Removing political leaders from the scene through dubious trial especially when they are popular among the masses, has become a shameful tradition in Pakistan. Khan and Qureshi have been tried inside a prison in the cipher case setting a precedent of sorts.

For it is the first time in Pakistan’s history when a prime minister has been tried and convicted for the disclosure of official secret. Khan is alleged to have flaunted a classified cable sent by Pakistani ambassador in Washington during a public rally in 2022.

Khan had claimed that the cable is proof of the US conspiracy to push the army to remove him in the 2022 elections. But he denied making the contents of the cable public and stated that the media got the document from other sources.

Apparently unaware that he was transgressing the Official Secrets Act, one is left in no doubt that the then prime minister was concocting a case that his government was being ousted through an external conspiracy. Imran was removed by a vote of confidence but his waving the document in a political rally turned out to be an act of shooting himself on the foot.

Public sentiment was whipped up thereafter. It got accentuated and its fallout was his face off with the military which had once propped him to power. If one cannot justify such irresponsible action on the part of a prime minister then charging him under the Official Secrets Act seems to be a motive of retribution. Allegations of mistrial were reinforced by court proceedings being conducted inside the prison.

This was his second conviction, the first one being in the Toshakhana case and its sentence being delivered before the election makes the entire process murkier. His first conviction which slapped a three years prison term barred him from standing in the elections.

A crackdown followed on Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf,(PTI), the political outfit floated by Khan. In so many words, it was meant to keep one of the biggest political outfits out of the electoral race. The PTI was stripped of its electoral symbol, a cricket bat. The country's apex court upholding this decision markedly upset the PTI's electoral prospects.

But PTI is far from being a spent force. Its popularity especially among the young remains high while two of its top leaders being put behind the bars almost on the eve of the elections can very well stir its supporters to come out in larger numbers and exercise their franchise in protest against their leaders incarceration.

Accustomed to its role of a king maker, the army would be at a loss to deal with the emerging situation Sifting through the past, such measures to isolate a popular leader are not known to succeed but have the effect of mobilizing activists into action.

The situation would never be to the liking of the army. For it threatens to implode the set up the generals aim to put in place with the established political outfits willing to do its bidding. The society and the country are sharply polarised following the arrest and slapping of sentences on popular leaders. If anarchy descends on the country, the generals would lose the modicum of credibility they had for ensuring public order.

A volatile atmosphere prevails in Pakistan now following the sentences slapped on Imran Khan and repression of his supporters. The army has to make haste slowly if at all in this situation where the people have become almost indifferent to the sight of armed men in uniform whose martial deeds have not been anything worth writing home about since the creation of Pakistan.

All focus is on the Army Chief Asim Munir who has taken a big risk in repeating the earlier example of propping a Prime Minister of his choice and back that party to win elections. This time that candidate is Nawaj Sharif and not any PTI candidate of Imran’s party. In sum, the Pakistan politics remains the victim of the same army control with the PM position switching from one party to other as per army choice.

If one rubbishes the army intention to take over, it is clear that it does not intend to hand over power to civilian authority either But the fact remains that a civilian government coming to power through a dubious election is unlikely to govern well placing Pakistan between a rock and a hard place. (IPA Service)