Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan's supporters gathered outside of the official's home on Monday in an attempt to stop police from arresting him on anti-terrorism charges related to a weekend televised speech.
Police authorities filed charges against the former prime minister on Saturday over what they said was a threat in the speech where he spoke about police torture of an aide who faces sedition charges for inciting mutiny in the military.
Pakistani's Rising Political Tensions
In his speech, the former cricket star said, "We will not spare you. We will sue you." He named the police chief and the judge involved in the case against his aide. In a report, police said that the purpose of the speech was to spread terror amongst the police and the judiciary and prevent them from doing their duty.
However, dozens of supporters gathered outside Khan's home on Monday chanting slogans against the government and the police. Khan said that he had to take legal action against police officers and the judicial magistrate, adding that the government nevertheless registered a terrorism case against him, as per Reuters.
The former prime minister added that all of these things show that the country does not have a rule of law. He also stated that there were 16 cases against him, on top of the latest terrorism case that police charged him with. One supporter, Sher Jahan Khan, said while outside the official's hilltop home, that police had to run over them before they could reach the former prime minister.
A former minister in Khan's cabinet, Ali Amin Gandapur, posted a threat on Twitter, saying, "If Imran Khan is arrested, we will take over Islamabad with people's power." Later in the day, a court granted Khan three days of pre-arrest bail as Khan's lawyer, Babar Awan, said.
According to Axios, since being ousted in April, Khan has been mobilizing huge crowds while railing against the Pakistani government. He has also broken a long-standing taboo of criticizing the nation's military.
Terror Charges on Former PM
The aide of the former prime minister was Shahbaz Gill, who was arrested after calling on members of the military to reject "illegal orders" from their superiors, hinting at the idea that military leaders have turned on Khan but the rank-and-file stands behind him.
Several analysts now believe that the military, which is Pakistan's most powerful institution, has helped bring Khan to power and later removed him. Now, the new government led by Shehbaz Sharif claims that the former prime minister's economic mismanagement was his undoing.
The country is currently in the midst of a debt crisis that was exacerbated by spikes in the cost of food and fuel nationwide. The former prime minister claims, without evidence, that his removal was engineered by the U.S.
Imran's party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), alleges that Gill has been tortured in custody and his life remains in danger. Now, the former prime minister is pushing for early elections while his popularity was down in the run-up to his ouster in April but has since gone back up after he was voted out in a no-confidence motion, the Indian Express reported.
Related Article:
South Korea, US Join Forces for Massive Military Drill Amid North Korea's Weapon Tests