Like millions of Pakistanis at home and abroad, I felt an immense shock when Pakistan’s elected government was unceremoniously ousted following a judicial coup on the night of April 9th, 2022. What followed, has been a series of heartbreaking events the likes of which can seldom be seen in the civilized world.
On that fateful night and for several nights after, Pakistanis came out on the streets of Pakistan to protest the ousting of their elected Prime Minister’s government and the salt on the wound was that we were now being governed by a coalition of gangs that have been described as being amongst the most corrupt politicians on the planet. These people have been looting the country, amassing huge wealth offshore, on various continents and have absolutely no emotional ties to the land of Pakistan. What’s even more disturbing is that the institutions of the state are well aware of the reputation of these crooks and have themselves played a major part in the cases that have been in courts against these incompetent, corrupt dynastic politicians.
The imported government took office under the slogans of inflation, yet Pakistanis saw the worst inflation ever in the last few months under their rule. Prices of commodities have gone up significantly. Every day we come across stories of families struggling to pay bills, struggling to buy groceries, unable to make ends meet. The ruling parties have seen a significant decline in their popularity across the nation. Here is a brief outline of the major events that have taken place since April this year:
Since being ousted, Khan has only one demand, immediate, free and fair elections. The ruling elite have seen Imran Khan’s popularity and have no intentions of holding any elections. Khan has led massive rallies and held great power shows across the country. As soon as Khan was ousted, a vicious campaign was lodged against his political workers and his social media team. Young men and women were harassed, fake cases being lodged against them. Young men were abducted from their homes, questioned about the rising social media popularity of Khan and his ideology. From here on started the unlawful detention of various party leaders. Anyone who dared to speak against the powers that be, had reports launched against them, citing treason.
On the 25th of May, Khan led a rally from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, through Punjab and to the capital, Islamabad. The then Punjab government used brute force, starting the night before. Armed men illegally invaded private residences. Women, children, young and old were harassed. Tear gas was used on peaceful protestors, many of whom were women and children. This was not limited to the protestors in this one province and the capital, but even in Karachi, protestors were treated similarly. Containers were placed to block the path of unarmed, peaceful protestors. At least two workers lost their lives, several citizens experiences uneasiness and illness for days as a result of the brutal violence that they faced. Khan, fearing violent clashes between Pakistani citizen and the government forces, called off the planned sit in and asked the people to retreat.
Many of us questioned his decision at the time, the people were ready to stand by Kaptaan and fight for our democratic rights. But, Imran Khan has always taken the longer route, the route of constitution and law, even when facing opponents that did anything but.
As Imran Khan’s popularity grew, as shown by his victory in the Punjab by elections, despite major rigging by the present government, as did the unease of the usurpers in the Parliament. From then on even the facade of a democracy seems to be slipping off the faces of the powers that be. Pakistan is currently under a completely fascist government, with democratic and civic rights of free speech, the access to information suspended.
Journalists who dare to support PTI are unlawfully abducted, charged with fake crimes, or threatened with death. Some renowned journalists have had to go into self exile, while those that stuck around were arrested, or even unlawfully detained. Imran Riaz Khan spent several days in jail with fake cases lodged against him. Ayaz Amir, after a talk that he gave criticizing the status quo, was dragged outside his car and beaten up. The most recent one being Jameel Farooqui who was abducted in Karachi, beaten up, assaulted sexually and then forcefully taken to Islamabad.
Dr Shahbaz Gill, Imran Khan’s chief of staff has been arrested over a false claim that he incited mutiny within the military. He has been brutally tortured, disrobed and beaten and also sexually assaulted. His physical remand had ended, he had gone into judicial remand only to be returned to physical detainment after a brief stay at the hospital. The judges who granted this were aware that Dr Gill, a PhD, a Professor at the Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, was being brutally tortured during his captivity. Dr Gill’s driver was also beaten up during his arrest and his assistant’s wife and 10 month old daughter were arrested, the lady mentally tortured throughout the night by telling her that she would never see her toddler again. The mother and child were imprisoned separately. All of this to instill fear in the population, so that nobody dares to speak out against the powers that be.
Ary, a news channel that questions and criticizes the ruling elite has been taken off air, despite a court ruling that stated that such an action is unlawful. The next one on the hit list is BOL.
Following another massive victory of Imran Khan ‘s PTI in a Karachi by-election, the imported government has seen an even further decline of their popularity. They know that there is no way that they can take on Khan in a fair election. So the focus has now shifted on removing him and getting him declared unfit, hence disqualified for life.
The Supreme Court of Pakistan had ruled that baseless terrorism charges not be filed against anyone. Yet, Khan is being cited for treason and terrorism completely falsely and baselessly. A highly compromised election commission has created a completely fake case of prohibited funding on PTI, calling overseas Pakistani donors to the party, foreigners.
Pakistanis from all over rushed to Bani Gala, surrounding Khan House when it became known that the Islamabad police was being sent to arrest Imran Khan on a list of baseless charges. As of now, the court has given him a three day bail but our fight isn’t over. All cable tv channels have been banned from televising Imran Khan’s speeches. YouTube was blocked all over Pakistan during his speeches. The idea is to silence his voice, but we are Imran Khan’s voice, the massive power shows that are each of his political gatherings and rallies are indicative of Khan’s popularity, that is on the rise.
Imran Khan’s fight is the fight for Pakistan’s true independence and sovereignty, his ideology Haqeeqi Azadi, and we are his warriors. Whether we are overseas or we are in Pakistan, we will continue to raise our voices and we will continue to fight. The question is, is the world watching these massive crimes against humanity, against democracy in Pakistan or are we alone in this war?
Today was a rough day. After a beautiful vacation visiting family, my first day home started off with stomach issues and pain and fatigue that was beyond what I could handle. Had to spend most of the day in bed. Didn’t get much done; and it wasn’t for a lack of trying.
My Thoughts and Ramblings 