Editorial: Pak caught in chaos

The assassination bid on former prime minister Imran Khan signals Pakistan’s inexorable descent into chaos; a fall that many fear could result in another bout of martial law. The attack, during a protest rally held by his party — Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) — near Wazirabad, came in the midst of Imran’s ongoing confrontation with the […]

The assassination bid on former prime minister Imran Khan signals Pakistan’s inexorable descent into chaos; a fall that many fear could result in another bout of martial law. The attack, during a protest rally held by his party — Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) — near Wazirabad, came in the midst of Imran’s ongoing confrontation with the army. No civilian leader in the history of Pakistan has challenged the army, an all-powerful establishment that controls the country’s destiny, so openly and with so much vehemence as Imran has been doing now, dubbing the military generals as ‘traitors and looters’. Ironic as it may seem, Imran came to power in 2018 with the tacit support of the military establishment. In fact, he was then called the puppet of the army. But, he soon fell out with the Rawalpindi bosses, the price for which was an ignominious exit from power in April this year. He became the first prime minister in Pakistan’s history to have been removed from office through a no-confidence vote. Since then, the PTI chief has been quite strident in his criticism of the army and the ISI, claiming, at a public rally recently, that he knew several dark secrets of the ISI but had chosen to remain silent in the interests of the nation. In an unprecedented move, the director general of ISI Lieutenant General Nadeem Anjum held a press conference recently to counter Imran and his party leaders’ allegations and to reaffirm that the army would remain apolitical and neutral, a claim that hardly any Pakistani believes.

Though the arrested assailant, who confessed to the police that he wanted to kill Imran as he was misleading the people, claimed that he was acting alone, there are suspicions about a larger conspiracy. The attack brought back bitter memories of the 2007 tragedy when Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in a suicide bomb attack during a political rally. It still remains an unresolved case. And, so are many cases of disappearances and mysterious murders of political activists. The recent assassination of a Pakistani journalist and anchor Arshad Sharif, considered close to Imran’s party, in Kenya under intriguing circumstances has once again brought the ISI under public scrutiny. It is widely believed that the journalist’s execution is linked to his ongoing investigation of corruption at the highest levels of Pakistan’s military. After being ousted from power, Imran still enjoys the support of the majority of Pakistanis, as was evident from the recent by-elections to Parliament, in which his party won 6 of the 8 seats. Many Pakistanis perceive him as an honest man, who entered politics to clean it up but failed in his task due to the pulls and pressures from vested interest groups. Surviving an assassination attempt could further enhance his public image as someone who is willing to risk his life for a cause.