Imran Khan unable to unite his supporters despite a week of turmoil

A week of unrest in Pakistan ended quietly on Sunday with the failure of protests organized by former Prime Minister Imran Khan after his brief arrest this week sparked several days of bloody unrest.

However, he may organize more demonstrations in the coming days as the opposition leader faces other court cases and has vowed to continue the protest movements.

The former cricket star was arrested on corruption charges on Tuesday when she appeared before Islamabad’s Supreme Court.

This forced his supporters to take to the streets, where they set fire to government buildings, blocked roads and damaged the property of the army, which they consider responsible for removing Khan from power.

Khan was released on bail on Friday after the Supreme Court found his arrest illegal and after he said he was “treated like a terrorist.”

After his release, the 70-year-old, who has remained very popular since his ouster last April, vowed to continue his campaign calling for early elections.

He also called for nationwide protests on Sunday evening, but they mostly failed in his hometown of Lahore, where he moved after his release.

“I was ashamed because no one was leaving our area, so I went here to the main road to see,” Ayesha Asif, a 48-year-old housewife from Lahore, told AFP. “We just want the country to get better,” she added.

And Khan, the leader of the Insaf movement, has been campaigning for months to call on the army to hold elections no later than October.

He was arrested just hours after he accused senior officials of attempting to assassinate him last year.

“anti-state behavior”

At least nine people have died in the unrest this week, according to police and hospital data.

Hundreds of police officers were injured and more than 4,000 people were arrested, most of them in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, according to authorities.

The current prime minister, Shahbaz Sharif, warned on Saturday that “those who display anti-state behavior will be arrested and put on trial in the fight against terrorism.”

“This attack and attack was pre-planned and Khan did it,” Interior Minister Rana Sanaulla said Sunday.

Sanaullah has also vowed repeatedly that police will re-arrest Khan, who faces court cases, this week as an arrest warrant issued by the Islamabad High Court expires on Monday.

In this tense context, the English-language newspaper Dawn wrote on Sunday: “There is a very real possibility that we will witness complete chaos if no one presses the reset button.”

Significantly, Khan won the 2018 election on pledges to fight corruption, and was voted in by voters weary of decades of traditional party rule. Independent analysts say he came to power with the backing of the army before falling out with the generals.