BENGALURU: November 2022.
“One afternoon in May 2018, I stepped into Aleem Khan’s office in Gulberg, Lahore. I had to interview Imran Khan, and Aleem’s plush and tastefully decorated office was the venue. The General Election was just around the corner. There was an air of excitement and anticipation in the air. ‘Nicely done!’ I complimented Aleem on the decor as we waited and made small talk in one of the seating areas.
Aleem smiled and said he brought most of the furniture from Dubai. At that time, Aleem was considered close to Imran, along with Jahangir Khan Tareen, and their financial support was vital for the political party. After a short wait, Khan arrived, dressed in his signature crisp white shalwar qameez. ‘Get me a coffee,’ Khan told someone in the bevy of people following him.
A takeaway coffee was quickly brought in from a nearby Dunkin’ Donuts. Imran took a sip as we sat down in Aleem’s upstairs office. I noticed a certain buoyancy in Khan that day, quite different from my past interactions with him. It was as if he was assured of winning the upcoming election.
The primary reason was that the powerful military establishment had thrown its weight behind Khan. I prodded him about this support in the interview and detailed it in the article I wrote for the New York Times titled Imran Khan warms to Pakistan’s military. His political fortune rose.
Khan subsequently won the August 2018 elections, and for the most part of his three-and-a-half-year rule, he enjoyed a close, almost unprecedented, working relationship with the military. But today, Imran and the military find themselves on different sides. The public fallout after Imran was ousted from power earlier in 2022 has been bitter, loud, and messy.
In recent interviews, Imran Khan has said that Aleem Khan, the ally turned-foe, is one of the two main reasons he had disagreements with the army chief, Gen. Bajwa. This is only partially true, and the disagreements ran far deeper. Khan’s challenge to his powerful benefactors has set the stage for a confrontation like never before. Imran feels unstoppable because of the unwavering public support, and he has increased the stakes every time the military has tried to subdue him.
He has accused a senior intelligence general, apart from his main political rivals, of being behind the gun attack on his life last month. In a letter to President Alvi, Khan declared an open season on the country’s intelligence chief and the chief spokesperson of the army, seeking action against both generals for a public press conference against him.
While Khan has taken aim at these officers, it is obvious that his real target is elsewhere. In public appearances, Khan has launched powerful tirades against the role of the security establishment in the country’s politics. He has questioned the overgrown influence and the overarching role. But many are left confused about the real motive. Has Imran become the torchbearer of civilian supremacy, or is he just blackmailing the military into submission by raising the constant spectre of violence and mass protests?
Even Khan is hard-pressed to clearly answer this question, as was evident by his recent interview with TRT TV. The press conference by the director-general of ISI and the director-general of ISPR revealed that while Khan had a menacingly confrontational public posture, he was simultaneously trying to mend fences backstage. Some can see Khan’s strategy as effective realpolitik.
But Khan’s brinkmanship has also pushed things over the edge and can be seen as an escalation that risks dangerous consequences. His unrelenting protest campaign that questions the neutrality of the military has set off a wave of public discontent and widened the fissures that already exist in the country’s polity. It is a genie that even Imran cannot put back in the bottle.
The new army chief will be faced with an immediate set of challenges, with hardly any time to settle down. The bitter political residue of the past few months will weigh heavily, and Imran’s politics can exert pressure on the apolitical vows of the top brass. Even if the new chief decides to placate Khan in some way, history tells us that he will find it impossible to cede the proverbial power to a civilian challenger.”
(Excerpted with permission from ‘Fallout: Power, Intrigue and Political Upheaval in Pakistan’ by Salman Masood, published by Penguin Random House)