On November 13, Imran Khan, the incarcerated founding chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, gave the final call for his release, among other demands. Since it was the final call, expectations were high that the PTI leadership would emerge, descend on the capital and stay put until their demands were met. Party workers hoped that the leadership would come up with a different plan to achieve the objectives this time around and would not abandon them like the previous occasion.
Usually, it takes a couple of hours to reach Islamabad from Peshawar. But given the blockades set up with heavy containers, teargas shelling and clashes with law enforcers deployed on the way, the party workers led by Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur accompanied by Imran’s wife, Bushra Bibi, took almost three days to finally reach the edge of the planned destination: D-Chowk. Some even entered the Red Zone, forcing the law enforcers to briefly retreat.
For a brief period, they captured the high-security zone, roamed freely and even sat on the containers placed there, leaving the government red-faced. However, the batch of protestors soon realised that they were the only ones standing face-to-face with the security officials as the party leadership had stayed at a distance from the promised venue.
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