On 9 May 2023, former Pakistani Prime Minister and politician Imran Khan was arrested from inside the High Court in Islamabad by National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on the charges of corruption in connection with the Al-Qadir Trust, which he owns alongside his wife, Bushra Bibi. Following Khan’s arrest, his party called for demonstrations.
In Rawalpindi and Islamabad, violent confrontations between the police and PTI supporters were witnessed followed by a crackdown on party supporters. In Rawalpindi, sensitive installations, including GHQ and Hamza Camp (Ojhri Camp), were targeted by the PTI supporters. Two police officials –Waris Khan DSP Tahir Sikandar and Ratta Amral SHO Chaudhry Riaz were also injured in an altercation with the PTI workers. The metro bus service was also suspended between the two cities.
In Lahore, the PTI workers gathered at Liberty Chowk and started marching towards the Cantonment. The announcements were made on social media sites to reach the Cantonment to protest outside the military corps commander’s house. In footage circulating on different social media platforms, the PTI workers carrying clubs and party flags reached the corps commander’s house in the Cantonment area. The protestors forced their way into the house while chanting slogans against the arrest of their chairman. They were also seen breaking the windowpanes, TV, and furniture of the house and also setting the trees and furniture on fire.
In another video, the PTI activists could also be seen pelting stones and bottles at an army convoy on Mall Road. The workers also set police vehicles outside Fortress Stadium Lahore on fire in addition to several security posts in the Cantt.
In Karachi, hundreds of PTI workers took to the street in different parts of the province against the arrest of party chairman Imran Khan prompting action from the police resulting in the arrest of Ali Zaidi, a couple of MPAs, and dozens of opposition party workers.
Sharea Faisal turned into a battleground hardly an hour after the arrest of Mr Khan when PTI Karachi chapter president Aftab Siddiqi urged the workers to reach Insaf House – the party headquarters. As the workers marched on Sharea Faisal suspending traffic on the key road link, the police resorted to baton-charge and teargas shelling which attracted a strong reaction from the protests. In a three-hour-long face-off between police and the protesters, over a dozen vehicles, including a police van, and two check posts each of the Karachi police and Pakistan Rangers were set on fire.
In KP, after learning about the arrest of the PTI chief, scores of the opposition party’s workers reached the Hashtnagar Chowk in Peshawar blocking the Grand Trunk Road.
The protesters torched the replica of the Chaghi Mountain, where Pakistan conducted its first nuclear test in 1998. They also smashed the main gate of the provincial assembly’s building and threw stones inside the premises.
In Quetta, one person was killed and over a dozen injured, including six police personnel were injured in clashes between workers in clashes between the protesting PTI workers and police during a demonstration against the arrest of Imran Khan.
In Gilgit-Baltistan, protesters blocked many roads, including Karakoram Highway, at various points, leaving a number of travellers stranded.
The incidents were the result of motivated speeches and encouragement from Imran Khan and his party leadership. Speeches Imran Khan and Viral videos of PTI Leaders also proved the same.
Imran khan has pleased india in past as well on number of occasions. Once Pakistani Prime Minister of that time Imran Khan said he thinks there may be a better chance of peace talks with India if Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wins the general election due to begin there on Thursday. Khan said that if the next Indian government were led by the opposition Congress party, it might be too scared to seek a settlement with Pakistan over Kashmir, fearing a backlash from the right. “Perhaps if the BJP – a right-wing party – wins, some kind of settlement in Kashmir could be reached,” Khan told a small group of foreign journalists in an interview.
In his another address to the nation in April last year, Prime Minister Imran Khan lauded India’s independent foreign policy, saying that no superpower had the audacity to tell India to change its foreign policy. Despite pressure and sanctions on Russia, he said, India didn’t stop importing oil from Russia, because it felt that it was the best decision for its people. Expressing that he knew India better than other politicians, PM Imran regretted that Pakistan and India did not have good relations because of the latter’s “RSS ideology and what happened in Kashmir”.
Soon after the address, Indian media and social media users praised Imran Khan for his comments on India which attracted wide coverage The Hindustan Times highlighted that the premier called India a “‘khuddar qaum” or self-respecting nation. India Times ran the story with the headline that “Pakistan should learn self-pride from India, no superpower can dictate terms to Delhi: Imran Khan”. “No superpower can dictate terms to India: Pak PM Imran Khan”, read NDTV’s headline. Times Now wrote: “No superpower has guts to dictate India’s foreign policy, says Pakistan PM Imran Khan in his address to the nation”. While Zee News reported that PM Imran Khan got emotional during the address praising Indian foreign policy and saying — “honest country”.
Readers, In a talk show on an Indian Channel which was hosted by Tahir Aslam Gora, the guest speaker Major(Retd) Gaurav Arya said that If Pak Army will be strong then Pakistan will at least have one institution which will be stable. He said that Pak Army is not just a force, it’s actually a bond and a glue which has stitched Pakistan together and if you consider that that there is no Pak Army then what Pakistan have in reality. Apart of the army there is nothing. He said that there is only one credible institution inside Pakistan which is Pakistan Army. He said that it’s not just an army it’s a glue which has stitched Pakistani people together. He said that Pak Army is a ray of the hope for the people of Pakistan which always heard bad news. He said that if a person from Inside Pakistan is giving such damage to you without our interference than what else we need. He said that Imran Khan is a man of EGO and always thinks for himself and for him only he is everything. He appreciated that such a leader from Pakistan is actively working against Pakistan and we don’t have to spend a single penny for doing this.
Recently, I seen another talk show in which the guest also says that Imran Khan is good for India and we should not be against him. The incidents of May 9 have much pleased the India and their media as they say if Imran Khan is there then we don’t need to attack Pakistan. These things and notions should be noted by our Government, Law enforcement agencies and security authorities to look at the possibility of any foreign actors behind the incidents of May 9. Whole nation is anxiously waiting to see strict action against the planners and actors behind these incidents of terrorism.