Pathan in captivity, still army and ruler in trouble, Imran Khan still remains a headache for Pak Army.

Pakistan’s military establishment is actively working to eliminate a leader it once created and supported until he fell out of favour. All kinds of tactics have been used to ensure that former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his party Tehreek-e-Insaf get zero points in the general elections to be held on February 8. From filing cases against Khan and disqualifying him to snatching away his party’s election symbol, the ruling establishment has adopted various methods to mislead the public. Moreover, the army has reinstated the old leadership and removed most of the obstacles standing in the way of removing Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader Nawaz Sharif from power.

As Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) supporters, especially the youth, turn out in large numbers on the day of voting, there is every possibility of the Army winning. But in the absence of a centralized force, even a significant turnout may not be enough. PTI, which is facing threats and coercion, will need a better election strategy to counter the current situation against it. Caretaker governments at the national level and in key provinces such as Punjab and Sindh are being managed by a bureaucracy aimed at promoting large-scale pre-poll rigging and manipulation. An acquaintance journalist also suggested that we can congratulate Nawaz Sharif as PML-N’s victory is more or less certain. Of course, specifics regarding the majority, the alliance’s prospects and control over Punjab and other key areas remain uncertain. The PMLN’s final score will largely depend on how Sharif manages the internal dynamics of the party, especially the ongoing rivalry between his brother and daughter. In particular, Sharif’s value in the eyes of the military lies in the myth that he would be able to transform the economy and establish trade ties with India.

Even assuming that the elections go according to the military’s liking, it will still have a problem. How to overturn Imran Khan’s popularity is not just about the individual but all the factors that contribute to Khan’s enduring popularity. The crowd of mostly young people did not consist only of ethnic Baloch who were supporting Mehrang because she represented them and their cause. There were also youths who spoke Saraki. What bound them together was a concern about the deep state of affairs, which made them sympathetic to Mehrang and his cause. The young crowd in south-west Punjab had similar sentiments towards Khan due to their great concern for state establishment.

Khan’s political end but…

Eliminating Khan’s populism is a difficult task because the army, being a conservative institution, is incapable of thinking outside the box. Unable to conceptualize that Khan has turned into a political idea that needs to be fought differently, the approach is to target the individual. Multiple cases of corruption and breaking of state secrecy norms have been brought against him to convince his support base that his anti-corruption agenda is hollow and that he is the biggest threat to the integrity of the state. The second strategy being adopted is to expose all the rumors about Khan’s personal life. According to sources, a special team of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) headed by a junior officer has devoted all its efforts to bring out the details of Khan’s ‘moral corruption’.