Pakistan Arrests Ousted Prime Minister, Sparking Demonstrations
In response to protests against the arrest, Pakistan has shut down internet access across the country
[Islamabad] Imran Khan, Pakistan’s ousted prime minister, was arrested in Islamabad on Tuesday, sparking public outrage.
Khan, who became prime minister in 2018, was ousted in 2022 in a parliamentary no-confidence vote. He has since led a popular campaign against the current coalition government. Khan was accused of corruption and faced several warrants leading up to his eventual arrest. He consistently claims that the accusations are baseless and politically motivated.
The arrest comes a day after the country’s powerful military warned Khan against making “baseless allegations” following Khan’s accusation that a senior military official was plotting to kill him.
Khan’s lawyer Gohar Ali told the media that Khan was tortured during the arrest, which occurred while Khan was in a court hearing. He said in a video statement that troops from the paramilitary Pakistan Rangers broke the windows of the courtroom, lifted Khan from his wheelchair, and kicked his leg, which was injured in a 2022 shooting attack.
A video clip circulating on Pakistani television and social media shows security forces pulling Khan toward an armored vehicle.
The arrest of the former prime minister from the court premises indicates that the sanctity of the High Court has been violated
The arrest, which was organized not by the Islamabad police but by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), sparked immediate controversy. The director general of the bureau and the prosecutor general, among others, were ordered to appear in the High Court for a hearing about the arrest’s legality.
“The arrest of the former prime minister from the court premises indicates that the sanctity of the High Court has been violated,” Chief Justice of the Islamabad High Court Aamer Farooq said. “The glass windows in the courtroom were also broken. We will not sit silently and we will get to the bottom of the matter.”
After being pressed in court to explain the arrest, the NAB showed an arrest warrant from May 1 accusing Khan of “corruption and corrupt practices.”
The corruption charges against Khan have to do with a trust set up by Khan and his wife to help establish Al-Qadir University, a new university outside of Islamabad. The NAB alleges that Khan had a quid pro quo arrangement with Pakistani businessman Malik Riaz wherein the government, then led by Khan, granted favors to Riaz in exchange for donations to the trust.
A source told The Media Line that after being arrested, Khan was transferred to the NAB office in Rawalpindi, Punjab, where strict security measures were put in place. He will remain there until he appears in the NAB’s accountability court.
The NAB website describes the accountability court as having been established “for speedy disposal of cases involving corruption and corrupt practices.”
Khan is expected to have a full medical evaluation before appearing in court.
Today you people have to leave your homes. No one should sit at home today. Imran Khan is fighting for your future. If you want real freedom, come out.
Shah Mahmood Qureshi, the vice chair of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, harshly criticized the arrest, describing it in a video message as “completely unjustified and unacceptable.”
“Today you people have to leave your homes. No one should sit at home today. Imran Khan is fighting for your future. If you want real freedom, come out,” he said in the message.
Former Federal Minister of Law Fawad Chaudhry, also from the PTI, similarly criticized the arrest in a tweet. “Imran Khan has been abducted from Court premises. Scores of lawyers and general people have been tortured. Imran Khan has been whisked away by unknown people to an unknown location,” he wrote.
Khan’s supporters took to the streets to demonstrate as soon as the arrest was announced. Demonstrations have broken out in Peshawar, Lahore, Karachi, Faisalabad, and other cities across the country. Numerous injuries and arrests have been reported.
The government responded to the unrest by shutting down internet services in major cities. A source told The Media Line that all telecom companies had been given orders to shut off internet access.
Asad Umar, a former minister and a close aide of Khan’s, told The Media Line that what happened to Khan was not an arrest, but a kidnapping.
Murad Saeed, another former minister from the PTI, said that Khan’s allies had been clear that they would not tolerate his arrest. “Today, they crossed our red line,” he told The Media Line.
For more than a year, Khan has been pushing for early elections, which he says will return him to power. The charismatic politician has demonstrated his popularity with the masses since being ousted by holding dozens of rallies across the country.
The current ruling party is well aware of the fact that, despite all their efforts and accusations, Imran Khan has reached the peak of his popularity
Karachi-based analyst Adeeb Ul Zaman Safvi told The Media Line that Khan’s popularity with the public was what prompted his arrest.
“The only purpose of Imran Khan’s arrest is to postpone the general elections in the country. And the current ruling party is well aware of the fact that, despite all their efforts and accusations, Imran Khan has reached the peak of his popularity,” he said.
Since the vote of no confidence against Khan in 2022, Pakistan has been engulfed in a serious political and economic crisis.
Javed Hayat Khan, a Canada-based political analyst, told The Media Line that Khan’s arrest would lead to further political instability and accompanying economic deterioration.
