I saw an interesting video today on youtube just now, which was a discussion between Adeel Habib, a Pakistani businessman settled in Canada, who owns the website siasat.pk and Ali Zai. They both believe that the PTI leadership outside jail are compromised, and have been largely won over by the Pakistan Establishment. In fact, according to them, the precondition for a PTI leader to be out of jail is to betray Imran Khan, and become hand in glove with the Establishment.
I have also seen several videos in which eminent Pakistanis like Akbar Ahmed, Pervez Hoodbhoy, Husain Haqqani, Hafiz Saad, Ayesha Siddiqa, etc and eminent Pakisani journalists like Moeed Pirzada, Hamid Mir, Hassan Nisar, Imran Riaz Khan, Meher Bukhari, Sami Ibrahim, Ayaz Amir, Matiullah Jan, Shahzeb Khanzada, Maria Memon, Sabir Shakir, etc have tried to explain what is happening in Pakistan.
I regret to say that they all have a totally superficial understanding, which means no understanding at all about what is going on in Pakistan. So let me explain.
Soon after it was created in 1947, Pakistan became an American semi-colony. The US Government wanted it as a bulwark against the Soviet Union and communism in the Cold War, and the Pakistanis wanted ‘aid’, which meant a huge amount of money and weapons from the USA.
The Pakistani generals ( the real rulers of Pakistan ), the civilian government leaders, and the Pakistani senior bureaucrats, were won over by the Americans, by various means, e.g. giving the former’s children or close relatives highly paid jobs in the World Bank, the IMF, or in some multi-national corporation, or giving them admission with full scholarship in some Ivy League University, like Harvard, Yale, Cornell, Columbia, Berkeley or Stanford, etc. Also, they were allowed to have a cut in the huge amount of aid which the Americans were giving, which they stacked in secret foreign havens. So the Pakistan government loyally obeyed the orders it received from Washington DC. A political leader who wanted to shift away from the USA, like Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, was eliminated.
However, the situation has changed with the emergence of China as a super power in the world. Now China has penetrated deeply into the Pakistan economy, and the US government must be very worried that the Chinese may soon penetrate into the political echelons of power in Pakistan too, which though still under US grip till today, may not so remain if the Chinese presence in Pakistan keeps expanding.
To understand developments in Pakistan, one must understand that there are two big alliances in the world today, which are hostile to each other (1) the US-Europe alliance, and (2) the China-Russia alliance. What is happening in Pakistan is a relection of the hostility between these two alliances.
Pakistan was till now firmly in the US grip, but now China too, which has become a super power is trying to muscle in, and it has used politicians like Imran Khan for this purpose..
https://justicekatju.com/pakthe-truth-about-developments-in-pakistan-3e2f9114b246
Imran Khan, after becoming Prime Minister strongly antagonised America, by shifting Pakistan away from the US and towards the China-Russia alliance. He has repeatedly spoken against the USA, and said that the US govt made the Pakistan Government ( of Gen Pervez Musharraf ) send troops into Afghanistan after the event of 9/11, which resulted in the death of 70,000 Pakistani soldiers, with no benefit to Pakistan. He also said ” Our relationship with the US has been a master-servant relationship, or a master-slave relationship, and we’ve been used like a hired gun.
All this must have infuriated, estranged, and alienated the American government, which determined to oust Imran Khan from the Prime Minister’s post ( just as they decided to oust Bhutto ).
In April 2022, the world watched as Prime Minister Imran Khan was dethroned, arrested, and later confined to a cramped, bleak cell, allegedly at the instance of the US Government. Today, nearly 180 criminal charges loom over him, each designed to ensure he never regains freedom.
But what are Khan’s offenses? On the surface, he is accused of minor misdemeanors, from not fully paying for toshakhana gifts to alleged cypher crimes.
However, the real reasons for his incarceration in Adiala jail are rooted in his shift away from the US.
Here are his so-called ‘crimes’:
- Opposition to US Invasion of Afghanistan (Post-9/11): After the horrific 9/11 attack, President Bush prepared to invade Afghanistan and demanded global allegiance, announcing, “Those not with us, are against us.” Pakistan’s ruler at the time, Gen Musharraf, sided with the US, despite Pakistan’s close ties to Afghanistan. Khan denounced this alliance, highlighting the loss of 70,000 Pakistani lives and an economic setback of $150 billion. His claim was that the partnership was formed not for public interest but for financial gains.
- Refusal to Partner with the US: Khan firmly declared that Pakistan would never again join the US in warfare, chastising past decisions to engage in US-led conflicts.
- Opposition to US Military Bases in Pakistan: Khan stoutly resisted any US military presence within Pakistan, fearing it would lead to retaliatory attacks.
- Seeking Oil Deals with Russia: Amidst the Ukraine conflict, Khan went to Moscow and met President Putin for oil deals. This antagonised the US.
- Resistance to US Aid: Khan has long been a critic of US aid, feeling it compromises national sovereignty
- Allegations of a US Conspiracy: Khan has voiced his suspicions about a US-led plot that led to his ousting in 2022.
These actions have made Khan a thorn in the side of the US government, and by extension, the Pakistan army, which has historically kowtowed to US interests. As mentioned above, high-ranking Pakistani army officers enjoy direct or indirect benefits from the US, be it lucrative jobs for their children in America, or scholarships to prestigious institutions, or direct bribe in the form of a cut in defence deals.
Khan’s defiance towards the US, in essence, is the ‘crime’ that has seen him imprisoned in Adiala jail under grim conditions, and one cannot help but wonder whether he will meet the same a fate as ZA Bhutto.
This is the truth about what is happening in Pakistan
That is very well-explained. You rightly point out that none of the Pakistani journalists outrighly say that Pakistan is a U.S. colony and its army is in fact serving the US and not Pakistan. They fear for their lives and their families welfare because the army has descended into the deepest gutter while trying to obliterate Imran Khan, his party, his supporters and anyone who dares to speak the truth.
It has been a systematic dismantling of laws, absolute disregard of human dignity and rights and extreme chaos as if a bull has entered a china shop. It has been a crash course in Pakistan’s actual history and reality for most Pakistanis ever since Khan’s regime change.
Every puppet and ever puppet tee has been thoroughly exposed. It is crystal clear that the army has been in control since 1947. They have most likely facilitated the death of Jinnah, followed it by assassination of Liaquat Ali Khan, then made direct intervention in government, actively running smear campaigns against Fatima Jinnah culminating in rigging an election against her and her suspicions death which may have been an assassination. Every one knows the sham trial of ZA Bhutto followed by the vilest dictatorship of Zia. The army found a nice puppet in form of Nawaz Sharif who was handpicked by Zia to use as a political face for a government which would actually be run by them behind the scenes. The biggest praise Pakistanis have heard about Nawaz is “khata hai to lagata bhi to hai’, meaning if he indulges in corruption, he also lets you have some share in it. Benazir was a failure politically, most likely because she made a compromise keeping in mind the fate of her father and meeting Nawaz Sharif on his pitch, indulging in corruption for her political survival or revenge for her father’s execution, whatever the case may be.
It was for the first time in the history of Pakistan that they truly got a leader in the shape of Imran Khan. Imran was not your run of the mill politician but a national icon was well loved and respected. He had earned a reputation of honesty and financial integrity from his cricketing days to his philanthropy. He had delivered a chain of charity cancer hospitals and a couple of universities with common citizens in his team of donors. This was a true demonstration of people having achieved something by the people, for the people and of the people. It was with strong foundation that Imran first got to form a provincial government in 2013 in KP province in north. The army rigged that elections to cut a lot of Imran’s party seats and give them to Nawaz to strengthen his rule. Contrary to their expectations, Imran delivered a success story in his province. People saw the change: pollution reduction in Peshawar, better roads, better school system, billion tree tsunami to control climate change and provide income to forest growers, de-politicizing the police and using IT to ease bureaucratic hurdles in governance. Hospitals were improved and the foundation was laid for providing free health care to people. These actions caused a spike in popularity which had not been seen before with a simple status of cricket legend. People took notice all over the country. At the same time the usual Zardari-sharif nexus was becoming extremely unpopular with their non-existent governance and rampant corruption and fascism.
In the 2018 election, it became difficult for general Bajwa to install the usual puppets sharif or Zardari because Panama leaks and evident consequences of corruption for the public had sunk the boats of Nawaz and Zardari. They managed enough rigging to deny Imran his rightful majority government enabling the army to attach their puppets to Imran as coalition partners.
The Pakistani who has the capacity to think critically was happy during Khan’s government as for once in our god-forsaken existence things seemed to be moving in a positive direction. The resistance against indulging in conflict with other countries, revival of textile industry, support for farmers, free health care for ordinary poor who got to have free surgeries on private hospitals, shelter homes for poor, environmentally friendly initiatives from recycling to tree planting to reducing urban sprawl and action against politically backed mafia groups in real estate and industry. Just as the people of Pakistan started realizing that it was possible in the country to get a piece of the cake rather than measly crumbs falling from the moths of army-sharif-Zardari-business class-feudal nexus, General Bajwa scrambled to put the people in their place in the depths of hell. To a Pakistani the collusion between the west and army was crystal clear. Big western countries towed the line of the US with all foreign media outlets joining hands to project Imran’s image as a backward extremist supporting taliban and as anti-west and anti-women. For the people who have seen Imran always in the news since 1970s, this whole propaganda was ridiculous. It may have been believable for the Americans. Cricket boards played their role snubbing Imran’s government by cancelling tours based on so called security threats, Pakistan is much more unsafe tiday and we do not hear a whimper from western media. They had labelled Imran as fascist where as today the country has seen unparalleled human right abuses without any comment from US and allies. Kidnapping of men, women and children and their torture and disappearances have become a norm. Every law is turned upside down and twisted inside out by chief justices.
Every level of the administrative system has been thoroughly exposed. Before CIA’s regime change operation against Khan, their charge de affairs was seen actively garnering support for the change by meeting with defecting parliamentarians, chief justice Lahore high court, Nawaz, Zardari, General Bajwa and key opposition or coalition partners.
Whatever the end may be of this fiasco, Imran will be a hero to ordinary Pakistanis and their villains are finally recognized after 77 years. While The ending of Palestinian state may be detectable from the shambles of infrastructure and explosions of bombs, Pakistan seems to be quietly fizzling out with the military and its criminal collaborators masquerading as politicians, judges, bureaucrats and journalists eating the country’s insides like an advanced stage cancer.