Imran Khan has been arrested for the second time in a matter of months, but this time the reaction looks very different. What could happen next?
There could not have been a starker contrast between 9 May and 5 August this year.
While Imran Khan’s first arrest led to protests in the streets from Peshawar to Karachi, with buildings burning and the army on the streets, Saturday night was no different from any other normal night in Pakistan.
Mr Khan is currently in prison, sentenced to three years for not declaring money gained by selling state gifts.
The sentence will lead to his disqualification before the upcoming elections.
His call for peaceful protests, urging people not to sit quietly in their homes, has – for now – has not worked. Why?
Ask government ministers and they will say that it is because people do not want to follow Imran Khan or his party, the PTI – unwilling to be associated with a group responsible for previous violence. That is not the message from Mr Khan’s supporters.
Imran Khan’s relationship with the establishment – shorthand in Pakistan for the politically-powerful military and intelligence agencies – soured more than a year ago.
Mr Khan was widely seen by analysts as having come to power with the help of the establishment and to have subsequently lost it when that relationship deteriorated.
Source: bbc.com
