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Thousands of supporters of Pakistan’s jailed ex-prime minister Imran Khan<\/b> <\/b>have begun a march from the country’s north-west<\/b> <\/b>as they call for his release. <\/b><\/p>\n
Concerns over the 74-year-old’s health have grown louder in recent months. His family claims he has lost most of his vision in his right eye<\/a> after prison authorities failed to take action.<\/p>\n The cricket star-turned-politician, who faces charges in more than 100 cases, was jailed for 17 years over corruption last year. Khan said all the cases against him are politically motivated.<\/p>\n Even behind bars, he remains a force in Pakistani politics, and demonstrations in his support have led to deadly violence and crackdowns in the past.<\/p>\n The march began on Sunday in Lakki Marwat, a city 275km (170 miles) from Islamabad, and was expected to resume on Monday after pausing for the night. <\/p>\n Originally scheduled for last week, it was postponed to allow for talks between the government and Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party but the talks ended in deadlock.<\/p>\n Khan, who faces charges ranging from leaking state secrets to selling state gifts, was first imprisoned in August 2023. His wife Bushra Bibi was jailed along with him last year.<\/p>\n Sohail Afridi, chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province which is governed by the PTI, expects the march to make its way to a town about 80km west of the capital Islamabad by Thursday.<\/p>\n “[By then] this movement will have reached every corner of the country and every square will have become a centre of activity,” he said on Sunday, urging the people to “play an active role in the political process”.<\/p>\n While the march organisers have not announced that they were heading for Islamabad, authorities have stacked up shipping containers to block key access routes to the capital.<\/p>\n The PTI said talks with government failed because authorities rejected the party’s request for access to Khan so that its leaders could consult him on national and political issues.<\/p>\n The party also said it had demanded that Khan be given an immediate medical examination and treatment.<\/p>\n Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi meanwhile accused Afridi of “sabotaging” negotiations, saying the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government had backed out of earlier commitments on counter-terrorism issues, according to Pakistan’s local media reports.<\/p>\n In August, Khan was briefly transferred from jail to a state-run hospital<\/a> for medical examination and treatment following complaints about his deteriorating health. The doctors later deemed him “medically fit”.<\/p>\n The intervention was the most significant relief Khan has received from the courts since he was imprisoned in 2023 on corruption charges, which he says were politically motivated.<\/p>\n Khan’s family and the PTI, however, criticised the authorities for defying a court order that he be examined by physicians at a specific private hospital.<\/p>\n On 20 September, Khan’s sister Aleema Khanum was arrested<\/a> in the eastern city of Lahore. <\/p>\n The arrest order said Khanum had been mobilising people to “create law and order situations” and “raising\/chanting objectionable slogans amongst the general public against the Government”.<\/p>\n Khan, who previously captained the Pakistan national cricket team, served as the country’s prime minister from 2018 to 2022.<\/p>\n His arrest in May 2023 sparked large-scale, violent protests<\/a> by supporters, who ransacked the corps commander’s residence in Lahore, smashing chandeliers and making away with furniture, paintings, and even peacocks, among other things.<\/p>\n At least eight people died in the protests and the army were called in to quell the violence.<\/p>\n Former international cricket captains have made several appeals<\/a> in recent months to Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif urging Khan to be given proper medical care.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n