Pakistan’s capital: Thousands of supporters of Pakistan's jailed former prime minister, Imran Khan, marched toward Islamabad on Sunday to demand his release, among other political prisoners, prompting authorities to lock down the capital and partially suspend mobile internet services.

Khan has urged supporters of his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or PTI, party to assemble at the capital’s D-Chowk public square and remain there until the government addresses their demands.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s coalition government has deployed tens of thousands of police and paramilitary forces in riot gear and blocked highways leading to Islamabad ahead of the opposition protest rally.

Police announced a ban on all gatherings in Islamabad leading up to the rally.

Pakistani authorities have also closed major roads in the capital, using shipping containers to prevent protesters from reaching the venue near the country’s parliament and Supreme Court buildings, among other key government installations.

“The protest location is a protected area in Islamabad. Any protesters who enter this area will be arrested,” Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi told reporters at the D-Chowk square on Sunday.

Despite the security and communication clampdowns, PTI leaders and supporters have vowed to reach the venue in Islamabad.

Bushra Bibi, Khan’s wife and former first lady, is also leading one of the rallies.

Police used tear gas shells against several rallies near Islamabad late on Sunday. A senior police officer told VOA that they had arrested more than 400 PTI workers in and around the capital. The officer spoke anonymously because he was not authorized to share the details with the media publicly.

Elsewhere in Pakistan, police reportedly rounded up hundreds of protesters.

“Khan has called on us to remain there until all our demands are met,” Ali Amin Gandapur, a central PTI leader and the chief minister of the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, stated before departing for Islamabad as the head of a big rally.

“Live metrics show WhatsApp backends have been restricted in #Pakistan corroborating reports of media sharing issues,” Global internet watchdog NetBlocks said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

In an overnight statement, the interior ministry announced plans to shut down “mobile data and Wi-Fi service in areas with security concerns” but did not elaborate.

“Internet and mobile services across the rest of the country will continue to operate normally,” the ministry spokesperson wrote on X.

The PTI said its rally would also demand the reversal of the constitutional amendments the Sharif government has recently introduced and its resignation over what it alleges is a product of rigged elections this year.

“Court rulings, road shutdowns, internet restrictions, threats of arrest -- none of this stopped PTI from heeding Khan's call and converging on Islamabad,” Michael Kugelman, who directs the South Asia Institute at Washington’s Wilson Center, said on X.

“That says a lot about the figure that Khan is and the power that he continues to wield over his base even from his jail cell,” Kugelman wrote.

Khan, who was prime minister from 2018 to 2022, was ousted through an opposition parliamentary vote of no-confidence. The 72-year-old cricket star-turned-prime minister has been incarcerated since August 2023 on corruption charges and has more than 150 criminal cases against him.

Despite the legal troubles, the deposed leader remains the most popular Pakistani politician, and the PTI rejects the cases against him as politically motivated.

The imprisoned former leader announced before Sunday’s protest that his party would march on Islamabad “under any circumstances.”

Khan spoke to reporters during a court hearing at the Adiala prison center near the Pakistani capital, and his remarks were shared on his official X account.

“Pakistan has been made into a banana republic. Democracy, the constitution, and the rule of law have all been annihilated from our country,” Khan said.

PTI supporters abroad also organized simultaneous protest rallies in Australia and New Zealand, and those residing in Britain and the United States planned to take to the streets later on Sunday.

Dozens of U.S. lawmakers have recently written two separate letters to President Joe Biden, urging him to advocate for the immediate release of “political prisoners” including former Prime Minister Khan.

“A focal point of our concern is the unlawful detention of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, widely perceived to be Pakistan’s most popular political figure,” read the latest letter dated November 15.

It noted that the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has also recently called for Khan’s immediate release from what it called illegal detention and in breach of international law. VOA/SP