With Imran Khan’s dramatic arrest, clash between former PM and Army comes to a head

Former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan was arrested on Tuesday afternoon outside the Islamabad High Court. The IHC has now asked the Islamabad police chief, the interior ministry secretary and the additional attorney general to appear before the court and explain why Khan was arrested.

He was detained just one day after the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the public relations agency of the Pakistan Armed Forces, issued a warning to Khan about his “highly irresponsible and baseless allegations against a serving senior military officer”.

The ISPR had said that for the last one year, Khan has been targeting officials of the military and intelligence agencies with insinuations and sensational propaganda.

“These fabricated and malicious allegations are extremely unfortunate, deplorable and unacceptable… We ask the political leader concerned to make a recourse to legal avenues and stop making false allegations. The institution reserves the right to take legal course of action against patently false and malafide statements and propaganda”.

Imran Khan, whose popularity has apparently gone up, has run a campaign for over a year against the army accusing it of interfering in the democratic processes of the nation. He has also targeted the government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif by calling it an “imported government” that has been propped up by foreign powers and the powerful military.

Khan’s party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) released a pre-recorded video of their leader.

Khan has been pushing for early elections, much against the wishes of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N). The election issue has caused a rift between the apex court, the political parties and the election commission.

Meanwhile, Shehbaz who was visiting the UK has extended his visit by one day on the recommendation of his brother Nawaz.