Following the dramatic arrest of Imran Khan, leader of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), thousands of his supporters started mob and arson attacks, targeting key-point-installations, while they also stormed into cantonment area thus ransacking offices and residences of senior military officers. Video footages of such attacks resemble those carried out by terrorist entities, especially radical Islamic militancy outfits.
According to media reports, violent protests erupted throughout Pakistan following the May 9th arrest of former Prime Minister Imran Khan. Khan was arrested by paramilitary forces ‘Rangers’ at the High Court in the capital, Islamabad. He was detained on charges of corruption brought by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), which were termed by supporters of Imran Khan as “politically motivated”.
Video footage show dozens of officers arriving and detaining the 72-year-old, who was shoved into a vehicle and driven away.
BBC said, “Pakistan’s army plays a prominent role in politics, sometimes seizing power in military coups, and, on other occasions, pulling levers behind the scenes”.
Imran Khan was ousted as prime minister in April of 2022 in a paramilitary coup. He has since been campaigning for early elections. General elections are due to be held later this year. He charged the Biden administration with engineering his exit (in his words “regime change”) following his meeting in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin shortly before the invasion of Ukraine.
Khan also accused current Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif and leader of Muslim League Nawaz of colluding with the military to oust him from office.
Speaking to the BBC’s Newshour, Imran Khan’s spokesman, Raoof Hasan, said he expected “the worst” and that the arrest could plunge the country “into chaos and anarchy”.
“We’re facing multiple crises. There is an economic crisis, there is a political crisis, there is a cost of livelihood crisis and consequently this occasion will be a catharsis for them to step out and I fear a fair amount of violence is going to be back”, he said.
A member of Imran Khan’s legal team, Raja Mateen, said undue force was used against him at the court: “Mr. Khan went into the biometric office for the biometrics. The rangers went there, they broke the windows, they hit Mr. Khan on the head with a baton”, said Mateen.
Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party called on its supporters to protest. In the hours after he was detained, violence was reported from cities including Lahore, Karachi, Quetta, and Peshawar.
At least one person was been killed in the protests in the city of Quetta, CNN reported. Another source in Pakistan said, the number of casualties is “higher”.
As protests grew, mobile data services in the country were suspended on the instructions of the Interior Ministry, reports said.
“This is absolutely the last straw”, the BBC cited protester Farida Roedad as saying. “Let there be anarchy, let there be chaos. If there is no Imran, there’s nothing left in Pakistan. No one is there to take over”.
In a video message filmed as he traveled to Islamabad – and released by the PTI before his arrest – Imran Khan said he was ready for what lay ahead: “Come to me with warrants, my lawyers will be there. If you want to send me to jail, I am prepared for it”.
Pakistan’s mighty military faces challenges
According to media reports, asserting that ongoing nationwide protests will continue until the release of former Pakistan PM Imran Khan, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has instructed the party leaders, workers and supporters to gather at the Islamabad Judicial Complex at 8 am on May 10, 2023.
Taking to its official Twitter handle, Imran Khan’s party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf stated, “Important instructions from the party leadership: Senior leadership of Tehreek-e-Insaf and workers and supporters of Islamabad will arrive at Judicial Complex Islamabad at 8 am. The ongoing sit-ins and protests across the country will continue in their respective locations until the release of Imran Khan”.
While Imran Khan has always been supportive to radical Islamic forces, he is seen by a large segment of Pakistanis as “anti-establishment savior” that the country has been “long waiting for”.
Imran Khan Khan first shot to fame in Pakistan as the Oxford-educated heart-throb who brought World Cup cricketing glory to the country in 1992. He married into British aristocracy, tying the knot with journalist Jemima Goldsmith in 1995, but soon began to make his political ambitions known back home.
In 1996, he co-formed and became leader of a new political party known as the Pakistan Movement for Justice, or Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party (PTI). The ambitions of PTI were to bring democracy, progress and expertise to a country that had long been held back by interference – or outright control – by the military and the dominance of a few powerful political dynasties.
