Imran Khan arrest offers perfect ruse for martial law in Pakistan
Photo credit Twitter @zartajgulwazir
By Manish Anand
New Delhi, May 9: Absolute chaos gripped Pakistan moments after rangers stormed the Islamabad High Court where they grabbed former Prime Minister Imran Khan by the collar of his shirt and pushed him into a van in a culmination of a year-long standoff between the PTI leader and the Pakistani military establishment.
With the PTI supporters storming the establishments belonging to the Army, local journalists have begun countdown to the possible imposition of martial law, which has been done on several occasions in the Islamic nation. While Khan was bundled into a security van visibly in a rough manner, Chief Justice of the High Court Aamer Ahmed expressed his indignation over the arrest of the former prime minister from the court premises.
Several of the colleagues of Khan sported bloodied faces, while the PTO women workers also claimed to have been roughed up. Local media persons reported that the police personnel gave absolute freedom to the angry protestors to simply walk into the military establishments.
Khan was reportedly arrested for corruption charges, involving a land deal when he was the prime minister. However, the Pakistani political history is full of episodes of the military scripting ousters of the elected leaders by slapping corruption and sedition charges almost at the drop of hat in line with the tradition of the country being ruled by the Army for all the practical purposes.
“The arrest of Imran Khan is not going to be that easy as he commands a mass following, both within Pakistan and among the diaspora,” tweeted Prof. Ashok Swain.
Incidentally, Khan propped up by the Army to become the prime minister had fallen off the favour of Qamar Javed Bajwa, the former Pakistani Army chief, which hastened ouster of the PTI chairman from power. Subsequently, Khan tapped the popular anger in Pakistan against worsening economic situation to mobilise the middle class against the Army.
With Pakistan heading into national election later this year, the Islamic nation presented a picture of chaos, as the people stand in long queue for packets of flour, while Islamabad awaits the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to approve the $7 billion bailout package. Lately, it has emerged that Pakistan may find it tough to get the bailout package, because of seriously compromised ability to repay the foreign debts, which had been alleged to have been spent on corruption.
With Khan now arrested, the army may have found the perfect ruse to impose the martial law and defer the national election, as well as ward off popular uprising against an imploding economy.
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