Will Imran Khan Actually be Assassinated? Why Pakistan 'Is On Fire' | EXPLAINED

Supporters of former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan clashed repeatedly with police overnight as he remained holed up in his Lahore residence early Wednesday, defying attempts to arrest him. Khan was ousted from office by a no-confidence vote last year, and has been snarled in a series of legal cases as he campaigns for early elections and a return to office. Read more

Police fought pitched battles with supporters of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party near his Zaman Park residence throughout the night, firing fusillades of teargas and dodging rocks thrown by angry crowds. Khan issued a video shortly before dawn, sitting in front of Pakistan and PTI flags at a desk decorated with spent teargas canisters.

“I am telling the entire nation today that they are ready once again, they’re going to come again. They will teargas our people and do other such things, but you should know that they have no justification to do so.”

What Has Prompted Police to Arrest Imran Khan?

It is the second time in recent weeks that police have been sent from the capital Islamabad to Khan’s home in the eastern city of Lahore to serve an arrest warrant after he skipped several court dates linked to a corruption case citing security concerns.

“We are here basically to execute the warrants and to arrest him,” Syed Shahzad Nadeem Bukhari, deputy inspector general of Islamabad police, told reporters Tuesday outside Khan’s residence.

Officers were met by hundreds of Khan supporters, some wielding sticks and hurling stones, draped in the red-and-green PTI flags. Police fired a water cannon and tear gas on the crowds as they attempted to clear a path to Khan’s house, holding signs plastered with the arrest warrant for the 70-year-old opposition leader. PTI deputy leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi told reporters on Tuesday that “we want to be peaceful”. Qureshi insisted police should deliver the arrest warrant to him and said he would “try to find a solution to avoid bloodshed”.

What is the Corruption Case Against Him?

Khan has been summoned to court to answer accusations he did not declare gifts received during his time as prime minister, or the profit made from selling them.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief has been in the crosshairs for buying gifts, including an expensive Graff wristwatch he had received as the premier at a discounted price from the state depository called Toshakhana and selling them for profit.

As per a report by Indian Express, the Toshakhana controversy resurfaced in August 2022, when the coalition government, led by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), filed a case against Imran, alleging that he failed to disclose information on gifts given to Toshakhana as well as the proceeds from the “illegal” sale of some of the gifts.

Toshakhana is a department under the administrative jurisdiction of the Cabinet Division that preserves presents and other expensive objects received by public authorities, the report explains. It was established in 1974 and is mandatory for officials to declare gifts and other such materials received to the Cabinet Division, according to its rules, it adds.

However, when Imran came to power in 2018, he refused to reveal details of the numerous gifts he received throughout his tenure, claiming that doing so would jeopardise relations with other countries, the report says.

Following that, the former prime minister issued a letter to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) admitting to selling at least four such gifts but also claiming to have purchased them from the government for a percentage of their value. The Saudi crown prince had given him a Graff watch, as well as Rolex watches, exquisite cufflinks, a rare pen, and a ring.

Assassination Fears

The former premier has avoided appearances before the court since November, when he was wounded in a gun attack at a protest rally in the eastern Punjab province, claiming he was not medically fit to travel from Lahore to Islamabad to face indictment.

Last week, he went to Islamabad to appear before three courts, but he failed to appear before the fourth court to face indictment in the graft case, which is a legal process for starting his trial.

Khan has claimed that the string of cases against him, which includes terrorism charges, are a plot by the government of his successor, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, to discredit the former cricket star turned Islamist politician.

Khan has repeatedly claimed “they” (an indirect reference to the establishment) wanted to kill him while on the way to his court appearance. “They have made yet another plan to kill me during a court appearance,” he has alleged.

Imran Khan has also made references to the slaying of a Pakistan anti-terrorism court judge, his wife and two children. The family was killed after unidentified gunmen opened fire at his vehicle in Swabi district of Islamabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, reports said.

Khan also named “Dirty Harry’, a reference to a top ISI officer, for brutal torture of his party leaders and social media activists. “Dirty Harry is a psychopath. He is a sick man. There is a threat to my life from such people,” he said.

As per reports, Khan’s ‘Dirty Harry’ reference is for ISI director-general Nadeem Anjum. The term comes from a 1970s classic criminal thriller film about a San Francisco police investigator, “Dirty Harry Callahan,” who takes vengeance into his own hands while understanding his legal responsibilities.

Callahan is seen as a renegade member of the police force and is frequently at clashes with his superiors, who object to his methods. According to the protagonist, he is known as Dirty Harry because he is given “any nasty assignment that comes along.”

Political violence has a long history in Pakistan. The former prime minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in December 2007 in a gun and bomb attack after holding an electoral rally in the city of Rawalpindi, near to Islamabad.

Khan’s newest challenge came when Pakistan’s electoral commission barred him from holding public office for five years for in the Toshankhana case. However, Khan had filed a legal challenge to his disqualification. In May, he had claimed that his life was in danger and that he had produced a video in which he named everyone who had conspired against him.

AFP, Associated Press contributed to this report

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