It is distressing to have one’s hopes lifted only to be dashed. Thus is the case of the rise and fall of Imran Khan of Pakistan. He seems to have had the vision and a good heart to raise Pakistan out of its history of political corruption and manipulation. Yet it takes more than one leader to make such systemic changes in any state. The history and patterns, and people, all are aligned to the status quo, and even there are many state workers and politicians who wish for positive change, the patterns are very difficult to shift. This is not the task of a single person, or even a single administration. It takes concerted effort following a plan for years with the support of the people to achieve a new footing

We can follow the course that brought Pakistan to its current place of grift and neo-colonialism. There is wealth (for some) in grifting and selling oneself and one’s nation to the highest bidders. We can look at the United States where one political party has worked on achieving total control of all the levers of power so that the nation can be their banker. This has been the concerted effort of at least the last 50 years. It has been a corrupt pursuit constantly at odds with both the spirit and letter of the Constitution and law. Ironically, or maybe karmically, the Republicans have applied much of the CIA craft book on overthrowing other nations. Sadly, too many refused to see what was happening right before their eyes. I can surely sympathize with nations who have fallen to these same efforts, and the people who tried to believe the best of their leaders.

Whether Khan can survive his current troubles to again lead, hopefully with stronger plans for implementing necessary changes, or other leaders of vision and skill and capture the hearts of the people and create a government that truly serves the present and future of Pakistan.

Mahboob Khawaja, PhD

They want to Arrest Imran Khan and Destabilize the Country

Is Pakistani politics a game of deception, betrayal, and dishonesty to the national interest? Pakistan’s trajectory of current affairs unfolds a self-destructive political endemic and cynicism to grab power by any means – fair or foul – the current political governance of 10 parties has no legitimacy whatsoever to run the country. Its formation resulted from the military-assisted coup to oust Imran Khan, who had been popularly elected by the masses. Now Khan is the object of a neo-colonial scheme of evil mongering to arrest him under false pretexts and to block him by any means of coming back to political power. The scenes of police firing on the protesters are drawing headlines on global news screens. The ruling elite wants to utilize disruption and distraction to mask the real socio-economic and political problems. They are masters of deception, instigating violence and calamity in the nation. They have no sense of time and history and how the current chaotic and subversive action could take the country to the unknown horizon.

 Military-run Pakistan was always a source of internal conspiracies, coups, and socio-economic-political mismanagement. The Generals who planned and assisted Sharif-Bhutto’s alliance in March 2022 to oust Imran Khan via a bogus Assembly vote, knew well of the coming time of great upheaval and political disruption across the country enabling them to plan another military coup. The known thugs and indicted criminals wanted to arrest Khan or kill him, clearing the way to maintain their illegal powerhouse. Few Western powers have a vested interest to destabilize nuclear Pakistan and to move in to take over the controls of its nuclear arsenals via shadowy political manoeuvres. The same plan failed to materialize during the Afghan war. Despite the planned political subversion and violation of people’s right to hold peaceful gatherings and the threat of arrest, the high court has granted bail to Khan until Thursday to appear in court. The ruling elite views the power as transitory and tries to dislodge Khan and his Teherk-e-Insaf party as an emerging force of public consensus. It is a turbulent time for Pakistan to have false charges against a popular political leader. Is Pakistan fast becoming a Pandora’s box of political endemic of the few? 

Pakistani masses need safety and protection against great evils. Wherever the military comes into power, it destroys the culture of positive thinking, morals, and hopes for change.  A few months earlier, Imran Khan alleged an assassination attempt by the current “imported regime of the few” on his life while leading a Freedom March to Islamabad. Pakistani Masses continued to react against this evil act of subversion of people’s right to decide their own future in a democratic system. The Generals and their accomplices, Sharifs and Bhuttos, lack the legitimacy to govern the country. They are part of the problems, not solutions. Most have criminal records, no political integrity or honesty, and perhaps no other nation will embrace them as political figures. The planned political chaos is intended to drive the nation towards further catastrophic ends and imposition of martial law and the coming of an age of great uncertainty and beyond predicting no return to democracy.  

The Ruling Elite makes Pakistan a Neo-Colonial Satellite

Most dreadful tragedies have infallibly resulted in victimizing the masses.  Today, the nation is crippled with catastrophic events of political mismanagement, systematic corruption, insecurity, and socio-economic exploitation. They have incapacitated the country encouraging external enemies to walk in without any challenge. Pakistani ruling elite and the Generals are not open to reason and accountability. They cannot realize the imperatives of hopes and expectations of the new generation of educated and morally and intellectually competent people. The future belongs to the new generation of educated people, not to the naive and obsolete Generals. They view “power” and “Pakistan” as their own property. The authoritarian leaders played with their destiny and future without being questioned. They are the wrong people, with wrong thinking and doing the wrong things. If there was any fair system of accountability, some of the Generals and accomplice politicians could well have faced firing squads for their crimes against the nation. Pakistan has a history of five major military-led coups which ended up in the defeat and loss of East Pakistan. Are the Generals waiting for another mishap of formative history? Please see “British Colonialism and How India and Pakistan Lost Freedom.” Global Research and Uncommon Thought Journal: 1/01/22.

American foreign policymakers view the Pakistani politicians-Generals as beggars, bootlickers who will perform all kinds of superficial acts to please the Master – the one who calls them an ally when needed but will stab Pakistanis when they become a liability. Disillusioned and disconnected from its roots, Pakistan continues to move forward – not towards planned political change, normalcy, and progress – but towards tragic events fomenting planned deaths of the citizenry, destruction of the social, economic, and political infrastructures, incapacitated and broken lifelines and ultimately to become a battleground for mindless ethnic and regional divides and national collapse. Andrew Gavin Marshall Imperial Eye on Pakistan – Pakistan in Pieces, Part 1 (Global Research: 5/28/2011) states that “in December of 2000, the CIA released a report of global trends to the year 2015, which stated that by 2015:

“The war in Afghanistan is inherently related to the situation in Pakistan……….Pakistan will be more fractious, isolated, and dependent on international financial assistance.” It was noted that the US-led war in Afghanistan was ultimately aimed at denuclearization of Pakistan.”

Imran Khan Is Seen as a Person of Purpose and National Unity

Imran Khan was an elected leader and he remained in power for about four years.  He did not kill anybody nor robbed any banks and was keen to have legal accountability for the stolen wealth and killings by the Sharif brothers, Bhuttos, Zardari, and others. But political governance was infested with corrupt figures of the past.  He should have organized an independent tribunal to hold the monsters accountable but he flunked in this effort. Khan was unable to devise an Action Plan to reform a highly systematic culture of corruption. He needed people of new age education, intelligence and creative plans to work out innovative strategies for political change and reformation. That simply did not happen and he was hurriedly ousted by a political–military conspiracy. Imran Khan has the perception and vision for a new Pakistan but he would need people of the new and educated generation to plan for a new beginning. Imran Khan and his PTI supporters allege that a few Generals and Shahbaz Sharif were involved in his assassination plan.

At the edge of reason, Imran Khan should have recruited people of the new generation to foster change in the country. In 2019, this author offered Khan a logical plan for sustainable change (“Pakistan: How to change political culture of corruption and rebuild the future.” Media Monitors Network, USA, 2019). Most of his associates were feudal lords, uneducated and former loyalists of the current political opposition parties. None of them had any knowledge or experience in critical thinking, strategic planning, and change or future-making profile. Why did Khan waste almost four years in the fantasy of New Pakistan and fail to live up to his imagination? He was supposed to have a Plan for Change. Pakistani political culture has its psychology of self-interest and trading in their individualistic interest in exchange for the national interest. Pakistan’s system of law and justice is futile and questionable as most verdicts are influenced by political motivation. If the Constitution was a reference point, the Supreme Court, according to clause 6, should have stayed out of this political chaos and not interfered and ask the politicians to work out political remedies within the National Assembly. Not, so, perhaps dictates came from above and many powerful establishments to oust Imran Khan. He should have stopped the blame game and faced the ‘no confidence vote’ with leadership courage. Will Khan learn from the failure of his mission, ideals, and expectations and lead a movement for rational and sustainable political change in Pakistan? Will he make a navigational change to ensure a true system of law and justice in the country? Will he evolve a fair and honest Assembly of people representing the nation? 

Pakistan needs a New Constitution, New public institutions of integrity, a New System of Political Governance and educated and honest leaders who could lead the country out of its current mismanagement and corrupted system of governance. The Need is urgent for the Pakistani nation to think critically and see the Mirror and stand firm in raising voices of reason for accountability, justice, and political change. The people must ponder past misconceptions and errors of judgment to bring 21st-century’s educated, proactive, and intelligent young people into political leadership roles and to safeguard the national interest, freedom of the nation, and its future.

Dr. Mahboob A. Khawaja specializes in international affairs-global security, peace and conflict resolution with keen interests in Islamic-Western comparative cultures and civilizations, and is the author of several publications including the latest: One Humanity and the Remaking of Global Peace, Security and Conflict Resolution. Germany, 12/2019.

Tags: Imran Khan
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Posted March 16, 2023 by Rowan Wolf in category “Mahboob A. Khawaja, Ph.D.“, “Pakistan

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They want to Arrest Imran Khan and Destabilize the Country

Is Pakistani politics is a game of deception, betrayal and dishonesty to the national interest? Pakistan’s trajectory of current affairs unfolds a self-destructive political endemic and cynicism to grab power by any means – fair or foul – the current political governance of 10 parties have no legitimacy whatsoever to run the country. Its formation resulted from the military assisted coup to oust Imran Khan, popularly elected by the masses. Now Khan is the object of a neo-colonial scheme of evil mongering to arrest him under false pretexts and to block him by any means to coming back to political power. The scenes of police firing on the protesters are drawing headlines on global news screens. The ruling elite wants to excel disruption and distraction from the real socio-economic and political problems. They are masters of deception instigating violence and calamity to the nation. They have no sense of time and history how the current chaotic and subversive action could take the country to the unknown horizon. 

The military run Pakistan was always a source of internal conspiracies, coups and socio-economic-political mismanagement. The Generals who planned and assisted Sharif-Bhutto’s alliance in March 2022 to oust Imran Khan via a bogus Assembly vote, knew well of the coming time of great upheavals and political disruption across the country enabling them to think of another military coup. The known thugs and indicted criminals wanted to arrest Khan or to kill him, clearing the way to maintain their illegal powerhouse. Few Western powers have vested interest to destabilize nuclear Pakistan and to move-in to take over the controls of its nuclear arsenals via shadowy political manoeuvres. The same plan failed to materialize during the Afghan war. Despite the planned political subversion and violation of people’s right to hold peaceful gatherings and threat of arrest, the high court has granted bail to Khan until Thursday to appear in court. The ruling elite views the power as transitory and trying to dislodge Khan and his Teherk-e-Insaf party as an emerging force of public consensus. It is a turbulent time for Pakistan to have false charges against a popular political leader. Is Pakistan fast becoming a Pandora box of political endemic of the few?