Recently, the political situation in Pakistan has been turbulent. Pakistan's former prime minister is trying to incite a new round of protests in Pakistan.
Imran Khan called on members of his Pakistan Baath Party (PTI) to protest on May 14.
Since his arrest on May 9, Khan's rhetoric against the Pakistani military has escalated. Since the Supreme Court declared his arrest illegal on May 12, Khan has repeatedly accused Army Chief of Staff General Asim Munir of being responsible for his arrest. Khan has previously criticized Pakistan's political and military leadership, but has so far failed to single out the army chief. Khan also said in a speech that Pakistani authorities would hold him for 10 years if he was arrested, and claimed that authorities would ban PTI.
On May 18, Khan called for a protest near Lahore and said he would announce a new "plan of action" during the protest.
The Pakistani military is trying to prevent another protest by arresting PTI leaders and threatening protesters. The military continues to arrest PTI leadership, including members who called for and participated in the protests. The arrests could cripple PTI's ability to plan future protests. Pakistani authorities have also arrested thousands of PTI supporters since May 9.
The Pakistani government is stifling the protests by cutting off access to social media. Pakistani social media sites were paralyzed on May 13 after temporarily resuming on May 12. Pakistani authorities blocked mobile services and social media sites on May 9 in response to widespread protests.
The new interruption of social media access may be a response to Khan's May 12 remarks against the head of the army. Munir said on May 15 that the military would no longer exercise restraint against individuals attacking military infrastructure, suggesting that the military may respond to new protests in a harsher way.
On May 16, a high-level meeting between civilian and military leadership reiterated Munir's statement.
The Taliban Pakistan Movement (TTP) is using the crisis to incite attacks on Pakistani forces and recruit from disgruntled protesters. A senior commander of the TTP criticized the May 15 protests in Islamabad against Khan's release, adding that armed struggle is the only way to establish an Islamic State in Pakistan.
TTP may be trying to recruit recruits from Jamiat-ul-Islam Fazul (JUI-F), an Islamist party that participated in the May 15 protests. The TTP commander specifically called on JUI-F leader Maulana Fazl Rahman to protest instead of violently attacking the country. JUI-F and TTP share common ideological and historical ties and both have ties to the Afghan Taliban.
#巴基斯坦 #