Why are Imran Khan’s supporters angry with Pakistan’s military?

World
By William

Islamabad, Pakistan – A 34-second video, shot in Pakistan’s eastern city of Lahore on May 9, begins with a group of people, including women, entering a mansion.

They wave sticks, chant slogans and carry flags of Pakistan’s Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party led by former Prime Minister Imran Khan.

The man making the video says, “People have broken through the gates and have now entered the chief constable’s residence,” referring to a senior military officer.

He then walks up to a soldier standing on a corner of an expansive lawn, watching the crowd enter the compound, and tells him, “Sir, we told you not to touch Imran Khan.”

The mansion was not only the residence of a top military general in Lahore, it also had historical significance. Named Jinnah House after the country’s founder, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, part of the imposing building was later set on fire by the protesters.

The video, which went viral on Pakistani social media, was recorded shortly after Khan was arrested by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) at a court in the capital Islamabad on corruption charges.

The dramatic arrest shocked the nation, with Khan’s supporters taking to the streets demanding his immediate release.

Dozens of similar videos showed the protesters in several cities targeting installations and buildings of the powerful Pakistani army.

A video shot in the garrison town of Rawalpindi — home to the headquarters of the Pakistani army — showed a woman protesting at the entrance to the fortified complex and rattling the gate to open it as two other women surrounded her.

Another video showed hundreds of people carrying PTI flags and party scarves descending the same gate, attempting to climb it and beating it with truncheons. Before long they entered the compound, chanting ‘God is great’ and demanding Khan’s release.

On Thursday, the country’s Supreme Court ruled that Khan had been illegally arrested and ordered his immediate release. The 70-year-old opposition leader is expected to appear before the Supreme Court in Islamabad on Friday, where he has challenged his arrest.

Imran Khan against the army

The Pakistani military has staged three coups since the country was founded in 1947. It has ruled the country directly for more than three decades and has enormous influence in domestic politics.

When Khan’s PTI won the national elections in 2018, political opponents and observers attributed the historic victory to the support of the powerful military, with some even accusing the military of rigging the polls.

During his tenure as prime minister between 2018 and 2022, Khan often admonished how he was on “one page” with the military, indicating his close association with the military’s top ranks.

But tensions arose between Khan and the military over foreign policy issues, in which Khan’s government wanted more say. The escalating tensions led to his removal in 2022, which Khan said was orchestrated by the military.

“Imran Khan has always said that Pakistan needs a strong army during his rule. This is the most important thing for the country and we thought they understood it. But when the vote of no confidence happened, it was shocking. I never thought the situation would come to this,” Abdul Aziz, a 35-year-old resident of Lahore, told Al Jazeera.

Commuters drive past a burnt-out vehicle in Lahore [Arif Ali/AFP]

Since April 2022, Khan has been holding rallies across the country to demand an early election, which is due to take place in October this year. During the campaign last November, an assassination attempt was made against him. Khan accused the government and some army officers of plotting to kill him.

Khan’s supporters say his dramatic arrest on Tuesday was also orchestrated by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government at the behest of the army.

“Until the army supported the constitution and assisted our leader, we always supported the army. We thought they knew what was right or wrong. But when we saw the army go against Khan and his ideology and try to suppress our voices, I knew I couldn’t be with them,” said Abdullah Afridi, a 30-year-old resident of Khyber district in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Al Jazeera.

Supporters of Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan block a road in protest against the arrest of their leader, in Peshawar, Pakistan
Khan’s supporters block a road outside a military quarter in Peshawar [File: Muhammad Sajjad/AP]

‘Our red line is Imran Khan’

Aziz said he was part of the group of protesters who stormed the military commander’s residence in Lahore on Tuesday.

“Our red line is Imran Khan and when you see so much cruelty happened to him and the way he was kidnapped, there has to be a line. There is a boiling point, everything has a limit, and if you move on, things explode and you can’t do anything,” he told Al Jazeera.

While Aziz denied being part of the mob that destroyed the residence, he admitted that passions were running high and it was difficult to control them.

He also claimed that many “unknown elements” in the crowd had entered the residence and “incited and provoked” the protesters to attack.

“We have always conducted our protests calmly and peacefully. But when you suppress someone to a point of no return, people eventually retaliate and break the shackles. When a crowd is agitated, it becomes difficult to control them,” he said.

Afridi, who runs a real estate company in Khyber, told Al Jazeera he had protested in front of the Bala Hisar Fort in Peshawar, which is controlled by a Pakistani army paramilitary unit.

“You can say our protest is wrong or considered illegal, but why isn’t anyone asking the military what they did?” he said.

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