If the Pakistani military have assassinated IK in his jail cell; well there are no words.
IK would be a martyr to eclipse the likes of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
If the Pakistani military have assassinated IK in his jail cell; well there are no words.
IK would be a martyr to eclipse the likes of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
Please don’t give credence to Indian and Afghan rumors. You know both countries are hostile to Pakistan and have an interest in fanning the flames.
Even the PTI is not claiming that IK is dead. They are saying he is being kept in solitary confinement. So this Indian claim is irresponsible and factually incorrect.
The Pakistani establishment is not going to murder IK in his jail cell. They are going to try him for his crimes and probably keep him in jail for a good long time (maybe the rest of his life). The establishment knows very well that if anything happens to him, there will be riots all over Pakistan–just as there were riots all over Pakistan when Shaheed Benazir was assassinated.
I hold no brief for IK–in fact I vehemently dislike him. Inciting your followers to attack the Core Commander’s House and other military installations is an absolutely unforgivable crime in Pakistan. It is not something that any patriot should be defending. That said, like any other prisoner, he should have the right to meet his family and his lawyer.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1958453/pti-to-stay-calm-despite-being-pushed-towards-conflict-kp-cm
How is it that educated elites in Pakistan are somehow perfectly fine with such a popular public figure being “disappeared” by the PakMil. Openly.
Khan’s alleged ‘corruption amounts to what exactly? Some gifts of watches/jewelry and allegations of direct/indirect involvement in land allocation for a non-profit? Somehow this justifies indefinite incarceration of the country’s most popular politician and international sports star? Trumped up charges of ‘inciting violence’ are just that. A poor fig leaf to justify IK being ‘disappeared’.
Khan’s treatment is as blatant an example as anything, of the fact that Pakistanis – no matter how rich or popular within, or even those with international renown – they can be ‘disappeared’ if they dare question the PakMil. This is totalitarian dominance and abuse of its citizens.
Until Pakistan manages to acquire azaadi from a kleptocratic institution that insists on defining Pakistan’s policies and future through its own narrow organizational lens – one that has radically different incentives than its citizens – it is doomed to limp along in its current state.
He’s in jail. He has faced a criminal trial. That is not the same as being “disappeared”.
The May 9 riots are unforgivable. There is NEVER an excuse for attacking Pakistan’s military installations. No patriotic Pakistani should be OK with this ( but apparently he and his cult were fine with it). He deserves to stay in jail forever.
Like any other prisoner, he should be allowed to meet his family and his lawyer according to the rules of the jail manual. But that’s it.
This is the man who was happy to see Mian Sahab in jail during his tenure. Now he should enjoy the same treatment.
his family is raising concern about his ( major opposition leader) assassination in jail and no word from govt.. is not it a very severe violation of human rights? if it is .. then say so.. this is always expected from a liberal.
it absolutely is – good point. we can presume that he is dead, since his own son is asking for proof of life
“we can presume that he’s dead”– This is an irresponsible assumption, giving credence to Indian and Afghan rumors.
His own political party says he’s in solitary confinement.
Trust me, if he were dead there would be riots all over Pakistan.
tit for tat is not justice
Due process in Pakistan has been a joke -was for Nawaz, and is now for Imran. How can a self-proclaimed liberal justify the gangster-ish illegal incarceration of the most popular politician in Pakistan? Come on now.
Why r u baiting K unnecessarily?
you yourself said ‘tit for tat is not justice’. My comment is essentially the same.
As for ‘baiting’, its interesting that he keeps comments from Bombay Badshah on his threads, but deletes mine. And none of my comments have anything that merit deletion. I understand that its preferable for him to use BB’s inflammatory rhetoric against him, while mine is far more difficult to argue against. Such malicious deleting of comments is not seen as ‘provocative’ or ‘baiting’. But me making counterpoints is?
“he keeps comments from Bombay Badshah on his threads”– Oh don’t worry, those are summarily deleted as well.
Don’t bother commenting on my threads. I’ve told you many times that I will summarily delete anything you write.
Imran Khan incited his followers to attack Pakistan’s military installations on May 9, 2023. I’ve told you many times that this is absolutely unforgivable. Just for that, the man deserves to rot in jail.
May 9, 2023 was the Pakistani equivalent of Jan 6, 2021 in the US.
Mian Sahab never had his followers attack our military installations. Had he done so, he would be rotting in jail as well.
Posting my comment here that was deleted on a different thread discussing Pakistan –
Pakistan cannot square the circle without responsive representative government. Military over-dominance of its governance is doomed to fail. The state may not entirely collapse because of foreign aid injections – because nobody wants to see a nuclear weapons state collapse. But ‘not failing’ is quite a ways away from success.
https://archive.is/hPZoV – I was attacked here on BP for pointing out that Pakistan is under military rule. This Nov 28th article in Foreign Affairs can’t be personally attacked for ‘not knowing English’. *shrug*
that’s never going to happen alas
The ‘thousand year reich’ appeared invincible, until it wasn’t. The USSR crumbled in days. Stronger regimes than PakMil have given way. I agree that its …unrealistic to expect in the near term.
This is a very consolidated population- wishful thinking
One that is politically repressed and oppressed. The dam can and will break. Its not an if, its a when. Could easily be multiple decades from now. No way to know.
oh sorry ok
When Imran first became PM, I had off-handedly remarked to my Pakistani colleague that I don’t expect him to complete his full term – as most Pakistani PMs if not all have failed to do so. And that in fact, the blunt harsh reality is that he may be assassinated – Because honestly speaking I did not consider it feasible for the PakMil to treat someone of Imran’s popularity and ‘stature’ with the same incarceration playbook that it has wielded against the likes of Sharif or Zardari. Shahadat while asleep – with ‘leaks’ of drug overdose is what I thought would be PakMil’s tactic.
It is still a bit …surprising to me, not to mention disappointing – that the Pakistani citizens have simply accepted the state of affairs – A legend of international sport – and not just a domestic one – one that clearly sacrificed and invested his personal life to work for better outcomes for his fellow citizens, has not only been chased off the public political stage, but the mistreatment continues to escalate – to shocking levels. And the country and its citizens are just …mute. I do not think its because they are ‘apathetic’, I lean towards thinking its because they simply can’t afford to raise their voice. Its tragic.
When you have your entire civil and political society dominated to such an extent by a military, it completely and utterly stunts development. The incentives are skewed to such an extent that corruption on an outsize scale is inevitable.
Imran Khan’s sister Uzma Khanum has met him. So we can now put an end to the (in my opinion rather irresponsible) speculation that he was dead.
“Imran ‘perfectly fine’, says Uzma Khanum after meeting PTI founder at Adiala Jail”
https://www.dawn.com/news/1958740/imran-perfectly-fine-says-uzma-khanum-after-meeting-pti-founder-at-adiala-jail
Of course, it was the Pakistani establishment that created this situation by placing him in solitary confinement for a month.
His incarceration is itself seriously questionable if not illegal.
Trump is as responsible for the Capital riots as Imran can be for the PTI protests. Both are popular populists. That PakMil simply does what it wants, to whoever it wants, is naked gangsterism.
Do you know what the word “illegal” means? IK has been convicted by Pakistani courts. You may not think much of Pakistani courts but by definition his jail sentence is not “illegal”. He’s gone through a legal process.
The man was arrested on May 9, 2023 and his cult rioted and attacked Pakistan’s military installations. That is absolutely unforgivable. Anyone who attacks Pakistan’s military installations deserves to rot in jail for life. That’s the bottom line.
Donald Trump incited his followers to attack the Capitol because he didn’t want the election to be certified. IK incited his followers to attack the Core Commander’s House because he didn’t want to be arrested. There is no difference.
Kabir you are fixating on the letter, rather than the spirit, of the law.
what is ur end goal for Pakistan?
yes that’s unacceptable