KARACHI: Foreign Policy magazine has claimed that Pakistan’s military is afraid of Chairman PTI Imran Khan, as he has scared the establishment by the way he has campaigned using social media and livestreams—something the military cannot control as easily as television and radio. He has used tools the generals do not understand.
In its latest article published about politics in Pakistan, Foreign Policy wrote Imran Khan was once seen as having the backing of the country’s all-powerful military. But now out of office, he has emerged in recent months as a leading critic of the army, which has often ruled the country directly and exerts a powerful grip even in times of nominal civilian control. Khan was once a known quantity in the complex military-political arrangements that run Pakistan. His latest turn has made him something different—and more unpredictable.
The Foreign Policy further wrote that Khan has been holding mass rallies and demonstrations against military rule. The livestreams of his speeches were so popular that in the end, the government attempted to ban them on dubious pretenses. Although it’s unclear who shot Khan, his supporters see it as the latest move in a long campaign of harassment against him since he left office. Khan has accused the government of being behind the plot.
“They may well be right. Everyone in Pakistan knows the rules of the game, most critically to remain silent about the extent of the military’s control over politics—rules that Khan once followed but has broken continually since he was ejected from office,” it said.
The article said however late, Imran Khan is tackling the bitter reality of military-compromised politics head-on. Khan expresses a fundamental truth: one in which the Pakistan Army is a political constituency and an economic force. The military owns cement plants and cereal factories, and it is involved in every major infrastructure project in the country. No one, including Khan himself, can rise to high office without military support or keep power without the armed forces’ endorsement.
It says the military had guessed that Khan, once out of office, would follow the rules and know when his career was over. After all, Khan, a brilliant cricketer, is a rich and famous man who enjoyed the lifestyle of an international celebrity before he entered politics. Some people in the military may have thought that Khan would leave Pakistan if defeated, disappearing back to the world of the global rich.
The Foreign Policy predicted that there are now two likely outcomes: a more overt military takeover, which would set the country back decades, or free and fair elections, which would likely (if recent local and by-elections are a good guide) result in a win for Khan. The status quo, with Khan free to campaign, is too dangerous and destabilizing for the military’s power.
“Khan’s political party has also broken dynastic politics, perhaps laying the groundwork for new ones that will be harder for the military to control. Pakistan’s politics has been dominated by political families or close-knit political tribes—more than one Sharif has been prime minister this century, and most political leaders have military and machine-political backing. Khan has long claimed that he has put himself at risk in opposing this status quo. With the attempt on his life today, this grim prediction has now come true. How the military plays its next hand will determine whether it remains a respected institution (retaining its enormous economic and social influence over the country) or is forced out of the public square and into its barracks,” it added.
