ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leadership on Tuesday failed to hold any major gatherings in Rawalpindi and Islamabad in response to the party’s protest call as part of its campaign to secure the release of incarcerated former prime minister Imran Khan.

Police arrested dozens of party workers, including women, as they attempted to hold rallies at various locations in the capital.

Some small groups, including women accompanied by children under 10, were seen gathering in sectors F-6, F-8 and Aabpara Market, carrying party flags in their hands and on their vehicles.

However, they began dispersing as soon as police arrived, having spotted them via Safe City cameras installed on roads. The police managed to detain some individuals, including women and children, and shifted them to various police stations. Most of them were released after a few hours.

Dozens of party workers, including women, arrested for agitation

A PTI female worker told Dawn that minors wept and cried when police intercepted them along with their mothers.

She alleged that police treated them harshly and shifted them to a police station despite their peaceful conduct. She claimed only the children were released and handed over to family members, while the adults, including their mothers, remained in custody.

More than 2,500 police personnel had been deployed at different roads and locations across the capital to counter PTI’s nationwide protest.

The police were also prepared to seal the Red Zone in case of a law and order situation, though nothing serious occurred.

Some PTI lawmakers staged a protest outside the Parliament House but were intercepted at the gate, which was closed and locked.

PTI Islamabad Region President Aamir Mughal announced on his X account that a grand car and motorcycle rally would be taken out from Zero Point to F-9 Park at 4pm against “lawlessness in the country and to demand Imran Khan’s release”. However, no such rally took place.

In Rawalpindi, too, PTI workers and supporters failed to show strength. Only a few people gathered at three locations, and no protests were held at major squares or roads in the garrison city.

The PTI’s political committee had earlier announced nationwide protests under the banner of a ‘Free Imran Khan Movement’, instructing all regional and local organisations to hold vigorous but peaceful demonstrations at district headquarters.

In response, district administrations imposed Section 144 across Punjab until August 10, banning all kinds of protests and processions.

Authorities cited security threats, saying any protest could become a soft target for terrorists and miscreants, posing a danger to public safety and causing inconvenience to citizens.

Despite the call, no PTI workers or supporters came out onto the streets, and no road blockages were reported.

Although local police had made arrangements to prevent protests by closing roads leading to Adiala Jail in the morning, Jhelum Road, Peshawar Road, Old Airport Road and Faizabad remained open throughout the day, and no signs of agitation were observed.

Three small protests were witnessed, one in front of Giga Mall near DHA Phase-II, which police swiftly dispersed, and two others at Committee Chowk and Siddiq Chowk, where protesters chanted slogans before dispersing on the arrival of police.

A senior PTI leader told Dawn that due to the aggressive stance of the government and police, the party changed its plan and called all ticket holders to Lahore.

He said there were two main reasons for the lack of turnout: “First, the workers mostly respond only to Imran Khan’s call, as they don’t accept anyone else as the party head. Second, many local leaders and ticket holders are in hiding to avoid arrest related to previous protests.”

He added that some leaders had gone abroad, blaming the current party leadership for sidelining them. He further alleged that after the protest announcement, the provincial government kept a close watch on key party members, deploying police in uniform and plain clothes outside their homes to monitor their movements.

When contacted, PTI District President Chaudhry Ameer Afzal confirmed that Punjab North leadership had summoned all ticket holders to Lahore. He admitted that no major protest took place in Rawalpindi as most leaders and workers were in Lahore.

Another senior PTI leader said there was no proper coordination within the party. “We were told to bring 50 supporters to Lahore, but upon arrival, there was no clear plan or meeting point. Most people returned to Rawalpindi after wandering around,” he said.

PTI local leader and PP-15 ticket holder Zayad Kiani said workers were ready to protest, but police had deployed forces outside the homes of prominent party figures already nominated in cases last month.

Muzaffarabad

Former Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) prime minister and regional president of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Sardar Abdul Qayyum Niazi, has said that arrests and fascist tactics cannot stop him from raising his voice for PTI founder Imran Khan.

Mr Niazi had been arrested on Saturday from Bhimber district under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) ordinance on the orders of the Deputy Commissioner of Mirpur. He was held in a government rest house in Mirpur, which had been declared a sub-jail.

However, on Monday, the AJK High Court, responding to a writ petition filed by Mr Niazi’s son, directed the government to produce him along with the relevant record before the court at 9:30am on Tuesday.

Alarmed by the court’s order, the government released him around midnight, after which he travelled directly to his constituency in Hajira, where the rally was held under his leadership.

Speaking at the rally, Mr Niazi lashed out at Prime Minister Anwarul Haq, claiming that the latter had panicked after witnessing what he called his “historic” reception in Bhimber and launched a police operation across two districts to arrest him.

“I was arrested in a humiliating manner, but I have no regrets. The one who ordered my arrest only revealed his own character,” he said, adding that despite state repression, the people of Samahni and Bhimber turned out in thousands to welcome him, for which he was deeply thankful.

Mr Niazi also expressed gratitude to the judiciary for timely hearing his case, and to PTI workers across AJK who protested his arrest by blocking roads and entry points for two days, which he described as a “defeat of fascism.”

Meanwhile, police broke up a PTI protest outside the Muzaffarabad Press Club on Tuesday afternoon, and arrested three local leaders — Raja Ansar Iqbal, Raja Farukh Mumtaz, and Yasir Mughal — in connection with some previous FIRs and shifted them to City Police Station.

They were, however, released after two and a half hours their lawyers obtained bail for them.

In Jhelum Valley district, PTI vice president Zeeshan Haider Kazmi led a rally in which participants not only condemned the arrest of Imran Khan but also denounced Indian atrocities in occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

Tariq Naqash from Muzaffarabad also contributed to the story

Published in Dawn, August 6th, 2025