Deposed Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan was arrested on Tuesday in a serious escalation of a political crisis that raises the prospect of mass uprisings from his ardent supporters.
the crisis is coming beer for months, when Khan openly questioned the Pakistani military and the current government, claiming they were conspiring against him. On Monday, the military charged the former leader with false charges against a senior intelligence official.
Khan was at a court hearing in Islamabad when He was arrested this Tuesday by paramilitary troops. After being ousted in a parliamentary vote of no confidence in April last year, Khan deals with dozens of cases prosecution for charges including terrorism and corruption.
The detention immediately escalated the confrontation between the current government and Khan, a former populist star of cricket, which reappeared on the political scene in the months following his ouster.
His party has attracted tens of thousands to political rallies across the country, where Khan and others have called for fresh elections and accused Pakistan’s powerful military establishment of orchestrating his ouster.
He and his supporters called the charges against Khan an abuse of the justice system by the prime minister’s government. Shahbaz Sharif and by the military to separate it from politics. Pakistan’s political and military leaders have repeatedly denied these claims.
Attempt
Political tensions around Khan reached a fever pitch in November when the former prime minister was injured during a political rally after an unidentified man opened fire on his convoy in what aides described as an attempt to homocide.
Since then, Khan has mostly remained at his residence in Lahore, Pakistan’s second largest city.
Fawad Chaudhry, one of Khan’s top collaborators, said soand the threat against Khan’s life he made their court appearances that much riskier, adding, “It’s not humanly possible to appear in court in such a large number of cases.”
According to analysts, the drama surrounding Khan it just seems to have increased in popularityemphasizing its unique ability to circumvent Pakistan’s usual rules of the game to sideline political leaders in disfavour with the country’s powerful military.
Over the summer, his party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), won landslide victories in municipal elections in Punjab – a province that often serves as a reference point for national politics – and in the port city of Karachi.
Those political victories have also been seen as a response to the worsening economic situation, that the new government has struggled to resolve, and a repudiation of the military establishment, which has long exerted a strong influence on Pakistani politics.
But they have sparked a growing crackdown on Khan and his supporters, seen by many as a concerted effort by the authorities to curb his political prospects.
Journalists known to sympathize with Khan say they have harassed by the authorities. News TV channels banned the live broadcast of Khan’s speeches. ARY News, a major channel, was forced to shut down an interview with one of Khan’s top aides in which he made anti-military comments.
The crisis has turned the tables on Khan, who benefited from a close relationship with the military when he was elected prime minister in 2018. At the time, his political rivals said the authorities had waged a campaign of coercion and intimidation that it deterred all opposition to Khan and ensured his electoral success.
Military officials deny these allegations and argue that the institution has adopted a “neutral” position in the current political crisis. The military appeared to have withdrawn its support for Khan early last year, after which MPs ousted him in a vote of no confidence.
Since then, allegations raised by Khan that the military is colluding against him have been increasingly harsh and direct, something unusual in Pakistan’s political system, where the military wields an intimidating influence.
However, Khan remains wildly popular, a sign that the authorities’ traditional methods of marginalizing political leaders may not be enough to silence a populist politician. in the age of social mediaaccording to analysts.
Now many fear Khan’s arrest further exacerbate the political turmoil that has swept the country in recent months. Before Khan was arrested, his aides warned that he would go on a rampage mass riots which could cripple Pakistan.
Source: Clarin
Mary Ortiz is a seasoned journalist with a passion for world events. As a writer for News Rebeat, she brings a fresh perspective to the latest global happenings and provides in-depth coverage that offers a deeper understanding of the world around us.