Pakistan: A Revolution That’s Not Being Televised

Imran Khan Protest 1

November 24th was designated as the global day of protest for the release of former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, who has been imprisoned by the Pakistani military and political elites since August of 2023. It was a day of solidarity with the brutalized, tortured, and imprisoned tens of thousands of Pakistanis associated with Khan’s Movement for Justice (PTI) and those who opposed the current military-with-a-civilian-facade regime. Despite a complete lockdown, with roadblocks being ubiquitous, as well as trigger-happy militarized security forces, there have been massive demonstrations against the regime across Pakistan, culminating in marching towards the capital, Islamabad. Rallies and protests of Pakistanis and human rights activists are taking place in Washington, New York, London, Paris, Barcelona, Istanbul, and many other cities across the world.

The demands of the Movement for Justice are the following:
1) Immediate release of Imran Khan and the end of farcical and politically-motivated charges and cases.
2) Immediate release of the tens of thousands of PTI activists imprisoned.
3) A recognition of the election results of February of this year, wherein Khan’s PTI handily won the most seats in Parliament – so that PTI would get its rightful place of governing the country.
4) The end of interference from the military establishment in the political life of the country.

Imran Khan Protest 2
Imran Khan Protest 3
Imran Khan Protest 4
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Imran Khan Protest 7

Over the past twenty-four hours, there is a lot to be said and celebrated. Despite severe repression, Pakistanis have exploded in revolt throughout the country. From all corners of the nation, people are all marching towards here in Islamabad. The capital has been converted into an outright fortress with the regime having imported thousands upon thousands of containers and buses to be used as roadblocks. The courage of ordinary Pakistanis in confronting a fascist state with trigger-happy militarized security forces is simply awe-inspiring. We are seeing the only real enemy our pathetic military establishment is willing to confront: its own people.

There is much more to say. But for now, three things:

1) Whether one likes former Prime Minister Imran Khan or not, it’s difficult to think of a contemporary political leader who could mobilize such massive demonstrations in literally every corner of the world. From Tokyo to Kuala Lumpur to Johannesburg to Istanbul to Athens to Barcelona to Manchester to Dublin to New York to Atlanta to Chicago to Houston and to roughly sixty-five other cities in the world (the latest count) – this has really been surreal. When thinking of individual political leaders who would be able to attract such unrelenting global protests of solidarity and support, one thinks of Mandela, Castro, Nasser. Perhaps I’m missing something because of getting caught up in the sheer magnitude of the worldwide scale these protests have assumed.

2) What happened in Pakistan in April of 2022 will go down as one of the most reckless and ill-conceived regime change operations in history. As I’ve stated before in interviews and writings below, it’s probably not a good idea to target the most popular and beloved – for at least the past three decades – national icon. The Biden Administration and the generals in Islamabad have made a martyr out of Khan, have miraculously transformed him from arguably just a moderate reformer to a full-blown revolutionary in the eyes of the people!

3) Can we imagine what the response would be if these were both nationwide and worldwide demonstrations, on this scale, against totalitarian repression of political prisoners and dissidents in Iran, Russia, China, Cuba, Venezuela, etc.? We would be seeing 24-7 coverage on ALL of the major media outlets, probably not even taking a pause to cover an inauguration of a new US President. Here we have the beginnings of a revolution in a country with the fifth largest population in the world, fifth largest military, nuclear-armed, and virtual silence. It can barely elicit a paragraph in Reuters or the AP. If ever there was an example of the skewed – to put it mildly – imperial ideology of the media and the intelligentsia, this is it. Just as with the Zionist genocide in Gaza, they are also complicit in enabling now over two years of one of the most fascistic totalitarian phases in Pakistan’s history.


Below are useful links to some of the scenes over the past 24 hours, to recent (Western media) interviews (on Breakthrough News, Useful Idiots, Flashpoints, etc.), some of my recent articles (for context), and images of the uprising. I’m indebted to my students who are also bravely participating in, and covering, this popular revolt. I had also sent something briefly below to give some context to Nov. 24th being global Khan/Movement for Justice mobilization and solidarity day.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/watch-former-pakistan-pm-imran-khans-supporters-protest-in-over-60-locations-worldwide/amp_articleshow/115643984.cms
https://apnews.com/article/pakistan-imran-khan-rally-cellphone suspension-415227ef93b710798dedbc6c9f8ac2a5
https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2022/11/08/assassination-imran-khan-pakistan-us-coup/
https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2023/03/15/pakistan-coup-regime-arrest-imran-khan/
https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2023/05/22/arrest-imran-khan-pakistan-regime/
https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/pakistan-imran-khan-shooting-tipping-point-reached
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20240202-bidens-generals-in-pakistan/
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20240213-khan-v-the-generals/
https://countercurrents.org/2024/09/unworthy-victims-pakistani-women-confronting-state-terror/
https://countercurrents.org/2024/11/antagonistic-and-irreconcilable-contradictions-and-the-future-of-imran-khans-movement-for-justice/
https://muslimviews.co.za/antagonistic-and-irreconcilable-contradictions-within-imran-khans-movement-for-justice/

Junaid S Ahmad, Professor of Law, Religion, and Global Politics. Director, Center for the Study of Islam and Decolonization (CSID), Islamabad, Pakistan

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