Pallade Veneta - Imran Khan's wife Bushra Bibi emerges as Pakistan protest figure

Until now, she has appeared only rarely in official photos, shielded from view during court appearances by large white sheets and always wearing a face veil.

But since being released from jail last month, where her husband and the country's wildly popular opposition leader still languishes, Khan's third wife has stepped up in his defence and roused his fanatic followers.

"It was assumed that there was an understanding that she is a non-political person, hence she will not be a threat," said analyst Asma Faiz, an associate professor of political science at Lahore University of Management Sciences.

"However, the events of the last few days have shown a different side of Bushra Bibi."

Islamabad was brought to a standstill on Monday and Tuesday when around 10,000 Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf supporters flooded the capital, defying a ban by authorities which rights groups have accused of a violent crackdown.

Nearly 1,000 people were arrested and five members of the security forces killed.

In the days leading up to the protest, Bibi made her first direct appeal to PTI supporters, pleading with them to defend Khan.

She made an unexpected appearance on top of a truck in a convoy of vehicles in the midst of the clashes between protesters and security forces, seizing the limelight ahead of other leaders.

"You will have to promise that till the time Khan comes here, you will not leave," she cried to the crowds.

Pakistan's Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi was clear about where he apportioned blame for the chaos.

"Bushra Bibi is the only one responsible," he said.

- 'Khan's messenger' -

A faith healer, Bibi and Khan became close when he turned to her for spiritual guidance in his political career.

The pair married in 2018, the same year Khan was elected prime minister after an insurgent campaign promising to replace decades of entrenched dynastic politics.

She was arrested and detained in the days before February's national elections over corruption and for breaking Islamic law by marrying Khan too soon after her divorce.

"Her relationship to Khan gives her authenticity in the eyes of protestors who at the end of the day are marching for Khan," said Michael Kugelman, a director at the Wilson Center.

But her role has the potential to cause division in a party that has struggled to maintain a tight top leadership with Khan sidelined in jail.

"Bibi's prominent place in the protests may be controversial as some party leaders are sparring with her, but her role actually helps advance the party's mobilisation goals, which are a critical priority," Kugelman added.

In her social media video a week ago, she attacked Saudi Arabia -- a key partner of Islamabad -- leaving the party scrambling to backtrack.

It was also Bibi who encouraged the protesters to march to the centre of the capital, despite the government saying a senior PTI leader had already promised to keep to the periphery of the city.

Khan, in comments made to his team from jail and posted on social media, played down her influence.

She has "no connection with politics", he said ahead of the protest.

"As she is my wife, she only transmits my messages," he assured before the demonstrations.

PTI media department echoed the comments on Thursday: "She led the protest as the wife of Mr Khan, not a political leader of the party."

- Family politics -

In Pakistan, several women have been suddenly propelled into politics: former prime minister Benazir Bhutto during the coup against her father and Maryam Nawaz Sharif, niece of current Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, when her father was imprisoned and then exiled.

"When the pawns fall, the Queen rises. Checkmate," a Pakistani commented on X.

Many have praised Bibi's "courage" under the photos of her haranguing the crowd from the top of a container.

But the new involvement of Bushra Bibi is a double-edged sword for Khan, whose sister Aleema also plays a growing role in PTI.

Pitched as the outsider facing the generational politics of the Bhutto and Sharif families, the hero of Pakistan's new era treads a careful line.

A.Tucciarone--PV