 "Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan. File image/Reuters")
As soon as a message flows from incarcerated Imran Khan, Pakistan Army’s head of media (DG ISPR) holds a press conference deriding him. He has been termed by the Pakistan Army as a ‘threat to national security’, a ‘narcissist’, and a ‘sick-minded person’. In a recent presser, the DG ISPR, referring to Imran Khan, mentioned: “Threat emanates from a delusional mindset of a delusional person who has become captive to his own ego, thinking that his wishes are bigger than those of the state of Pakistan.” For the Pakistan Army, Imran is a challenge even when jailed in isolation.
Pakistan currently faces internal turmoil, including attacks on security forces as well as growing protests. As per the Pakistan Institute of Conflict and Security Studies, the country faced 97 militant attacks in November as against 89 in October. The website adds that almost 300 individuals, including 25 security personnel, were killed and over 160 injured. Most of these attacks have taken place in the Pashtun-dominated Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
Simultaneously, the government is mulling placing KP, the only province run by the Imran Khan-led PTI, under governor’s rule. The reason being given by the Sharif government is increasing attacks by the TTP (Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan) and the “rigid stance of the province’s leadership towards the centre, armed forces, and the bureaucracy”. The true reason is that the provincial leadership and its populace strongly back Imran Khan.
The current CM, chosen by Imran, Sohail Afridi, has challenged the centre against making any such attempt, while camping outside Adiala Jail, waiting to meet Imran. Ousting the KP government would further destabilize Pakistan. Imran Khan is a Pashtun; the clan is now being targeted by Asim Munir as being responsible for fuelling the uprising in KP. Imran Khan has repeatedly mentioned that he alone can broker peace with Afghanistan and the TTP, something the Pakistan Army resists as its importance would reduce.
Quick Reads
View AllImran Khan has been an enigma to the current military leadership, which controls the country with an iron fist, despite the DG ISPR mentioning, “The state is above the army.” Imran remains Pakistan’s most loved leader. Such is his popularity that a single comment by an obscure Afghan handle stating that Imran Khan has been killed by the army in prison angered the nation. Fearing mass protests, Islamabad imposed Section 144, barring an assembly of four or more persons in the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad. No doubt a word from Imran, and the DG ISPR comes out screaming abuses.
Imran, alongside his deputy, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, the erstwhile foreign minister, has been behind bars for over 850 days. In recent weeks, Imran has been kept in isolation solely because the army fears that a single comment from him can impact the masses. Even phone calls from his sons, based abroad, have been blocked.
His children have raised concerns on social media hoping for global support, but there has largely been silence. To ensure the courts do not give a verdict favouring Imran, the government has changed judicial norms, bringing the judiciary under the government. This will ensure that Imran is declared guilty and jailed.
For Asim Munir, the failed field marshal, Imran is an opponent he cannot defeat. It was Imran who had him removed from the post of DG ISI and was, in revenge, jailed by Asim Munir once he became the army chief. Asim Munir had the shortest tenure as DG ISI in the history of Pakistan. Munir’s only qualification to be nominated as chief was his visceral hatred for Imran.
Imran, unlike Nawaz Sharif before him, refused to accept exile as part of the NRO (National Reconciliation Ordinance), which implies a ban on participating in politics in return for dropping of cases. He also turned down mediation from West Asian nations. He preferred going to prison on engineered charges, aware that this was the only way he could ever hope to return to power. Even today, despite being in jail, Imran remains a threat whose death can result in turmoil the likes of which Pakistan has not witnessed before.
Another reason for Imran’s popularity is that he is Pakistan’s most popular cricket captain. The protests following his arrest in May 2023 are just a sample of what could happen if he is harmed.
It is this popularity that prevents Asim Munir from attempting to eliminate him while incarcerated. The Pakistan Army is also aware that he has the ability to take them head-on. The power and control that the Pakistan Army currently wields may well end if Imran returns to power. He displayed his revenge against Nawaz in his tenure as PM and would do so against the generals this time.
It is only to secure his own safety from a future Imran-led government that Munir pushed the 27th amendment to the constitution, giving him immunity from prosecution by any court. However, he is aware that in case Imran is re-elected, the immunity could also be reversed by the same Senate that granted it.
Every time there is a meeting between Imran and his family members, he has a string of messages for his supporters, despite the government insisting that anyone who meets him must not interact with the media. Every message from Imran leads to a counter press conference by the DG ISPR, in which Imran is called names, indicating how much they fear him.
Imran’s latest message to the nation mentions, “Asim Munir’s policies are disastrous for Pakistan. Because of his policies, terrorism has spiralled out of control.” He also accused him of igniting tensions with Afghanistan only to please Western powers. This simple one-line message resulted in a collection of press conferences by the DG ISPR.
Elected and popular prime ministers are jailed or even killed in Pakistan, but life goes on. This has been the bane of Pakistan’s politics. No PM has ever served a full tenure; all have been removed by army chiefs they themselves appointed. This silence by the masses has given Pakistani generals the belief that they can do anything and survive, while playing an anti-India narrative to build their support base. This was evident in recent press conferences of the DG ISPR.
Imran still refuses to bow down. By remaining in Pakistan, he displays defiance to the army’s authority. It was fear of protests as well as violence—something that could be exploited by multiple anti-Pakistan groups operating in KP and Balochistan—that led the Pakistan government to relent and permit Imran Khan’s sister, Uzma Khanum, to meet him. The delay was possibly to see if Imran still has the same level of support. On knowing that he has, Munir had no choice but to permit the visit.
The current battle is not between Imran Khan and Shehbaz Sharif, who is a puppet of the Army. It is between Imran Khan and the coterie of generals led by Field Marshal Asim Munir. One man alone causes such fear within Munir and his generals, and hence they would do all they can to prevent his release. It is only a public uprising akin to an Arab Spring or a Gen Z movement that can change Pakistan from Munir’s private fiefdom to a democracy.
(The author is a former Indian Army officer, strategic analyst and columnist. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost’s views.)