the middle of it or creating temporary barriers resorted to “massive” tear gas shelling and baton charge.

He alleged that around 25-30 workers, including females, were injured who took shelter in nearby homes where the residents provided them first aid, while around 15-20 others were arrested.

He said such actions were also taken by law enforcers in other parts of Sindh, as over 200 workers were allegedly arrested.

The police justified their action over the lack of permission for the rally, the alleged blockade of the road and creating a law and order situation.

Karachi Police chief Javed Alam Odho told Dawn.com that when protests tended to take place against power shortage, law enforcers took action against any road blockade and violence.

Without going into details of the police action, the city police chief said: “The rally was taken without permission from the concerned authorities. They blocked the road and created a law and order situation, necessitating police action.”

However, Bozdar told Dawn.com that when other parties took out rallies without permission, they were not subjected to the same treatment and wondered why such a discriminatory attitude was meted out against the PTI.

He said the party did not block the main University Road and had instead held a rally on only one side of the road.

Meanwhile, an incident report from the Bilal Colony station house officer said two PTI protesters were arrested from 4K Chowrangi.

Asad Umar, Fawad Chaudhry lament Imran’s imprisonment

Separately, former PTI leaders Asad Umar and Fawad Chaudhry, both of whom had parted ways with the party in the wake of the May 9 riots, also lamented Imran’s two-year-long incarceration.

Umar, a former finance minister, said on X: “Even two years after Imran Khan’s imprisonment, the anti-Khan narrative did not sell, and the public believes that Khan is imprisoned on political grounds, not legal ones.

“Do not waste more time; the entire national leadership should sit with the PTI and carve out a solution in accordance with the Constitution,” he suggested, adding that there was no other way to end the ongoing political crisis.

Chaudhry said Imran was in jail “just for the sake of democracy in Pakistan and people’s sovereignty”.