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Why attempts to silence Imran Khan could backfire on Pakistan army
- The ousted prime minister, who has drawn tens of thousands of people to rallies in which he rails against the powerful military, faces arrest on terror charges
- Experts say the army establishment’s bid to boot Khan out of politics could further fuel public backlash and fire up his support base
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Pakistan’s military-backed establishment faces a dilemma: The more they seek to boot Imran Khan out of politics, the greater the risk he becomes even more popular.
Since his ouster in a no-confidence vote in April, Khan has sought to rally his supporters in the world’s fifth-most populous country to hit the streets and push for a fresh national vote. The campaign has been paying off lately, with Khan’s party winning key by-elections.
The former cricket star has also drawn tens of thousands of people to rallies in which he rails against Pakistan’s military, which has ruled the country for about half of its history and retains outsize influence over elected governments. Over the weekend, Khan gave a fiery speech in the capital Islamabad lashing out at senior police officials and a judge who were involved in the arrest of one of his aides.
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He now faces possible arrest over a police complaint related to the speech filed under the country’s anti-terrorism law, while a court separately ordered Khan to appear before it next week as it mulls possible contempt of court charges for comments deemed to threaten judicial officials. The government is also looking at ways it can ban his party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, from national elections that must be held by late next year.
But a strategy of trying to silence Khan, 69, could easily backfire. On the streets, he has tapped into deep public resentment over a broken economy and a political system beholden to dynasties and unelected power brokers.
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