Pakistan descends into absolute fascism as Imran Khan kidnapped from court premises

Developing Just Leadership

Crescent International

Shawwal 19, 1444 2023-05-09

Daily News Analysis

by Crescent International

LATEST NEWS ABOUT CRISIS IN PAKISTAN - 10:15 Toronto time May 11, 2023

Supreme Court of Pakistan declares former Prime Minister Imran Khan's arrest illegal but says he must stay in Police Lines Guest House under the court's "supervision"! He was ordered to appear before the Islamabad High Court on Friday May 12.

• The Supreme Court of Pakistan declared former Prime Minister Imran Khan's arrest from court premises inIslamabad illegal and ordered his immediate release. The verdict was delivered by a three-member bench headed by the Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Ali Mazhar.
• This is a major victory for the rule of law in Pakistan. It is not clear how the gangsters ruling Pakistan today will react but it is a slap in the face of the Islamabad High Court justice Aamir Farooq who had declared Imran Khan's arrest 'legal'.
• Aamir Farooq was bought by Nawaz Sharif in December 2022 and asked to find a way to remove Imran Khan out of the political arena and help dismiss the charges of corruption against Nawaz Sharif and his family.
• It is revealing that on May 10, 2023, the National Accountability Bureau dismissed corruption charges against Shehbaz Sharif, his son Hamza Shehbaz and Maryam Safdar, Nawaz Sharif's daughter in the Rs 7 billion money laundering case.

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May 10, 2023

• Imran Khan was not presented in the Islamabad High Court today. Instead, Police Lines building was converted into a make-shift court. Initially, Imran Khan's lawyers were also not allowed to meet him. Later, three lawyers were allowed to discuss the case with him inside the make-shift courtroom in Police Lines where Accountability Court Judge, Muhammad Bashir presided.
• It is revealing that despite repeated pleas by Imran Khan that he be allowed to appear before the Islamabad High Court via a video link on May 9 because there was a threat to his life, this request was denied. Yet, when it suited the authorities fearing the strong reaction of the masses, even a Police Lines building was converted into a make-shift courtroom. This is a mockery of justice in Pakistan.
• Asad Umar, a senior leader of the PTI was arrested today and charged with violating Section 144 as well as committing 'treason'. Other PTI leaders have also been arrested including former Punjab Government Umar Sarfaraz Cheema who was abducted from his house by plainclothes men without identifying themselves as to what agency they belonged to.
• Multiple sources within the army have reported that commanders have refused to order troops to shoot at civilians despite orders from the army chief.
• Imran Khan was moved from NAB headquarters to ISI facilities on the night of May 9. This is illegal. The ISI has no authority to arrest or hold anyone but lawlessness reigns supreme in Pakistan today.
• Imran Khan said in court today that he was locked up in a filthy room with no bed, mattress or pillow, only a floor mat. He was not even allowed to use the washroom for 24 hours. He asked that his own doctor, Dr Faisal Sultan be allowed to examine him. He has been suffering from high fever for several days but he has been denied food as well as medication.
• Rangers, a paramilitary force under the command of the army, were used to kidnap Imran Khan from inside the Court premises. This was a completely illegal act.
• Latest reports say that at least 45 persons have been shot and killed by police and Rangers firing in various parts of Pakistan in protest over Imran Khan's arrest.
• While the main news channels have reported Imran Khan's arrest, they are peddling regime/army propaganda that Imran Khan's arrest was 'legal'.
• The Internet has been blocked in order to prevent real information from getting out via social media. People are using VPN to get access to news as well as transmit news about the latest developments.
• People protesting Imran Khan's illegal arrest should refrain from destroying property or setting fire to buildings and vehicles even if these belong to the army or police. These are state assets. Instead, the masses should go after people like Asim Munir, Nadeem Anjum and Faisal Naseer and arrest them to be put on trial for violation of the constitution and treason. That would be a more worthwhile pursuit.
• There are reports that people involved in attacks on military houses and properties were agents provocateurs belonging to PML-N in order to discredit PTI supporters. It is interesting to note that the palatial homes of Shehbaz Sharif, or former prime minister Nawaz Sharif's vast complex at Jati Umra have not been attacked. Would it not make more sense for people to attack those because the Sharif gang are the main criminals who have plundered state resources.

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Following the Rangers’ kidnapping of former Pakistani prime minister and chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e Insaf, Imran Khan from the premises of the Islamabad High Court on May 8, protests have erupted throughout the country.

In Islamabad, protesters gathered outside ISI premises in Aabpara.

There was intense firing from inside the building that injured several people.

When the army starts to shoot and kill its own people, consider that the end of the country.

In Lahore, people stormed the Corps Commander’s house and set fire to parts of the building.

People were so enraged that they even smashed window panes and furniture.

When a television reporter asked one person, why PTI supporters were indulging in such behaviour, he corrected the reporter by saying that neither he nor his friends were PTI supporters.

They had come out to defend their rights and secure the future of their children.

Developments are occurring on multiple fronts.

Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah's house in Faisalabad was also attacked.

Police resorted to tear gas shelling targeting the people.

There is drama underway in Islamabad High Court where the Chief Justice Aamir Farooq has taken strong exception to the Rangers’ assault inside the court premises.

He also demanded to know how they could smash court property and attack lawyers inside the court.

Even by the lawless standards of Pakistan, this is a new low.

Imran Khan’s lawyer Barrister Ali Gohar Khan told media persons that Rangers had tortured the party chairman during the kidnapping operation.

“Imran Khan was hit on the head and his injured leg,” he told the media.

“Rangers broke through the glass and entered the diary branch,” Barrister Gohar Ali Khan added, saying Rangers broke the High Court’s main gate before ransacking its office.

The wheelchair the former prime minister was using because of his leg injury, was also smashed.

Early last October, Imran Khan was shot and badly injured as he led a rally in Wazirabad, in central Punjab.

Three bullets hit him causing serious injury to his right leg, but he miraculously survived.

A number of party officials were also injured while one person, a body guard, was killed.

He has been unable to walk and is forced to use a wheelchair to get around ever since.

After his kidnapping, Imran Khan was taken by Rangers to an unknown location in Rawalpindi.

There are grave fears for his well-being because the kidnapping operation has been carried out on the orders of the army.

Three people in particular are involved: the current army chief, Lt General Asim Munir, DG-ISI Nadeem Anjum and DG-ISI Counter-Intelligence Faisal Naseer.

Without any constitutional authority, the army continues to make or break governments, determine state policy and enter into agreements with other countries.

The army as an institution has become a state unto itself, accountable to nobody.

Corruption is rampant. The generals have become billionaires.

It kidnaps people considered troublesome. Others are killed.

Journalist Arshad Sharif was hounded out of Pakistan and then murdered in Kenya.

Following the October 2022 assassination attempt on Imran Khan, when he tried to lodge a case against Shahbaz Sharif, Rana Sanaullah and Faisal Naseer, the police refused to register the First Information Report (FIR).

When a former prime minister cannot register a case against people that he suspects are involved in the murder attempt against him, what chance does an ordinary person have?

The same lawlessness was evident on the premises of the Islamabad High Court today (May 9).

The Rangers used pepper spray on lawyers and beat them with clubs and rifle butts.

Barrister Ali Gohar Khan was also hit and sustained injuries inside the court premises.

Videos on the Internet show Rangers smashing glass windows before entering the biometrics room at the Islamabad High Court.

Rana Sanaullah, interior minister in the illegitimate regime imposed by the army on Pakistan, lied when he claimed that Imran Khan was not tortured.

If he knew enough English, he might have said, the PTI chief was subjected to “enhanced interrogation techniques,” quoting the infamous words of Donald Rumsfeld.

“Imran Khan did not ensure his appearance despite several notices. NAB [National Accountability Bureau] arrested him for causing damage to the national treasury,” the gangster from Faisalabad said.

The prostitutes of Heera Mandi would probably have greater claim to morality than Rana Sanaullah’s claims to truth.

He faces a number of murder charges including the murder of 14 people in Model Town shooting in 2014.

The imposed prime minister Shahbaz Sharif is also charged with the murder of those 14 innocent people.

Yet in Pakistan, they occupy two top positions in the army-installed regime.

PTI leaders have reacted angrily to Imran Khan’s arrest and called on the people to come out in the streets to protest.

Protest rallies have erupted in several cities including Lahore, Islamabad, Peshawar and Karachi.

In Islamabad, the police have imposed Section 144, a colonial era policy that prohibits gathering of more than four persons.

It appears clear that the army is determined to go to any limits to eliminate Imran Khan because he enjoys widespread support among the people.

He has vowed to go after those people that have plundered the country’s wealth and committed treason, once he returns to power.

The generals are terrified of this prospect so they want to eliminate the one person who might have a remote chance of getting the country out of its current dire economic and political crises.

The generals want to protect their thick hides.

To hell with the country, as far as they are concerned.

For this, they are prepared to enter into a deal with the devil (or devils), as they have done in coopting the likes of Nawaz Sharif, Shahbaz Sharif, Rana Sanuallah and Asif Ali Zardari.