Imran Khan
Pakistan: Police storm Imran Khan home in Lahore, arrest 30
Police in Pakistan stormed former Prime Minister Imran Khan's residence in the eastern city of Lahore on Saturday and arrested 30 people amid tear gas shelling after someone opened fire from the roof of the building, officials said.
Senior police officer Suhail Sukhera, who is leading the operation in a Lahore upscale neighborhood, said police moved to remove encroachments and blockade erected by Khan’s Tehreek-e-Insaf party and his defiant supporters.
He said baton-wielding Khan supporters attempted to resist police by throwing stones and petrol bombs, but the officers moved on until a man on the roof of Khan’s residence opened fire. No one was hurt.
Sukhera said that police broke open the main door of Khan’s residence and found masks, petrol-filled bottles, iron rods and batons used in attacks on police during the week. Sukhera said that inside the sprawling residence, illegal structures were erected to shelter those who have been involved in attacks on police that have injured dozens of officers.
Witnesses said police attempted to disperse Khan supporters by firing tear gas and chased them to several homes in the upscale neighborhood of Zaman Park. Khan was expected to appear in an Islamabad court on Saturday after a top court Friday suspended his arrest warrant, giving him a reprieve to travel to Islamabad and face charges in a graft case without being detained.
Khan has been holed up at his home in Lahore since Tuesday, after failing to appear at an earlier hearing in the case. His supporters hurled stones and clashed with baton-wielding police for two days to protect the former premier from arrest.
Khan, during his road trip to Islamabad, said in a video message that the government had planned his arrest despite his travel to a hearing. He said police had broken into his residence in Lahore while his wife was alone at the home. He condemned the action and demanded those responsible are punished under law.
Khan, now in the opposition, was ousted in a no-confidence vote in Parliament last April. He is accused of selling state gifts while in office and concealing assets. It’s one in a string of cases that the former cricket star turned Islamist politician has been facing since his ouster.
The 70-year-old opposition leader has also claimed that his removal from power was part of a conspiracy by his successor, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, and the United States. Both Washington and Sharif’s government have denied the allegations.
More clashes in Pakistan as police try to arrest Imran Khan
Supporters of former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan threw bricks at police who fought back with clubs and tear gas for a second day Wednesday after officers tried to arrest the ousted premier for failing to appear in court on graft charges.
Police besieged the 70-year-old opposition leader’s house in the eastern city of Lahore since Tuesday as his supporters hurled rocks and bricks, and swung batons snatched from the officers.
Violence was also reported between Khan's supporters and police in other major cities, including Karachi, Islamabad, the garrison city of Rawalpindi, Peshawar, Quetta and elsewhere in Pakistan. The government sent additional police to Lahore's upscale area of Zaman Park, where Khan lives.
Also Read: Clashes erupt in Pakistan as police try to arrest Imran Khan
Early Wednesday, Khan had emerged from his house to meet with his supporters, who had faced tear gas and police batons through the night to save him from arrest. He said he was ready to travel to Islamabad on March 18 under his arrest warrant, but that police did not accept the offer.
Khan later posed for cameras seated at a long table, showing off piles of spent tear gas shells he said had been collected from around his home.
“What crime did I commit that my house has been attacked like this,” he tweeted. Fawad Chaudhry, a senior party leader from Khan’s party claimed hundreds of Khan’s supporters were injured.
At the Islamabad High Court, Khan's lawyer Khawaja Haris and his team petitioned for the suspension of the arrest warrant for the former premier. The court was expected to issue a ruling about the suspension later Wednesday.
By around 2 p.m., the clashes subsided and police stepped back, apparently in an effort to ease the tensions. This encouraged more Khan supporters to join those outside and inside his home as the situation calmed.
Many chanted Allahu akbar, the Arabic phrase for “God is great.” Khan, still wearing a gas mask, greeted them at his home.
Officials said security forces were told to move back from Khan’s house while the court in the capital, Islamabad, considered whether to suspend the warrant.
The Punjab provincial government said Wednesday that more than 100 police officers were injured in clashes with Khan’s supporters. They denied Khan's allegation that officers were using live ammunition.
Khan, who was ousted in a no-confidence vote in Parliament in April, was ordered to appear before a judge in Islamabad on Friday to answer charges of illegally selling state gifts he had received during his term as premier and concealing his assets.
The former premier has avoided appearances before the court since November, when he was wounded in a gun attack at a protest rally in eastern Punjab province, claiming he was not medically fit to travel from Lahore to Islamabad to face indictment.
Last week, he went to Islamabad to appear before three courts, but he failed to appear before the fourth court to face indictment in the graft case, which is a legal process for starting his trial.
Khan has claimed that the string of cases against him, which includes terrorism charges, are a plot by the government of his successor, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, to discredit the former cricket star turned Islamist politician.
From his home, Khan urged his followers on Tuesday to fight on even if he is arrested. “They think this nation will fall asleep when Imran Khan is jailed,” he wrote on Twitter. “You need to prove them wrong.”
On Wednesday, he tweeted that there was a plot “to abduct & assassinate” him.
Prime Minister Sharif on Wednesday criticized Khan in televised remarks, saying that the ex-premier “considers himself above the law, and he has been defying court orders to avoid arrest.” Sharif insisted he had nothing to do with the arrest warrant, which he said was a court order and the police were only complying with it.
In Pakistan’s turbulent political history, at least seven former prime minister have been arrested in various cases and tried by courts since this South Asian country was created in 1947 after gaining independence from British colonial rule.
Former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was hanged by the military government in 1979 after his ouster in a coup. His daughter, Benazir Bhutto, served twice as prime minister and was assassinated during an election rally in 2007 in the garrison city of Rawalpindi.
Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan’s longest-serving premier and the brother of current prime minister, was in office from 1990 to 1993 and from 1997 to 1999, when was ousted in a military coup by Gen. Pervez Musharraf. He returned as premier in 2013 but was ousted by the country’s Supreme Court in 2017. He was later arrested, tried and convicted in a corruption case, although he has always denied the charges and today lives in exile in Britain.
Clashes erupt in Pakistan as police try to arrest Imran Khan
Clashes between Pakistan's police and supporters of former Prime Minister Imran Khan persisted outside his home in the eastern city of Lahore on Wednesday, a day after officers went to arrest him for failing to appear in court on graft charges.
The police operation triggered clashes between Khan's supporters and police in the country's major cities, including Karachi, Islamabad, the garrison city of Rawalpindi, Peshawar, Quetta and elsewhere in Pakistan.
For the past 18 hours, police were firing tear gas at the house as the 70-year-old opposition leader's supporters hurled rocks and bricks at the officers. The upscale area of Zaman Park where Khan lives was under siege since Tuesday. The government was sending additional police to tackle the situation after hundreds of Khan's supporters showed unexpected perseverance.
Early Wednesday, Khan emerged from his house to meet with his supporters, who faced tear gas and police batons the whole night to save him from arrest. He said he was ready to travel to Islamabad on March 18 under his arrest warrant, but police did not accept the offer.
The confrontation outside Khan's house continued.
Also Read: Pakistan's ex-PM Imran Khan no-show in court, avoids arrest
About a dozen police and some 35 of Khan's supporters were reported injured. Tear gas shells and pieces of bricks littered the pavement as Khan's followers fought back with batons they had brought to resist police, who were preparing for a final effort to arrest Khan.
Khan, who was ousted in a no-confidence vote in Parliament in April, was ordered to appear before a judge in Islamabad on Friday to answer charges of illegally selling state gifts he had received during his term as premier and concealing his assets.
The former premier has avoided appearances before the court since November, when he was wounded in a gun attack at a protest rally in the eastern Punjab province, claiming he was not medically fit to travel from Lahore to Islamabad to face indictment.
Also Read: Pakistani court orders arrest of former premier Imran Khan
Last week, he went to Islamabad to appear before three courts, but he failed to appear before the fourth court to face indictment in the graft case, which is a legal process for starting his trial.
Khan has claimed that the string of cases against him, which includes terrorism charges, are a plot by the government of his successor, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, to discredit the former cricket star turned Islamist politician.
On Tuesday, Sharif told Pakistan's Geo television that Khan's arrest was ordered by a court, and it was not political victimization.
“We will arrest him, and will do it on a court order,” Shahzad Bukhari, deputy-inspector general of Islamabad police, told reporters earlier in Lahore. Later, Bukhari was also lightly injured in the violence and received first aid from police medics at the scene.
Also Read: Imran Khan's party dissolves assembly in Pakistani province
However, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, a top leader from Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, said the government was trying to disrupt law and order by sending police to Khan’s house.
“We are ready to find a middle way through talks with police, but we should know what the purpose of today’s police raid is,” he said. “Don't worsen the situation. Let us sit and discuss what you want,” Qureshi asked the police.
He said Khan could consider voluntarily offering his arrest, “but let us talk first."
Also Read: Imran Khan far better actor than Shahrukh and Salman, says Pakistani politician
Fawad Chaudhry, another senior party leader, said Khan’s legal team was in the process of submitting a request to the Islamabad High Court to have warrants against Khan suspended. Khan's lawyers were also legally challenging the warrants before another Islamabad court Tuesday.
From inside his home, Khan urged his followers to fight on even if he is arrested. “They think this nation will fall asleep when Imran Khan is jailed,” he wrote on Twitter. “You need to prove them wrong.”
Police said reinforcements were on their way to Khan's house to bring the situation under control.
TV footage showed tear gas shells falling inside Khan's house.
Angered over the expected arrest of Khan, his supporters took to the streets across Pakistan, blocking some key roads near Islamabad while asking the government to refrain from arresting Khan.
“We will arrest this man on the court order and he ran away to avoid arrest,” said Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan, who is not related to the former premier. He said Khan will be produced before the court.
Pakistan's ex-PM Imran Khan no-show in court, avoids arrest
Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan failed to appear before a court in Islamabad on Tuesday to answer charges in a graft case against him. The no-show was apparently a legal maneuver by the ex-premier to avoid arrest.
The hearing was set by Judge Zafar Iqbal and Khan was required to appear in person to respond to charges of selling state gifts while in office. The same judge last week issued an arrest warrant for Khan but only the government of Khan’s successor, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, can order the police to take him into custody.
However, Khan's legal team petitioned a top court on Tuesday, requesting the suspension of the arrest warrant for him and seeking more time to appear before judge Iqbal for a pre-trial hearing.
Also Read: Suicide bombing in southwestern Pakistan kills 10 policemen
After hearing arguments from Khan's lawyer and the prosecution, the chief justice of the Islamabad High Court, Aamer Farooq, suspended the arrest warrant and ordered Khan to appear before Iqbal on March 13. It was unclear whether Khan will comply with the latest court order.
The 70-year-old former cricket star and now opposition leader is embroiled in a string of court cases against him, including terrorism charges raised by police. He has so far avoided arrest and claims the legal imbroglio has been orchestrated by the government in an attempt to discredit him.
Khan was ousted in a no-confidence vote in Parliament last April but has claimed, without providing evidence, that his removal was illegal and a conspiracy by Sharif and Washington. Both the United States and Pakistan's government have denied those allegations.
The charges in Tuesday's case accuse Khan of unlawfully selling state gifts he had received as premier and concealing the earnings from those sales from the country's election tribunal. In October, the tribunal disqualified him from holding public office for five years. Khan automatically lost his seat in Parliament because of the disqualification, which he has since challenged in court.
Mohsin Ranjha, a lawyer from the ruling Pakistan Muslim League party, criticized Khan for not appearing in court and said the former premier is mocking the legal system.
“Imran Khan only appears before the courts when he wants to,” said Ranja.
Fawad Chaudhry, a close aide of Khan and a senior leader in his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, claimed Khan could not travel to Islamabad for health reasons. He also said Khan had been threatened with violence. However, Khan was expected to lead an election rally in Lahore on Wednesday, despite threats to his life.
Khan has been living in the eastern city of Lahore since November, when he was shot in the leg by a gunman during a protest rally. Since then, he has only once traveled to Islamabad — last week — for court appearances in other cases against him.
His party has threatened nationwide protests if Khan is arrested while the former prime minister claims there are serious threats on his life. Since his ouster, he has been campaigning for early elections — another demand that Sharif dismisses, saying the vote would be held as scheduled later this year.
Pakistan's election tribunal on Tuesday issued arrest warrants for Khan, and Chaudhry, who is a top leader from his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, on charges of making insulting speeches against Sikandar Sultan Raja, who is the head of the elections overseeing body. The tribunal has asked police to produce Khan and Chaudhry before it on March 14.
Imran Khan's party dissolves assembly in Pakistani province
The party of Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday dissolved a provincial assembly in the country’s northwest, where it held majority seats. Its rival, the ruling Pakistan Muslim League party, criticized the move, saying it meant to deepen the political crisis and force early parliamentary elections.
As opposition leader, Khan has been campaigning for early elections and has claimed — without providing evidence — that his ouster last April in a no-confidence vote in Parliament was illegal.
He has also accused his successor, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, the Pakistani military and the United States of orchestrating his ouster. Sharif, army officials and Washington have all dismissed the allegations.
Khan has also banked on his popularity and wide grassroot support to force early elections, and has since his ouster staged rallies across the country, calling for the vote. But Sharif and his Pakistan Muslim League have repeatedly dismissed the demands, saying elections will be held as scheduled — later in 2023 — when the current parliament completes its five-year term.
On Wednesday, Ghulam Ali, provincial governor in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, dissolved the local assembly there, just days after another Khan ally, provincial lawmaker Pervez Elahi, dissolved the assembly in Punjab, the country’s most populous province, in eastern Pakistan.
Khan's Tehreek-e-Insaf party was in power in both provinces. The dissolution of the chambers will lead to snap elections in both Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab — and may lead to the party being reelected in both provinces — but will unlikely effect any change on the national level.
Read more: Ex-Pakistan PM Imran Khan wounded in firing at anti-govt rally
Sharif's government maintains that the tactics of the 70-year-old Khan are damaging the country's economy. Pakistan has struggled with the aftermath of unprecedented floods that devastated the country last summer and which experts say were exacerbated by climate change. Cash-strapped Pakistan is also facing a serious financial crisis and unabating militant violence.
Khan, a former cricket star turned Islamist politician, was wounded in a gun attack while leading a rally toward the capital, Islamabad, last November. One of Khan's supporters was killed and several others were wounded in the shooting.
Khan accused Sharif's government of being behind the attack; authorities have denied the allegation. The gunman was arrested on the scene.
Since the assassination attempt, Khan has been leading his political campaign from his hometown of Lahore, the capital of Punjab.
Read more: Imran Khan accuses Pak army of recreating 1971-like situation
Also on Wednesday, suspected militants ambushed a security convoy in a remote area in southwestern Pakistan, near the Iranian border, killing four soldiers, the military said. The army statement said the attackers used Iran's territory to launch the attack and that Islamabad has asked Tehran to arrest the assailants.
Pakistan's ex-PM Khan says his party to quit all assemblies
Pakistan's former premier Imran Khan said Saturday his party was quitting the country's regional and national assemblies, as he made his first public appearance since being wounded in a gun attack earlier this month.
Khan, a former cricket star turned politician, was ousted in a no-confidence vote in Parliament in April. He is now in the opposition and has been demanding early elections, claiming his ouster was illegal and orchestrated by Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, with the U.S. government’s help. Sharif and Washington have dismissed the allegations and the current government says the next polls will be held as scheduled in 2023.
Khan launched a protest march late last month from the eastern city of Lahore toward Islamabad as part of his campaign for early polls, but stepped down from personally leading the convoy after he was wounded by a gunman who opened fire at his vehicle. One of Khan’s supporters was killed and 13 were wounded in the attack. The gunman was arrested.
On Saturday night, in Rawalpindi city near Islamabad, Khan rejoined the protest march.
He told tens of thousands of his cheering supporters that his Tehreek-e-Insaf party was leaving all regional and national assemblies and getting out of this "corrupt system.”
His party resigned from the national assembly en masse in April ahead of a vote to elect a new prime minister, although most of the resignations have yet to be accepted. Khan's stronghold is in the northwest province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and leaving the Punjab assembly would hand power to his rivals.
The politician spoke for more than an hour, including references to the Sufi mystic Rumi, the fall of the Soviet Union, and the seventh-century Shiite leader Imam Hussain.
Toward the end of his speech, he did a U-turn on his demand for snap elections, saying his party would win the polls scheduled for nine months' time. He also said he would no longer march on the capital.
Read more: Pakistan’s politics of FIR registrations
“They (government) cannot deal with a march in Islamabad, they can call as many police as they want, but they cannot stop the hundreds of thousands from entering Islamabad,” said Khan. "We could have created a situation like Sri Lanka. I have decided against marching on Islamabad because I don’t want there to be anarchy in the country. I don't want to cause any harm to this country."
After months of protests over an economic crisis that has led to shortages of essentials such as food and medicine, thousands of Sri Lankans stormed the president’s residence in July, forcing then-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee and later resign.
Khan said he will meet his chief ministers and parliamentary party and announce the timing of the exit.
The rally came days after the appointment of a new army chief, Asim Munir, who ran the country's spy agency during Khan's term in office but was fired without an explanation from the then-premier.
Munir replaces Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa, who Khan has also accused of playing a role in his ouster. Bajwa denies the allegation.
Read more: Imran Khan far better actor than Shahrukh and Salman, says Pakistani politician
Pakistan's Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari described Khan's Saturday night rally as a “facesaving flopshow.”
He said in a tweet: “Unable to pull revolution crowds, failed at undermining appointments of new chiefs, frustrated, resorts to resignation drama.”
Imran Khan far better actor than Shahrukh and Salman, says Pakistani politician
Maulana Fazlur Rehman, leader of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), has charged Imran Khan, former prime minister and head of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), on Sunday (November 06, 2022) of “theatrics” in response to the shooting he encountered last week.
The head of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) claimed during a news conference that the former Pakistani prime minister is a much superior actor compared to Bollywood’s Shahrukh Khan and Salman Khan, Pakistani news outlet The Express Tribune reported.
Maulana Rehman was quoted as saying, “I don't understand his dramas, a joint investigation team should be formed on Imran Khan’s lies.”
Read: March on Pakistani capital to resume Tuesday, says ex-PM Imran Khan
He claimed that “a lie” is being spread about the shooting, saying that although he first condemned the incident, “things came to light” over time.
The PDM chief remarked, “One shot, two shots, four shots or fragments; we have heard of bomb fragments, but bullet fragments we are hearing for the first time.”
He also questioned the method by which a cancer hospital delivered bone treatment. He added that he discovered the existence of the jugular vein in the shin for the first time.
Read: ‘Because I fell, one of the shooters thought I’d died, and left’: Imran Khan
He added that whereas it took the marchers five to six days to go from Lahore to Gujranwala, it just took an hour after Imran was hit.
Former Pakistan PM and PTI head Imran Khan used to refer to everyone as a thief, according to the PDM chief, “but he turned out to be one as well”.
Pakistan’s politics of conspiracy will not stop
Pakistan’s history of conspiracy politics seems to go on and on. Although it has paid what is possibly the biggest price for any state-sponsored conspiracy flops – the 1971 war – its appetite for political conspiracy goes on. And in each of them, the army seems to be involved. Given the current critical phase with ex-PM Imran Khan naming the current PM, the Interior Minister, and a senior Intelligence official as the trio who planned to kill him but failed, things have worsened. Conspirators rule the roost including Imran Khan.
Imran was hit by bullets but has said that he survived because he fell down and the would-be killers thought he was dead. One person died and several were injured and Imran continues his political war from his hospital bed. He has asked his followers to continue their protests and Pakistan is under severe stress and unrest.
The “typing error” conspiracy state
In many ways, Pakistan is a product of conspiracy. The Lahore Resolution of 1940 which specifically spoke of “two states”, was amended by Jinnah arguing that the “two states” was a “typing error”. Jinnah’s act was more of a historical error resulting from political conspiracy. Jinnah’s Pakistan lasted only 25 years and though Bangladesh paid for it with blood, Pakistan paid with the ignominy of losing its half and its army’s humiliating surrender to arch-enemy India.
Read: Ex-Pakistan PM Imran Khan wounded in firing at anti-govt rally
In 1954, the elected government of East Pakistan was removed through a false accusation that the leaders were planning secession. In 1958, the army directly took over fully and destroyed whatever hope there was of one state. In 1968, it tried to stop the 6-points autonomy movement by falsely involving Sk. Mujib in the Agartala conspiracy case.
In 1969, the army moved in again and after the election of 1970 refused to hand over power to the elected party and instead offered the night of March 25. And the civilian politician Z.A. Bhutto was part of it too.
Post-1971
One would have thought the army had learned its lesson but the Bhutto hanging, the Gen. Zia plane blow-up, the various attempts on the lives of various leaders and the killing of Benazir Bhutto shows that a tradition of violent conspiracy has been established. Pakistan politics is about conspiracies and usually, the military is a player, directly or indirectly.
Read: Pakistan's ex-PM Imran Khan stable after shooting at anti-govt rally
Imran Khan himself is a product of the military in politics. He was replaced by Shehbaz as the ex-cricket captain no longer suited them. Now barred from holding office, he has taken to the street invoking the example of 1970 in East Pakistan which effectively ended Pakistan.
The Dawn writes in its editorial, “By going public with them ( accusations ), Mr. Khan has taken a step that he may find impossible to reverse. It seems highly unlikely that Shehbaz Sharif or Rana Sanaullah will step down on Mr. Khan’s demands, and it is improbable that the military will be interested at this time in removing a top official merely on his complaint. .. the acrimony between the state and the PTI will continue to grow. “
It goes on to blame the bungled management of the case by the Punjab police and “conflicting statements from the centre and Punjab have all added to the confusion and fuelled conspiracy theories.”
Read More: Imran Khan accuses Pak army of recreating 1971-like situation
Meanwhile, the army has called the allegations baseless and condemned Imran Khan. But that hardly matters. It has become embroiled in a crisis that may/can only end through more conspiracy and violence. The only option for Imran is the street, the only for the rest is to intern him, and for Pakistan more chaos. It’s the people who remain prisoners in the hands of its army and politicians that pay the price.
‘Because I fell, one of the shooters thought I’d died, and left’: Imran Khan
Imran Khan, former prime minister of Pakistan, has spoken in public for the first time since being shot while participating in a protest march in the eastern city of Wazirabad.
Khan said that if the two gunmen he observed had “synchronized” their attack, he wouldn’t have survived. He was seated in a wheelchair in a Lahore hospital.
Read: Imran Khan accuses Pak army of recreating 1971-like situation
BBC News quotes the PTI chief as saying: “Because I fell, one of the shooters thought I had died, and left.”
Khan was barred from running for public office by Pakistan’s election board last month in a case that the former all-star cricketer said was “politically motivated”.
One of the men suspected of shooting him confessed on camera and told police that he “intended to murder him” because the former cricketer was “misleading” the public. Uncertainty surrounds the circumstances of the confession.
Read More: Pakistan's ex-PM Imran Khan stable after shooting at anti-govt rally
Imran Khan accuses Pak army of recreating 1971-like situation
Former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan Friday said what happened in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) is happening in his country now.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) chief drew comparisons to 1970, when the largest party, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman-led Awami League, was denied the right to form the government despite gaining the majority of seats in the general elections of December 7 – a watershed moment that later broke Pakistan.
"What happened in East Pakistan? The military took action against the party which won the elections," Imran said in his first public remarks in a video broadcast on PTI's YouTube channel after narrowly escaping an assassination attempt during a long march in Punjab's Wazirabad Thursday.
"The largest party won, but it was denied its rights; the same thing is happening here right now," the PTI chief added.
Sitting in a wheelchair at a hospital in Lahore, the 70-year-old former international cricket star said he would not have survived the shooting if the two shooters he saw had "synchronised" their attack.
One of Imran's supporters was killed and 13 others, including two lawmakers, were wounded in the attack.
Read more: Rallies demonstrate Imran Khan’s political force
Imran's protest march and rallies were peaceful until Thursday afternoon's attack, raising concerns about growing political instability in Pakistan, a country with a history of political violence and assassinations.
He maintains that his April ouster from Parliament was unlawful and a conspiracy by his political opponents orchestrated by the US, a charge denied by both Washington and his successor Shehbaz Sharif.
Imran wants the government to announce snap elections. He led the protest from Lahore beginning last Friday along with thousands of supporters, saying his protest will continue until his demands are accepted.
Pakistan says elections will take place as scheduled in 2023.
Read more: Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif condemns attack on Imran Khan