How the U.S. Regime’s Dictatorship Gets Enforced in Pakistan

Imran Khan—not liked in Washington.

On August 21st, Andrew Korybko headlined “Interpreting The Pakistani Media Regulator’s Ban On Imran Khan’s Live Broadcasts”, and reported that,

The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) decreed on Saturday [August 20th] that former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s speeches can no longer be broadcast live on satellite TV channels throughout the country. The supposed basis behind this dramatic decision is that he “is continuously alleging state institutions by leveling baseless allegations and spreading hate speech through his provocative statements against state institutions and officers which is prejudicial to the maintenance of law and order and is likely to disturb public peace and tranquility.”
This move was made immediately after the country’s former leader, who was deposed by a US-orchestrated but domestically driven post-modern coup in early April as punishment for his independent foreign policy (particularly its Eurasian dimensions), announced that he’d be filing court cases against the IG and DIG of the Islamabad Police as well as Additional District and Sessions Judge (ADSJ) Zeba Chaudhry for what he claimed was their complicity in the alleged torture of his close associate Shahbaz Gill.

Here are key events which led up to the present crisis:

On 26 July 2018, the “Moon of Alabama” blogger bannered “Pakistan's ‘Populist’ Wins The Election” and reported that,

Imran Khan won yesterday's elections in Pakistan. He is an unusual politician and his political program is laudable. The task he is taking on is difficult and fraught with danger:

Imran Khan has claimed victory for his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party (PTI) in an historic election for Pakistan. The PTI represents a populist swing away from the legacy mainstream parties PML-N and PPP that both fared poorly during the election. Additionally, religious extremist parties fared particularly poorly compared to the previous two elections and also when contrasted with the expectations that many theocratic parties set for themselves prior to polling day. Lastly, the deeply controversial MQM ended up losing both seats and electoral momentum in its Karachi heartland, surrendering its erstwhile momentum to PTI.
Likewise, the incumbent PML-N not only fared poorly in the national vote in their traditional Punjab stronghold but even in the Punjab assembly election, Imran Khan’s PTI has proved formidable. Finally in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa which since 2013 has been governed by a PTI led provincial council, women were able to cast their votes for the first time. As was expected PTI heavily dominated throughout Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Imran Khan is an interesting character. He was born in 1952 into an affluent Pashtun family with an anti-colonial tradition. He was educated in Britain. After graduating from Oxford he excelled as a professional cricket player. In 1992 he won the Cricket World Cup for Pakistan as captain of the team. That made him a national hero but the high life also gave him a reputation as womanizer and playboy.

His 2012 talk with Julian Assange (vid) demonstrates that he is way more than that. In 1996 he founded his political party and slowly moved it into a winning position. The PTI rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the poor and war-torn Pashtun state next to Afghanistan, was surprisingly successful.

Pakistan was long ruled by the military and several rich clans which used their political parties to enrich themselves. There is no evidence that Imran is of such a type. …

Imran campaigned on a social-democratic and anti-corruption platform. His victory speech (scroll down) emphasized his concern for the poor:

Pakistan should have that kind of humanitarian state, where we take responsibility for our weaker classes. The weak are dying of hunger. I will try my best – all of my policies will be made to raise our weaker classes, for our labourers … for our poor farmers, who work all year and get no money … 45 percent of children have stunted growth, they don’t reach the right height, or their brains don’t develop. … No country can prosper when there is a small island of rich people, and a sea of poor.

“MoA” noted that “Pakistan has long been a puppet state of the U.S. and its Saudi wallet.”

On 31 March 2022, a Russian news-site headlined “Pakistan PM names ‘foreign power’ that wants him toppled: Imran Khan accuses the US of meddling as no-confidence vote looms”, and reported:

Pakistani PM Imran Khan ‘accidentally’ named the United States as the culprit when he claimed “a foreign country I can’t name” was eager to see him removed from his post via a no-confidence vote.

“America has – oh, not America but a foreign country I can’t name” sent the leader the message in an effort to meddle in his country’s politics, Khan said in a televised address on Thursday, after a no-confidence vote against him was rescheduled.
Khan had received a briefing letter from the Pakistani ambassador to the US that included a recording of a senior official from Washington implying the relationship between the two countries would improve in Khan’s absence, local media reported on Thursday.

“They say that ‘our anger will vanish if Imran Khan loses this no-confidence vote’,” Khan claimed, describing the contents of the letter.
READ MORE: Pakistan, like India, won't bow to Western pressure – PM Khan
US State Department spokesperson Ned Price insisted there was “no truth” to the allegations, stating Washington was “closely following developments in Pakistan” but that it “respect[ed] and support[ed] Pakistan’s constitutional process and the rule of law.”

It’s not the first time Khan has accused Washington of meddling in the country's internal affairs and trying to influence its policy decisions. He broached the issue at a Sunday rally where he sought to draw on supporters’ energy as his political opposition has attempted to oust him and reminded his supporters during Thursday’s broadcast that Pakistan had gotten nothing from supporting the US’ war on “terror” except a lot more terrorists and drone bombings.

Khan has refused to bow to American pressure and condemn Russia for sending troops into Ukraine, arguing Pakistan had nothing to gain by such a move. However, this has made him a target for the US and its allies, who are already upset that neighboring India has also refused to join their sanctions campaign against Moscow.

Debate regarding the no-confidence motion was supposed to begin on Thursday, though the deputy speaker, a member of Khan’s party, suspended the proceedings when the legislators chose not to address other items on the agenda first. This scandalized opposition leader Shahbaz Sharif, who told reporters that the deputy speaker had “once again dishonored the parliamentary norms by not allowing the agenda item for a debate.”

Parliament is next due to meet on Sunday. Khan’s party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, is not just outnumbered – it’s fighting the two more mainstream parties (Pakistan Muslim League-N and Pakistan People’s Party) that typically switch off power between them.

Then, on 1 April 2022, America’s National Public Radio (NPR) headlined “Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan accuses the U.S. of trying to oust him”.

On 7 April 2022, Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper bannered “Supreme Court restores National Assembly, orders no-confidence vote”.

On 9 April 2022, the British aristocracy’s Reuters news agency headlined “Frontrunner for next Pakistani PM seen as ‘can-do' administrator”. That person did turn out to be the one that the U.S. Government had selected to run the country. He became appointed on April 11th, and promptly began dismantling his predecessor’s policies.

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