A Pakistani new Chapter. Protest in Pakistan over PM Khan’s removal. Celebration for the new PM Sharif.

13/04/2022

Nicola Costantin

Pakistan and Human Rights Researcher

Global Human Rights Defence

This difficult political situation left a great deal of uncertainty among the Pakistani population. The removal of the, now former, PM Imran Khan has brought on the streets tens of thousands of protesters, marching in several cities in his support. Khan was brought down last Sunday after some politicians belonging to his coalition, and, party voted in a no-confidence motion (Aljazeera, 2022).  Since then, thousands of Khan’s supporters marched waving party flags and shouting “we want Imran Khan back” (Aljazeera, 2022). At the first sight, they are mostly youths, who make up the spine of the ex-cricket player. His supporters are alleging that the US is behind the PM’s removal (Aljazeera, 2022). The previous PM immediately posted on Twitter that Pakistan has never seen “such crowds come out so spontaneously and in such numbers in our history” (Khan, 2022). He continually repeated the allegations that a foreign conspiracy was orchestrating this change of government, concluding by saying that “The freedom struggle begins again today” (Khan, 2022). 

On the other side, it was possible to assist in a huge celebration after Sharif’s worn as a new PM. However, the younger brother of the former three-time prime minister has still to face a really difficult polarization in the society. Nevertheless, he emphasised that peaceful settlement of outstanding disputes including Jammu and Kashmir is indispensable, as well as peaceful & cooperative ties with India (PTI, 2022).

Clearly, Pakistan has started to write down another chapter of its history, and just the time is going to judge its course. 

Sources: 

Al Jazeera. (2022). Protests in Pakistan over Khan’s removal, Sharif set to be new PM. Imran Khan News | Al Jazeera. Retrieved April 13, 2022, from https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/4/11/imran-khan-removal-as-pm-triggers-protests-across-pakistan?taid=6253a7cca609c10001977b89

PTI. (2022). Shehbaz Sharif thanks PM Modi for felicitating him; Says Pakistan desires ‘peaceful and cooperative’ ties with India. Financial Express. Retrieved April 13, 2022, from https://www.financialexpress.com/defence/shehbaz-sharif-thanks-pm-modi-for-felicitating-him-says-pakistan-desires-peaceful-and-cooperative-ties-with-india/2489469/

Khan, @ImranKhan. (2022). “Never have such crowds come out so spontaneously and in such numbers in our history, rejecting the imported govt led by crooks.” Twitter. April 10, 2022. Retrieved April 13, 2022, from https://twitter.com/ImranKhanPTI/status/1513232489464041473?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1513232489464041473%7Ctwgr%5Ehb_0_10%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.aljazeera.com%2Fnews%2F2022%2F4%2F11%2Fimran-khan-removal-as-pm-triggers-protests-across-pakistan