{"id":18960,"date":"2024-11-26T08:49:45","date_gmt":"2024-11-26T08:49:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/?p=18960"},"modified":"2024-11-26T08:49:45","modified_gmt":"2024-11-26T08:49:45","slug":"thousands-defy-pakistan-police-in-support-of-imran-khan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/?p=18960","title":{"rendered":"Thousands defy Pakistan police in support of Imran Khan"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Thousands of opposition protesters have converged on Pakistan’s heavily-barricaded capital, demanding the release of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan.<\/p>\n

The convoy – which is aiming for a square in the centre of Islamabad – has already clashed with security forces, who have been firing tear gas and rubber bullets at the marchers in an attempt to disperse them.<\/p>\n

According to the prime minister’s office, four paramilitary soldiers have been killed in a hit-and-run, which it has blamed on Khan’s supporters. This has not been independently verified.<\/p>\n

Khan has been held in prison for more than a year, facing a slew of charges and sentences which he alleges are politically motivated.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Even from behind bars, the former cricket star has proved a powerful player in Pakistan politics. During elections in February, his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, which had been forced to run candidates as independents, emerged as the single largest bloc.<\/p>\n

However, they fell short of the majority and their rivals united to form a new government. <\/p>\n

As a result, protesters are also calling for the overturning of election results they say were rigged – a claim disputed by the government.<\/p>\n

It was Khan who called on his supporters to take to the streets at the weekend, issuing a “final call” and asking them to stay in the capital until their demands are met.<\/p>\n

That was after the authorities introduced a ban on public gatherings. <\/p>\n

The government responded by blocking Islamabad’s streets with shipping containers, and bussing in police from across the country.<\/p>\n

Pakistan’s interior minister said the protesters had been offered an alternative venue for their protest but had refused.<\/p>\n

The unrest has caused some internet services to be suspended, while schools and colleges have been shut because of fears of violence.<\/p>\n

After days on the road, the protest has now reached the edges of the city centre.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

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Source: <\/em> www.bbc.com\u2026<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thousands of opposition protesters have converged on Pakistan’s heavily-barricaded capital, demanding the release of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan. The convoy – which is aiming for a square in the centre of Islamabad – has already clashed with security forces, who have been firing tear gas and rubber bullets at the marchers in an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18960","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18960"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18960\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}