‘Enough is enough’: Pakistan’s Islamabad on edge before Imran Khan protest

For Mohammad Zaheer, a 14-year-old ninth-grader at a government school in Islamabad, the unexpected Monday holiday was a chance to play cricket with his friends on empty roads, free from the worry of vehicles disrupting their game.

His only concern? Whether there would be another holiday on Tuesday.

“I hope there is, so our school stays closed for another day, and I can hang out with my friends,” Zaheer cheerfully told Al Jazeera on Monday morning.

Zaheer’s school, along with all other educational institutions in Islamabad, was closed – not for a public holiday, but due to the anticipated arrival of thousands of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) supporters for a major protest in the national capital.

Thousands of PTI members and supporters had begun a march from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa – a province where the party is in power – to Islamabad on November 24, pledging to lay siege to the capital until their leader and party founder, Imran Khan, is released from jail.

Despite his incarceration, Khan issued a “final call” on November 14, urging supporters to take to the streets on November 24 to protest against the “stolen mandate” of this year’s elections, “unjust arrests” of PTI leaders and activists and against the passing of a recent controversial constitutional amendment, which gave government oversight powers on appointment of judges in superior courts.

The PTI was barred by election authorities from using its party symbol in the country’s February election, but its candidates – who stood as independents – still won more seats than any other party. The PTI however alleges that counting was manipulated and its candidates actually won many more seats. The Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), which finished second and third in the election, formed a coalition that now rules the country.

In response to PTI calls for protests in Islamabad in recent months, the government has repeatedly imposed measures such as shutting down the city’s entry and exit points and enforcing internet blackouts.

“PTI protests harm the country and create significant hardship for citizens,” Federal Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said during a news conference on November 24 at D-Chowk, the designated endpoint of the PTI march.