PESHAWAR: Supporters of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party held coordinated rallies across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Tuesday to demand the release of jailed ex-premier Imran Khan but were unable to convene in the capital and other key regions due to arrests of supporters and restrictions on public gatherings. 

The rallies mark the second anniversary of Khan’s arrest and come amid a 90-day “do or die” protest campaign the party launched in mid-July. The PTI leadership has pledged peaceful but sustained mobilization against what it calls politically motivated cases against Khan and other party leaders.

Ahead of Tuesday’s rallies, at least 120 PTI supporters and leaders were arrested in raids overnight, security officials confirmed to Reuters. Most of the detentions, made on Monday night and early on Tuesday, were in the eastern city of Lahore where the PTI had vowed its biggest demonstration, as well as protests elsewhere.

At least 200 activists had been arrested from Lahore, said party spokesperson Zulfikar Bukhari, adding that the protest would go ahead.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a province the PTI has ruled since 2018, saw widespread mobilization on Tuesday despite a ban on public gatherings under Section 144 imposed in the federal capital and other regions. The main rally in the provincial capital, Peshawar, was led by KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, while district-level convoys converged at interchanges and city centers across the province.

“This protest is being held to raise a voice against the illegal arrest of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan and to demand his immediate release,” said a statement by the PTI’s chapter in North Waziristan, a main district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

“Imran Khan is the hope and voice of the people of Pakistan and is being targeted for political revenge,” party speakers said at a rally in North Waziristan’s main town of Miranshah, adding that “all false and baseless cases must be immediately dismissed.”

Rallies were reported in Swabi, Charsadda, Mardan, Nowshera, Mohmand, Battagram, Abbottabad, Upper Chitral, Shangla, Upper Dir, Mansehra and Kurram, among other areas.

“The Freedom Movement rally will also be held in other districts, with a large number of workers participating,” PTI Khyber Pakhtunkhwa social media head Ikram Khattana said in a statement shared with media.

“The rally departing from Swabi, Charsadda and Mardan will conclude at Ambar Interchange, Swabi … The rally departing from Chakdara Toll Plaza at 4pm will be led by MPAs Junaid Akbar and Fazal Hakim,” Khattana added.

In Upper Chitral, a major rally was led by Deputy Speaker of the KP Assembly Surayya Bibi and PTI District President Shehzada Sikandarul Mulk. Party representatives said cabinet members, tehsil chairpersons, women’s wing leaders and VC chairmen participated as the caravan moved toward Charon Bridge.

In district Kurram, PTI described the rally as “historic,” and said it was held in defiance of “difficult conditions” for political activism in the area.

“The people of Kurram have proven that they stand with Imran Khan,” the party’s district unit said.

The protests follow a national call to action by PTI, which announced in July it would stage “do or die” demonstrations every week for 90 days to demand Khan’s release.

The party’s leadership claims he is facing over 170 cases, including charges of corruption, sedition and terrorism, which they allege are part of a military-backed crackdown to keep him out of politics. The government and army deny the charges of political persecution.

The PTI ruled Pakistan from 2018 until 2022, when Khan was ousted in a parliamentary no-confidence vote. He was arrested in May 2023 and again in August 2023, and is currently imprisoned at Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi, where he is serving sentences in multiple cases. He has also been disqualified from holding public office by Pakistan’s election commission.

Security was tight in the capital and in parts of Punjab on Monday and Tuesday, with the government imposing Section 144 to prevent large gatherings. In Rawalpindi and Islamabad, authorities preemptively detained dozens of PTI activists, according to local media reports. However, there were no major reports of violence from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where the PTI remains in government.

Khan’s party had always created “chaos,” Uzma Bukhari, a spokesperson of the provincial government, told a press conference on Monday.

“No political party can be barred from politics in Pakistan, but a terrorist organization disguised as a political party is not allowed to disrupt Pakistan’s peace.”