PTI says it was offered jail perks for Imran Khan in exchange for calling off Islamabad march

The Pakistani government has been dangling both inducements and warnings before the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf ahead of its planned September 27 march on Islamabad, Dawn reported on Thursday.

PTI leaders told the newspaper that in backchannel contacts, the government offered to move incarcerated party founder Imran Khan to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences and his wife Bushra Bibi to Banigala, and to allow Khan’s family to meet him in hospital — but only after September 27, since an earlier meeting “could be construed as weakness”. At the same time, the party was told “in clear terms” that it would not be allowed to march on the capital, with preparations in place to “fix them for good” if it went ahead. Transporters have been warned against providing buses and vans to protesters, and some companies have already refused PTI equipment such as cranes used to clear containers from roads.

The government denied the offer. Minister of State for Interior Tallal Chaudhry told Dawn no confidence-building measures had been offered: “Had the government offered any confidence-building measures, there would have been no long march,” he said, adding, “They are claiming too much. We are not even prepared to offer them less.”

PTI is expected to announce its protest plan by Friday. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi is expected to unveil the strategy, while party leaders admit workers outside the province remain in the dark. PTI’s Naeem Haider Panjutha said the march would not be called off and would follow the Islamabad High Court’s orders, while spokesman Sheikh Waqas Akram said the protest would be peaceful and named Raja Nasir Abbas and Mehmood Khan Achakzai as Imran Khan’s authorised negotiators.