Supporters of former Prime Minister Imran Khan took to the streets en masse on Tuesday after his arrest. Police use water cannons and tear gas. Khan, 70, was arrested in Islamabad on Tuesday for corruption.
Footage posted on social media shows thousands of Pakistanis protesting his arrest in Islamabad, Karachi, Peshawar and Khan’s home city of Lahore.
Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party says on Twitter that a “red line” has been crossed with his arrest. “Take to the streets and save Pakistan,” the PTI calls on its sympathizers.
An attempt was made to arrest the former prime minister in March. That failed because thousands of Khan’s supporters came to his home in Lahore to thwart the arrest. Khan was prime minister until April 2022, when he was ousted following a no-confidence vote.
There are at least a hundred charges against the former prime minister.