PTI leaders rallied on the outskirts of Islamabad on Sunday, demanding the “immediate release” of their founder, Imran Khan, while criticising the government for marginalising the party as police fired tear gas to disperse the crowd.

The party was staging the rally today to gain support for Imran’s release, who has been imprisoned since last August. Imran was expected to be released from prison after a district and sessions court accepted appeals against his conviction in the Iddat case.

However, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) arrested him in a new Toshakhana case shortly afterward.

His sentences in the previous two Toshakhana cases were already suspended while he was acquitted by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) in the cipher case.

The rally began with party leader Hammad Azhar addressing the crowd, stating that supporters had gathered today to establish the rule of law and the supremacy of the Constitution in the country.

He added that no obstacle would deter them today.

“We will, God willing, secure Imran Khan’s release.”

Speaking during the rally, PTI leader Ali Muhammad Khan demanded Imran’s “immediate release” and lamented how the party’s leaders were being “sidelined” by the government.

“I never thought there would be a day that Imran Khan, who formed our party to save Pakistan, would be put in jail,” Ali Muhammad said.

He added that today, neither PTI stalwarts Murad Saeed nor Shehryar Khan Afridi were present at the rally, nor was Qasim Khan Suri.

“Why can Murad Saeed not come out of hiding? Is it a crime to love Pakistan, or speak the truth? We will continue speaking the truth, as will our children”, he asserted.

“Today, Pakistan’s biggest party is in Pakistan, but our workers cannot go to parliament. What is their crime?”

PTI maverick Sher Afzal Khan Marwat said: “We have one message for the Pakhtuns, that we will go to Punjab within a week, and Ali Ami Gandapur will tell you the date.

“These people, who erected the containers, whose police charged you with batons, I want them to listen [that] we are coming to Lahore,” Marwat said.

Meanwhile, during her speech, PTI member Aliya Hamza Malik questioned whether Pakistanis wanted true freedom and their rights or wished to continue witnessing enforced disappearances in the country.

“Do you want a Pakistan for future generations, or one where your homes are attacked? Come out and demand Imran Khan’s release, you will all come and support me, as I know you are standing with the leader in Adiala.

“He will see how he’s struck fear into the government. We need to come out for our leader’s release now.”

Supporters clash with cops

Towards the end of the rally, PTI supporters clashed with the police as the latter tried to disperse them. Footage emerging on television and social media showed the police firing tear gas shells to disperse the crowd.

According to the police, the local administration had designated a timeframe for the rally, but as it exceeded the hours, the police had to attempt to disperse the supporters, which led to clashes and the ultimate use of tear gas shelling.

Police added that by exceeding the timeframe, the rally organisers had violated the rules and regulations detailed in the no-objection certificate (NOC) issued to the party. Thus, the Islamabad DC ordered police to disperse the attendees, instructing police and the administration to take strict action.

According to a notification dated September 8, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, the designated meeting time was from 4pm to 7pm. Rally organisers were informed of the timing at 6pm, the notification read.

Police and PTI workers faced off at Chungi No 26, where workers allegedly pelted stones at responding police officers. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Safe City Shoaib Khan was among the many policemen injured in the clash, per the police.

Meanwhile, the shelling continued by the police to disperse the workers from the area.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi took notice of the clashes and sought a report from the inspector general of Islamabad Police. According to a statement from the interior ministry, Naqvi has been in contact with the injured SSP and has ordered the provision of the best medical facilities to the injured policemen.

‘Shameful, idiotic move’

Slamming the police intervention at the rally, PTI’s Azhar called it an “idiotic move” in a post on X.

“What an idiotic move to start shelling on peaceful participants,” he wrote. “Will raise the political temperature in a situation where the public is already furious at the form 47 govt.”

Meanwhile, talking to the media, Awaam Pakistan chairman Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said that the people should be allowed to protest and that authorities need to learn from the mistakes of the past.

“If someone’s protesting, let them. We need to learn from the past and allow the people to speak their minds.”

The PTI and the PML-N will come to be if there’s unity, he added.

“We should not think about a party or a seat, but about the country as a whole.”

Senior PTI member and former president of Pakistan Dr Arif Alvi also took to X to criticise the police’s attempts to disperse the rally.

“Shameful, cruel, cowardly, and senseless act. Conspiracy to destroy a peaceful assembly,” he wrote. “I appeal to the people to remain peaceful because those who can impose a false May 9th can raise all kinds of false flags. May God destroy the enemies of Pakistan.”

Govt says people ‘rejected PTI rally’

Meanwhile, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said that the people of the country had “rejected PTI’s rally”.

According to the state broadcaster, Radio Pakistan, Tarar said that the PTI was “spreading lies and propaganda” by uploading fake videos on social media.

“PTI’s leadership of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has miserably failed in mobilising the masses”, the report quoted him as saying.

Tarar, according to the report, added that it was the democratic right of a political party to hold a public rally, so there was nothing special in this regard.

“However, the rally should end within the time allowed by the district administration,” he said.

Much-awaited gathering

The rally, initially scheduled for July and later August, had been postponed twice after authorities revoked permission, citing security risks and fears of unrest.

For the past several months, the PTI had been trying to get approval for a public meeting in the capital but it was not allowed by the administration.

The party approached the Islamabad High Court (IHC) for permission in March after receiving no response from the district administration.

In July, the PTI announced a protest but it was postponed as district administration did not allow the party to hold the protest. The meeting was rescheduled for August 22 but district administration cancelled the NOC at the eleventh hour, giving a new date of Sept 8.

Police block Islamabad’s entry points ahead of rally

As the party finalised its preparations for the rally today, the capital police blocked almost all entry points of the city amid intelligence reports of a ‘medium-level’ terrorism threat in light of the political gathering.

The 21 points blocked with containers are Nicholson’s Monument, New Margalla Road turn on G.T Road, Sangjani Toll Plaza, Water Tanki on Margalla Road, New Margalla Road Loop opposite F-10/2, 26 Number Chongi, Zero Point, Faisal Chowk, Khayban Chowk, Rawat T-Cross, Khanna Bridge, Tramri Chowk, Shahpur Road Turn, U-Turn on Murree Road, Bridge on Murree Road near Traffic Office, Faizabad, 9th Avenue, Gandum Godown, Golra Mor Haji Camp, Motorway Old Toll Plaza, and Tarnol Phattak, they added. All the roads leading to the ‘red zone’ except for the Margalla Road are also blocked.

The party’s Punjab spokesperson Shaukat Basra said in a post on X that the Punjab police hierarchy had given “unconstitutional” orders to its formations across the province (to stop workers).

Speaking to Dawn, Basra said the party leadership had changed its strategy in the wake of the police movement and asked its workers across the province to reach Islamabad individually. “Workers have been asked to avoid police action and reach Islam­abad individually,” Mr Basra said.

The district administration earlier this week issued a no-objection certificate to the public gathering on the outskirts of Islamabad, with a condition that the permission can be cancelled at any time in case of a “security situation”.

The venue, a 350-kanal compound located on Paswal Road near Sangjani, is reportedly under the control of the military establishment.

The selection of the venue has also energised the PTI workers as they believe that the ice has started to melt between the PTI and the powers that be.

‘Fascist government’

Senior PTI leader and former Speaker of the National Assembly Asad Qaiser decried the placement of containers and police blockades, deeming them the measures of a “fascist government… creating a hostile environment”.

“It is unfortunate that this fascist government with a stolen mandate is creating such a hostile environment,” Qaiser said in a video message uploaded by the PTI to X. “They approved the NOC and the court has permitted the rally, but Rawalpindi has been closed off.”

He accused the government of defying court orders by attempting to block routes to the rally.

“They break the law themselves, yet they lecture us on it,” he stated.