Bushra Bibi’s move for Imran Khan disappeared

A charred truck, empty tear gas shells and posters of former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan were all that remained of a massive protest led by Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi that shut down the entire capital.

Just a day earlier, faith healer Bibi, wrapped in a white scarf, her face covered by a white veil, stood atop a shipping container on the edge of town as thousands of her husband’s faithful followers waved flags and chanted slogans below her.

“My children and my brothers! You have to stand with me,” she cried Tuesday afternoon, her voice cutting through the deafening roar of the crowd.

“But even if you don’t,” she continued, “I’ll still stand firm.

“It’s not just about my husband. It’s about this country and its leader.

Some observers of Pakistani politics noted that it was her political debut.

But as the sun rose on Wednesday morning, there was no sign of Bushra Bibi or the thousands of protesters who had marched across the country to the center of the capital to demand the release of their imprisoned leader.

What exactly happened to the so-called “final march” and Bushra Bibi when the city went dark remains unclear.

All eyewitnesses like Samia* can confidently say that the light suddenly went off, plunging D Chowk, the square where they had gathered, into pitch blackness.

As loud screams and clouds of tear gas covered the square, Samia describes holding her husband on the sidewalk, bloody from the gun shot him in the shoulder.

“Everyone was running for their lives,” she later told BBC Urdu from a hospital in Islamabad, adding that it was “like doomsday or war”.

“His blood was on my hands and the screams were endless.”

But how did the tide turn so suddenly and decisively?

Just a few hours earlier, the protesters finally reached D Chuk on Tuesday late afternoon. They had overcome days of tear gas shelling and a maze of barricaded roads to reach the city center.

Many of them were supporters and workers of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), a party led by Khan.

He called for a march from his prison cell, where he has been held for more than a year, on what he says are politically motivated charges.

Now Bibi — his third wife, a woman who had been largely shrouded in mystery and out of the public eye since their surprise wedding in 2018 — led the charge.

“We will not go back until we have Khans,” she announced as the march reached D Chowk, deep in the heart of Islamabad’s government district.

Insiders say that even the choice of destination – the place where her husband once had a successful sit-in – was Bibi’s, made by opposition from another party leader and calls from the government to choose another venue.

Her being in the lead was perhaps a surprise. Bibi, herself only recently released from prison, is often described as private and apolitical. Little is known about her early life, aside from the fact that she was a spiritual guide long before she met Khan. Her teachings, rooted in the Sufi tradition, attracted many followers, including Khan himself.

Did she enter politics or was her sudden appearance a tactical move to keep Imran Khan’s party afloat while he remains behind bars?

For critics, it was a move that ran counter to Imran Khan’s often-voiced opposition to dynastic politics.

It didn’t take long to think about the possibilities.

After the lights went out, witnesses say police began firing fresh rounds of tear gas around 9:30 p.m. local time (16:30 GMT).

The repression was in full swing a little more than an hour later.

At some point in the midst of the chaos, Bushra Bibi left.

Videos of her changing cars and leaving the scene surfaced on social media. The BBC was unable to verify the footage.

By the time the dust settled, her container had already been set on fire by unknown people.

By 1 a.m., authorities said all the protesters had fled.

Witnesses have described scenes of chaos with tear gas and police swarming the protesters.

One, Amin Khan, said from behind an oxygen mask that he had joined the march knowing “either I bring Imran Khan or I will be shot”.

Authorities have denied firing on protesters. They also said some of the protesters were carrying firearms.

The BBC has seen hospital footage showing patients with gunshot wounds.

However, government spokesman Ataullah Tarar told the BBC that hospitals had refused to admit or treat victims of gunshot wounds.

He added that “all security personnel deployed on the ground are prohibited” from carrying live ammunition during the protests.

But one doctor told BBC Urdu that he had never operated on so many gunshot wounds in one night.

“Some of the injured were in such a critical condition that we had to start surgery immediately instead of waiting for anesthesia,” he said.

Although no official death toll has been released, the BBC has confirmed to local hospitals that at least five people have died.

Police say at least 500 protesters were arrested that night and are in police stations. PTI claims some people are missing.

And one person in particular has not been seen for several days: Bushra Bibi.

“She left us,” said one PTI supporter.

Others defended him. “It wasn’t her fault,” insisted another. “He was forced to leave by the party leaders.”

Political commentators have been harsher.

“Her departure ruined her political career before it even started,” said journalist and analyst Mehmal Sarfraz.

But was that even what she wanted?

Khan has previously dismissed any suggestion that his wife may have political ambitions of her own – “she’s only passing on my messages,” he said in a statement attributed to him on his X account.

Speaking to BBC Urdu, analyst Imtiaz Gul calls his participation an “extraordinary step in extraordinary circumstances”.

According to Gul, Bushra Bibi’s role today is only to “keep the party and its workers active in Imran Khan’s absence”.

It’s a sentiment echoed by some PTI members who believe she is “only stepping in because Khan has a lot of confidence in her”.

However, insiders often whispered that she was pulling the strings behind the scenes, advising her husband on political appointments and guiding high-profile decisions during his tenure.

The first more direct intervention came earlier this month when she called for a meeting of PTI leaders to support Khan’s call for a rally.

Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif accused her of “opportunism”, claiming she saw “a future for herself as a political leader”.

But Asma Faisa, an associate professor of political science at the Lahore University of Management Sciences, believes the PTI leadership may have simply underestimated Bibi.

“It was assumed that there was an understanding that she was a non-political person, so she would not pose a threat,” she told the AFP news agency.

“However, the events of the last few days have shown another side of Bushra Bibi.”

But it probably doesn’t matter what analysts and politicians think. Many PTI supporters still see him as their link with Imran Khan. It was clear that her presence was enough to electrify the base.

“She’s the one who really wants to get him out,” says Islamabad resident Asim Ali. “I trust her. Absolutely!”

Additional reporting by Joel Ginto and Yvette Tan