PTI Protest Crackdown Marks Nationwide Mobilisation

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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – Supporters of Pakistan Tehreek‑e‑Insaf (PTI) launched coordinated demonstrations across multiple cities on August 5, 2025, marking the second anniversary of party founder Imran Khan’s imprisonment. The protests rapidly escalated into a law enforcement crackdown involving arrests and forceful dispersal in key urban centres.

In Lahore, police conducted overnight raids ahead of planned mass gatherings, detaining dozens initially, with PTI reporting totals closer to 300 arrests including elderly party supporters. Authorities cited violations of orders against unlawful assembly

At least six Punjab legislators (MPAs) associated with PTI were arrested in Lahore for involvement in organising protests. Among those detained were Farukh Javed Moon, Colonel Shoaib, Nadeem Sadiq Dogar, Khawaja Salahuddin, Aminullah Khan, and Iqbal Khattak.

Authorities imposed restrictions on PTI leaders attempting to visit Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi, where Imran Khan is held. Senior figures, including Ali Muhammad Khan, Mahmood Khan Achakzai, Salman Akram Raja, Latif Khosa, Shandana Gulzar Khan, and Imran’s sisters, Aleema and Noreen Khan, were stopped at checkpoints near Chakri Interchange. Some were detained temporarily.

PTI Central Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram condemned the crackdown, accusing authorities of deploying repressive tactics and branding the state apparatus as a “mafia protecting their stolen throne.” He warned that failure to release detained political leaders—including Imran Khancould unleash a powerful wave of public dissent.

In Rawalpindi and Islamabad, sanctions against protests were strictly enforced. A ban on public gatherings in the federal capital and its suburbs led to substantial police detentions, especially among PTI activists attempting to assemble near the jail. 

PTI supporters framed the day’s events as the start of a renewed movement to “restore democracy,” repeating Imran Khan’s message that the struggle would continue “until democracy is restored in its true spirit.” 

Political analysts note the protests reflect broader unrest stemming from the collapse of earlier PTI–government negotiations from late 2024 to early 2025 and mounting discontent following election‑rigging allegations and May 9 of 2023 riots. 

In summary, what began as peaceful mobilisations quickly drew a stern law enforcement response. The widespread detentions, enforcement of protest bans, and refusal to permit political leaders’ access to incarcerated party figures typify a politically charged environment increasingly dominated by confrontation rather than dialogue.