A court in Pakistan has sentenced Imran Khan, former cricketeer turned politician and a former prime minister, to 14 years in prison.
His wife was also meted out a similar sentence.
His offense: divulging state secrets and misappropriating gifts given to him by foreign governments when he was in office. Everyone in Pakistan knows the charges are frivolous and have no substance.
To add insult to injury, another court added seven more years to the sentence for fornication. The court determined that he was not properly married according to Islamic laws and thus his relations with his wife were illicit and illegal. Only in Pakistan can religion be appropriated to strike at one’s enemies.
The main reason for the kangaroo courts and trial behind closed doors is that the de facto leaders of the country, army generals, are hell bound to prevent Imran Khan to become prime minister again.
To say that Pakistan in undergoing a political crisis would be a gross understatement. Alas, greedy and corrupt politicians and blatant interference in the political process by powerful Pakistan army with the help of a compliant and complicit judiciary has brought the country to a disastrous juncture.
Pakistan has been ruled by two dynastic families — Sharifs and Bhuttos-Zardaris — for decades. When the politicians were not in charge or were booted out by the brass, the army ruled the country. And each time when the army went back to the barracks, they left a mess for others to clean up.
In the 2018 general elections Khan triumphed to become prime minister. It is widely believed that his ascent to the prime minister’s house was facilitated by the army.
Khan is a unique and unusual man. Once a playboy at the London social scene he returned to Pakistan in 1996 to start a political party. He called it Pakistan Tehrik Insaaf, or movement for justice. Its aim was to eradicate corruption and bring good governance to the country. Along the way he built a state-of-the-art cancer treatment hospital in Lahore in memory of his mother who had died of the disease. People rallied and supported the hospital because they believed in Khan’s honesty and integrity.
His honesty and sincerity were the main reasons he became prime minister. But his sincerity and honesty did not equate with statesmanship.
He was candid in his views and expressed them without any diplomatic filter. He went after the leading politicians, accused them of stealing the country’s wealth, and promised to force them to return foreign assets. His criticism did not endear him to the kingmakers, and his criticism of U.S. interference in Pakistan angered the United States. On top of that he responded to Russian overtures and made a visit to Russia on the eve of Russian attack on Ukraine.
Through an army-orchestrated parliamentary maneuver, the coalition partners in his government were forced to withdraw their support, and through a vote of no confidence, Khan’s government was brought down.
He was outraged, and so was the public. He took to the stump and again, as is his wont, he accused the United States of orchestrating his removal. The Pakistan Army takes its cues not from the elected officials in Islamabad but from Washington.
He drew massive crowds and demanded fresh elections. He escaped an assassination attempt at a rally. The army brass realized that unless he was sidelined, he would win with a landslide and become prime minister once again.
They had him arrested, tried on frivolous and trumped-up charges, and sidelined him from the forthcoming general elections schedules for this week. Earlier the courts forbade his party to use the cricket bat as its election symbol. (In Pakistan each political party has a recognizable symbol to help a mostly illiterate populace cast their vote for the candidates represented by the symbol.)
The army has made itself deeply entrenched not the only in body politic of the country but have also carved out a huge chunk of the economy for themselves.
The army owns hospitals, manufacturing, banks, farms, housing projects, and an airline. Top brass retire with high pensions, free housing, tracts of land, and life-long perks of free electricity, telephone, servants, and a luxury car. To criticize the men in uniform is to invite retribution.
And if some prime minister tries to contain the influence of the army, he is packed off into exile or thrown into jail. And there is always a coterie of sycophant politicians who cheer such actions.
Nawaz Sharif, thrice prime minister in the past and twice convicted of corruption, is the favorite to win the elections.
S. Amjad Hussain is an emeritus professor of surgery and humanities at the University of Toledo. His column appears every other week in The Blade.
Contact him at: aghaji3@icloud.com.
First Published February 7, 2024, 5:00 a.m.
