Ousted PM Khan leads protest march

PAKISTAN’S ousted prime minister Imran Khan yesterday led a convoy of thousands of supporters towards the capital Islamabad in a show of force the new government has attempted to shut down, with clashes breaking out between police and protesters.

Since being removed from power through a no-confidence vote last month over his handling of the econmy, the cricket star turned politician has heaped pressure on the country’s fragile new coalition rulers by staging mass rallies.

Khan had called for supporters to march towards the capital and stage a sit-in until fresh elections are called. “No obstacle can stop us, we will cross all the barriers and will reach ... Islamabad,” Khan declared from atop a truck.

He made a dramatic arrival in a helicopter, touching down on a motorway clogged with hundreds of cars and walking supporters outside the city of Mardan, 100km north-west of Islamabad. As the rotors wound down, the 69-year-old leant out of the door to wave at the crowd.

All roads surrounding Islamabad were blocked, with a heavy security presence in place, while key entry and exit points outside nearby major cities including Lahore, Multan and Peshawar were also shut.

Police deployed tear gas against hundreds of Khan backers attempting

to remove roadblocks in Lahore and Faizabad, where PTI supporters also seized an excavator to clear the route of containers. Yasmin Rashid, a prominent PTI leader, said police smashed the windows of her car as she tried to drive from Lahore to Islamabad.

The coalition government headed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has pledged to stop Khan’s supporters from pouring into the city, calling the rally an attempt to “divide the nation and promote chaos”. The Supreme Court yesterday held an emergency hearing over whether the government had legal grounds to block the rally.

Schools in the capital and nearby

Rawalpindi were closed, while a state of emergency was declared. The PTI has accused police of arresting and detaining hundreds of its supporters in overnight raids. P

Police in Lahore said more than 200 supporters were detained on public order offences. The government and police said protesters had been planning to join the march with weapons.

Khan, who claims he was removed by a US-led foreign conspiracy, enjoyed the backing of the country’s military and had promised to sweep entrenched corruption but is believed to have fallen out with Pakistan’s generals.