What is happening to Imran Khan? This question has reverberated in the minds of politically inclined people across the country this week. It has set off a cascade of rumours on social media. And the bewilderment born of a Supreme Court order on Tuesday has continued to deepen.
But another question that has intruded into every political discussion for more than three weeks is perhaps more relevant. It is: what happens when a leading figure in the ruling arrangement proclaims that Pakistan’s system of governance has collapsed?
For that matter, stories and gossip are bound to thrive when information is tightly controlled. Consequently, the questions that pop up in most conversations are very likely to overlap. Is it, then, possible that the two questions I have raised are somehow connected in some covert initiative at some level? We don’t know — and not knowing may be a bliss when the truth that hides from us can be totally frightening.
The point here is that this Khan episode has coincided with an increasingly divisive debate on the option of creating new provinces or, as they put it, new administrative units. Also, the disputed elections in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, already troubled by bloody agitation, have led to an unpleasant discord between the PPP and PML-N. This friction between the leading coalition partners has contributed to a growing sense of uncertainty in the political domain.
It is not easy to comprehend and interpret every move on the political chessboard. For instance, amid the thriller that Khan’s saga is developing into, two bills were passed by the National Assembly and the Senate on Thursday that pertain to the military and nuclear command structure. Interestingly, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, as the media reports said, lashed out at the government for not taking ruling allies on board while making legislation. But his party voted for the bills.
So far as the medical treatment of the incarcerated founder of PTI, Imran Khan, is concerned, there is not much clarity as to what happened during Thursday-Friday night. Khan’s sister Uzma Khan, who was present for his medical examination, addressed a press conference on Friday alongside his personal physician Dr Faisal Sultan. She described what transpired at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims), where Khan was taken for a medical examination.
Meanwhile, the PTI has accused the government of committing contempt of court by ‘flouting the Supreme Court’s order’ to shift Imran to Shifa International Hospital and decided to approach the apex court in this regard.
Federal Minister for Information, Attaullah Tarar, said on Friday that, in light of the Supreme Court’s decision, the former prime minister, who is imprisoned in Adiala jail since August 2023, serving multiple convictions, was taken to Pims for a detailed medical examination under appropriate security arrangements.
This episode that saw sudden twists and turns began on Tuesday when the Supreme Court ordered the government to shift the PTI founder to Shifa International Hospital within two days for examination and treatment by a multidisciplinary medical board. The court also allowed his personal physician and sister to remain associated with his medical care.
On Wednesday, the government moved a petition seeking a review and recall of Tuesday’s order. However, the registrar of the Supreme Court returned the petition on Thursday, citing incomplete paper books. On Friday, the government moved a revised review petition.
After the review petition was returned by the Supreme Court, a hectic round of activity began close to midnight on Thursday and extraordinary security arrangements were in place so that Khan could be taken to the hospital for his medical examination. Eventually, as the information minister said, Khan was brought back to Adiala early on Friday morning.
When we look at the entire scene, with Khan’s nocturnal excursion at its centre, we feel convinced that some crucial arrangements are in the works. I spoke to some political analysts on Friday and couldn’t make sense of the current political situation.
As I suggested at the outset, this process appears to have begun with the statement made by Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on July 30. The bombshell came during his speech at the Pakistan Economic Summit in Islamabad. It is possible that the summit was arranged for this purpose — to set the ball rolling for perhaps a radical change in the system that has supposedly collapsed.
Naqvi had suggested that the authority should be decentralised by creating new administrative units or provinces to protect the interests of the common man. It is significant that no one from the ruling elite has invoked the concept of a social revolution to build a new system from the wreckage of the collapsed system.
Incidentally, there is general agreement that the existing system of governance has failed to improve people’s lives. A serious lack of equilibrium in our society presents an opportunity for a revolutionary change. But can the same elite that has presided over this system all these decades now lead a radical movement for change?
This is undoubtedly a serious issue that needs to be discussed freely. The present state of Pakistan, in all its aspects, must be critically evaluated to design a strategy for change. Ideally, academia should play a leading role in this debate. A campus is the place where new ideas germinate. But the real tragedy of Pakistan and the true measure of the quality of its governance is that it has suppressed all freedoms, particularly of the media and also academia.
So, what do we do now when our survival depends on a meaningful transformation of the system? Do we wait for a ‘spark’ to foment a popular revolt — like the Gen-Z protests in other South Asian countries? Is the desired change possible through a constitutional amendment and creation of new provinces, with the old elite at the helm?
The writer is a senior journalist. He can be reached at: [email protected]
Disclaimer: The viewpoints expressed in this piece are the writer’s own and don’t necessarily reflect Geo.tv’s editorial policy.
Originally published in The News
2026-08-23 09:48:00
