There could not have been a worse moment for unrest in Pakistan. A meeting of the Council of Heads of Government of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization is to be held there on 15-16 October. In which many of its leaders are coming. But before that there is a scene of chaos.
It is clear that Pakistan’s military leadership has not learned any lesson from the incidents in the neighbourhood. Otherwise, if it had learned from the events of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, it might have realized how risky it could be to rule arbitrarily while ignoring a large section of public opinion. In fact, if she herself had learned the right lesson from the events of May 2023 in Pakistan, she would have been able to understand how much her reputation has fallen in the country and to what extent dissatisfaction is rising among the people. Then after the first arrest of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, thousands of people came to the streets and especially targeted the bases and symbols related to the army. Since then, vigorous repression of Khan’s party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has continued.
Even PTI was not allowed to participate in the so-called general elections held earlier this year. Despite this, many leaders of this party became victorious while fighting as independents. But this group was completely ignored in forming the government. Meanwhile, despite getting relief from the judiciary in many cases, Imran Khan has been kept in jail by being embroiled in new cases. This is bound to create anger especially among his supporters. PTI is in power in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. This way she has a place from where she can organize her protests.
Thousands of PTI supporters took to the streets of Islamabad on Saturday. There was a scene of chaos there. The demonstrations continued on Sunday. The government alleges that policemen from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have also taken part in these demonstrations. There could not have been a worse moment for unrest in Pakistan. A meeting of the Council of Heads of State/Government of Shanghai Cooperation Organization is to be held there on 15-16 October, in which leaders of many member countries of this organization are coming. But just before that there is a scene of chaos. Its message is that Pakistan Army should learn the right lesson, otherwise neglecting public sentiments may cost it dearly.