Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan was shot in the leg by an unknown assailant as he attended a protest march on Thursday. The attack, which Khan’s supporters are calling an attempted assassination, represents yet another dark and dangerous day for Pakistani politics. Khan was ejected from office in April through democratic proceedings he and his supporters argued were illegitimate. Last month, Pakistan’s election commission disqualified Khan from holding public office for failing to declare expensive gifts—including a Rolex watch—from foreign dignitaries; Khan’s lawyers have called the move politically motivated.
Khan was once seen as having the backing of the country’s all-powerful military. But now out of office, he has emerged in recent months as a leading critic of the army, which has often ruled the country directly and exerts a powerful grip even in times of nominal civilian control. Khan was once a known quantity in the complex military-political arrangements that run Pakistan. His latest turn has made him something different—and more unpredictable. (Disclosure: I have advised Khan in the past, but our relationship ended in 2013.)
Khan has been holding mass rallies and demonstrations against military rule. The livestreams of his speeches were so popular that in the end, the government attempted to ban them on dubious pretenses. Although it’s unclear who shot Khan, his supporters see it as the latest move in a long campaign of harassment against him since he left office. Khan has accused the government of being behind the plot.
