Imran Khan and the power struggle for Pakistan

Protests and arrests mark the latest flashpoint in a fierce game of cat and mouse between Pakistan's political parties.

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Pakistan’s capital has become used to entire areas being sealed off whenever the authorities get an inkling that unrest could be brewing. It is a constant reminder to the city’s residents that at any moment, everything could tip.

Last Sunday, the containers were out in force, blocking 29 routes around the city.

In a much-publicised and anticipated political rally, Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) supporters made their way in their thousands towards Islamabad. The crowd waved flags and banners while a poster of the former prime minister suspended by balloons gently floated overhead. Others wore eerie masks of Imran Khan’s face. Chants of "Imran Khan Zindabad" (long live Imran Khan) echoed around the venue.

The containers did not contain them; video on social media shows lines of supporters shoving the corrugated metal aside and surging through to reach the rally’s venue.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czx6xvgqe1ko

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