Hundreds of Pakistanis demonstrate outside White House demanding end of government action against Imran Khan

The protesters braved biting cold wind and freezing cold to demonstrate in the city.

“We are here to draw attention to the deteriorating human rights situation and the threat to democracy in Pakistan,” Junaid Bashir, a senior PTI leader in Virginia, told Dawn News. “We want the government to immediately stop intimidating Imran Khan.”

Akbar Chaudhary, who has been working with Khan since the 1990s, told the newspaper that the present set of rulers in Islamabad is a “threat to Pakistan and they must be removed now”.

Kamran Rizvi, a PPP stalwart, said he had to “speak up” as “it would be criminal” not to condemn what has been happening there. “What we witnessed during the last few days is not politics. It’s an attack on democracy and democratic values.”

A large number of women also joined the demonstration.