Rajanpur, DG Khan elections, where PTI’s Mohsin Leghari routed both PMLN and PPP, in essence, the combined power of the PDM alliance that currently rules Pakistan as the frontal facade of military Establishment has multiplied threats to Imran Khan’s life. Elections, in a tribal area where historical loyalties matter and where a PMLN-controlled caretaker government tried its level best to influence the outcome has proved once again that the Imran Khan wave remains unstoppable – even outside urban areas.
This is bound to increase panic in the ranks of PMLN and all its political and non-political allies – whatever name you may give them. PMLN literally faces an existential threat in its historical constituency of Punjab. The establishment, since 1971 defeat in former East Pakistan, has never been exposed so badly. PPP which apparently looks very strong on the face of it and displays outward confidence is painfully aware of the changing political moods across Sindh where the younger generation has not remained aloof from the winds of political change blowing across Punjab and KP. All these factors put together create shock waves of insecurity in the Anti-Imran Club. And they are bound to react in what can be described as “self preservation.”
PTI's stunning victory over PMLN in Rajanpur,DG Khan, despite all odds & unprecedented wave of oppression by PDM & ECP should help focus minds in GHQ & Supreme Court on what is needed to navigate safe future for Pakistan https://t.co/ECriEojd8j via @YouTube
— Moeed Pirzada (@MoeedNj) February 26, 2023
Risks to the life of Imran Khan are not imaginary! He barely survived the assassination attempt in Wazirabad (Nov 3) where bullet parts of fragments missed his femoral artery by 2cm. His doctors had explained the entry wound to me through diagrams. Reactions of his political opponents to this failed assassination attempt only confirm the nature of the threat. Because instead of accepting that the former PM of Pakistan could have been killed leading to a political catastrophe whose implications no one can estimate, they have done everything to ridicule and belittle this murder attack. Organized efforts by various fronts, including reputable media organizations and English newspapers, to mislead the world into believing that the attacker was a lone religious fanatic, is a prime example of this attitude. And raises very difficult questions about the intentions and motivations of these political players and the administrations controlled by them.
Read more: World condemns assassination attempt on Imran Khan
Immediate release of the attacker’s confessional video, widespread distribution through state and private media, refusals in registering standard FIR, continuous wrangling on JIT, and its immediate disbandment by Mohsin Naqvi’s caretaker government all point towards a guilty mindset. While this evidence may not be sufficient to indict someone in a court of law, these are nevertheless substantial symptoms and signs for any intelligent person to see that a coordinated plot to eliminate Imran Khan, Pakistan’s former PM exists. November 3, 2022 attack on Khan’s life happened within 10 days of the murder of prominent TV Anchor, Arshad Sharif. One needs to be exceptionally dumb or grossly insensitive to ignore that these two cataclysmic developments of Pakistani politics, coming one after the other, can’t be easily dissociated from each other. And that these reflect the workings of a criminal mind. A criminal mindset that exhibits reach, capacity, and willingness to act with impunity. All this should be frightening, but most Pakistanis have become desensitized and tend to ignore the writing on the wall.
Amidst these circumstances, the insistence of session or district courts to require the physical presence of former PM in court cases is beyond logical understanding- unless we let ourselves believe in the conspiracy idea that session courts are being pushed and used by someone to set a stage for something. Given the circumstances highlighted in this brief note, it makes abundant sense that courts should permit video testimonies of the former PM of Pakistan. If there has been one politician in the entire history of Pakistan that has never expressed the desire to take refuge in a western capital then his name is: Imran Khan. Why courts must insist on pre-digital era formalities and not appreciate the risks involved? Murder of Imran Khan or another attempt on his life has severe implications for Pakistan’s future. This nation of almost 240 million has never been so divided, so confused and so angry since the tragedy of 1970-71. Why ignore all that is beyond understanding! One still hopes, sanity will prevail!
Read more: Assassination attempt on Imran Khan “alarming, disgraceful”: President
Moeed Pirzada is the Editor of Global Village Space; he is also a prominent TV Anchor and a known columnist and Vlogger. He previously served with the Central Superior Services in Pakistan. Pirzada studied international relations at Columbia University, New York, and Law at the London School of Economics, UK, as a Britannia Chevening Scholar. He can be reached at: Editor@GlobalVillageSpace.com