More than 5,000 people were reported to have joined the rally, organized by Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party. The march had originally been scheduled for September 27 but was postponed to allow negotiations between the government and PTI leadership.
Khan, who remains Pakistan's most popular political figure according to polls, has been in detention since August 2023 following a series of convictions that his party says were politically motivated. All but one of those convictions have since been suspended or overturned on appeal.
Videos shared by the PTI on social media showed supporters assembling in convoys across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which is governed by the party. Chief Minister Sohail Afridi said the march would reach Khairabad, about 80 kilometers west of Islamabad, by Thursday, when a plan for the next phase would be announced.
The government has been preparing for weeks for the arrival of PTI demonstrators in the capital, erecting barriers made from shipping containers to block main access routes. Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi confirmed the talks had failed on Sunday and accused Afridi of "sabotaging" the negotiations. Naqvi said the government would not allow the PTI to "create a disturbance" and cited an Islamabad High Court order from September 14 that bars political parties from occupying public roads and buildings.
"If they violate the orders, whether they are workers or politicians, whether they are protesting within KP or outside KP, we will pursue them one by one," Naqvi said. "This time, we want to ensure that these repeated episodes of creating disturbance in Islamabad come to an end."