Insider reports suggest Pakistani government’s plans to arrest former PM Imran Khan
In the wake of recent protests hosted by Imran Khan’s political party, who was ousted from power earlier this year, insider reports suggest that the Inspector General (IG) of Islamabad has been issued orders to arrest the former PM.
Imran Khan and his party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI), held protests against the arrest and torture of their party member Shehbaz Gill as well as state-sponsored media blackouts of his speeches earlier this week. His speeches questioned the neutrality of the military establishment in the country – known to involve themselves in political affairs; however they were not allowed to air on television as media channels risked being banned.
Khan threatened to file cases against the officials involved in the arrest of Gill just two days ago and demanded that the courts implement the rule of law. These public threats have lead to Khan beeing booked for terrorism charges.
“IG, DIG Islamabad, we will not spare you! We will file cases against you…Magistrate Zeba Chuadhry, we will not spare you too!”
Imran Khan’s address at F-9 Park, Islamabad
As reports came out of a plot to arrest Khan, supporters and party members flocked to his Bani Gala residence to try and prevent such an arrest from happening. Supporters claimed that Khan’s arrest would be crossing the “red line” and it would not be tolerated under any circumstance.
A wave of protests will be triggered if Khan is arrested as party members and supporters have been informed to get out on the streets across the country in the event that it happens. Other twitter users have suggested that there are plans for strategic broadband outages in Punjab to dilute the protests.
Imran Khan’s arrest seems uncertain, many wonder if he has already gone underground and moved from his Bani Gala residence. All in all, this news has triggered unrest across Pakistan as it fails to stabilize its political climate in the wake of mass movements against the government and military establishment in recent months.
