Pakistan is in turmoil once again over the attempts by police to arrest former PM Imran Khan. The history of violent regime change in the country is being repeated, which exposes the fragility of democracy in the country. Imran Khan has called attempts by Islamabad police to arrest him in Toshakhana case “mere drama.” He claims that the “real intent is to abduct & assassinate” him. Behind Imran’s statement is the seventy years long bloody history of political assassinations and weak democratic structure in the country.
In Pakistan, every leader that is ousted is either jailed, killed, hanged, assassinated. Although, if he or she is fortunate then is able to escape in a self-imposed exile. No regime change has ever been peaceful in the country, where democracy has not been able to take roots. The nation has been swinging between an authoritarian military regime and unstable political rule. Democracy in Pakistan has always been flimsy and this is being played out once again. Besides, the nation is yet to learn an orderly and peaceful transition of power based on people’s will, as real democracies do.
Every time Pakistan has seen a change of government, there has been chaos, violence and disorder. Same thing is being witnessed now. Pakistan is facing civil unrest as unruly scenes are reported from across the country after Pakistani police scuffled with supporters of former Prime Minister Imran Khan. As officers arrived outside his home to arrest him for failing to appear in court on graft charges, his supporters created a ruckus. As a result, law and order appears to have completely collapsed and there are clashes between the police and Imran Khan supporters.
Imran Khan has been saying it loud and clear that he would be assassinated. His supporters fear his arrest could mean the end of his life. And their fears are not baseless as they are based on the truth of past events since Pakistan was created.
In Pakistan, the cycle of political killings began with the assassination of the nation’s first Prime Minister, Liaqat Ali Khan, who was killed on October 16, 1951, in the Company Baugh of Rawalpindi, while he was on stage during a public meeting. Another PM Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, was hanged by General Zia-ul Haq’s military regime, in what is often considered by legal experts a ‘judicial murder’. Nine years after Bhutto was hanged, Zia-Ul Haq died in a mysterious plane accident in 1988, which was believed to be a meticulous murder. Another Prime Minister and daughter of ZA Bhutto, Benazir Bhutto too was assassinated in 2007. Benazir’s two brothers were killed too; Murtaza and Shahnawaz.
The two-time Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto was killed during General Pervez Musharraf’s regime. It was widely believed that she was killed by the Taliban. Her killing had led to widespread chaos, protests and unrest in the nation against General Pervez Musharraf. Chants of “Dog, Musharraf, dog” rang out in the streets as rioters took to violence. The BBC reported in 2021 that General Musharraf, a decade after Benazir’s killing, admitted in an interview that those in the administration may have been involved in the assassination and may have been in touch with the Taliban.
There have been several instances of political murders across the nation of leaders in the provinces too. Decades of military rule has only strengthened the Pakistan army and weakened even any attempt to bring real democracy in the coup-prone country. Pakistan’s 75 years of existence bears witness to its failed democracy. Without strong democratic structure, institutions and without leaders, who believe in democracy, Pakistan as a nation has often been plunged into unrest and chaos. The Imran Khan episode is the same in the series of events, where the ruling dispensation, be it military or civilian ensures there exists no formidable opposition. Without rule of law, without a strong judiciary, every assassination in Pakistan has been a death of democracy.
Also Read: https://indiadiplomacy.in/paks-toshakhana-emptied-by-its-ruling-elites/
