By Justice Markandey Katju-
(Justice Markandey Katju is a former Judge, Supreme Court of India, and former Chairman of Press Council of India. The views expressed are his own.)
I saw an interesting video today on YouTube just now, which was a discussion between Adeel Habib — a Pakistani businessman settled in Canada, who owns the website siasat.pk — and Ali Zai. They both believe that the PTI leadership outside jail are compromised, and has been largely won over by the Pakistan Establishment. In fact, according to them, the precondition for a PTI leader to be out of jail is to betray Imran Khan, and become hand in glove with the Establishment.
I have also seen several videos in which eminent Pakistanis like Akbar Ahmed, Pervez Hoodbhoy, Husain Haqqani, Hafiz Saad, Ayesha Siddiqa, etc and eminent Pakisani journalists like Moeed Pirzada, Hamid Mir, Hassan Nisar, Imran Riaz Khan, Meher Bukhari, Sami Ibrahim, Ayaz Amir, Matiullah Jan, Shahzeb Khanzada, Maria Memon, Sabir Shakir, etc have tried to explain what is happening in Pakistan.
I regret to say that they all have a totally superficial understanding, which means no understanding at all about what is going on in Pakistan. So let me explain.
Soon after it was created in 1947, Pakistan became an American semi-colony. The U.S. Government wanted it as a bulwark against the Soviet Union and communism in the Cold War, and the Pakistanis wanted ‘aid’, which meant a huge amount of money and weapons from the USA.
The Pakistani generals (the real rulers of Pakistan), the civilian government leaders, and the Pakistani senior bureaucrats, were won over by the Americans, by various means, e.g. giving the former’s children or close relatives highly paid jobs in the World Bank, the IMF, or in some multi-national corporation, or giving them admission with full scholarship in some Ivy League University, like Harvard, Yale, Cornell, Columbia, Berkeley or Stanford, etc. Also, they were allowed to have a cut in the huge amount of aid which the Americans were giving, which they stacked in secret foreign havens. So, the Pakistan government loyally obeyed the orders it received from Washington D.C.
A political leader who wanted to shift away from the USA, like Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, was eliminated. However, the situation has changed with the emergence of China as a super power in the world. Now, China has penetrated deeply into the Pakistan economy, and the U.S. government must be very worried that the Chinese may soon penetrate into the political echelons of power in Pakistan too, which though still under U.S. grip till today, may not so remain if the Chinese presence in Pakistan keeps expanding.
To understand developments in Pakistan, one must understand that there are two big alliances in the world today, which are hostile to each other (1) the U.S.-Europe alliance, and (2) the China-Russia alliance. What is happening in Pakistan is a reflection of the hostility between these two alliances.
Pakistan was till now firmly in the U.S. grip, but now China — which has become a superpower — too is trying to muscle in, and it has used politicians like Imran Khan for this purpose.
Imran Khan, after becoming Prime Minister, strongly antagonised America by shifting Pakistan away from the U.S. and towards the
China-Russia alliance. He has repeatedly spoken against the USA, and said that the U.S. government made the Pakistan Government (of Gen Pervez Musharraf) send troops into Afghanistan after the event of 9/11, which resulted in the death of 70,000 Pakistani soldiers, with no benefit to Pakistan. He also said: ”Our relationship with the U.S. has been a master-servant relationship, or a master-slave relationship, and we’ve been used like a hired gun.”
All this must have infuriated, estranged, and alienated the American government, which determined to oust Imran Khan from the Prime Minister’s post (just as they decided to oust Bhutto).
In April 2022, the world watched as Prime Minister Imran Khan was dethroned, arrested, and later confined to a cramped, bleak cell, allegedly at the insistence of the U.S. Government. Today, nearly 180 criminal charges loom over him, each designed to ensure he never regains freedom.
But what are Khan’s offenses? On the surface, he is accused of minor misdemeanors, from not fully paying for toshakhana gifts to alleged cypher crimes.
However, the real reasons for his incarceration in Adiala Jail are rooted in his shift away from the U.S.
Here are his so-called ‘crimes’
Opposition to U.S. Invasion of Afghanistan (Post-9/11): After the horrific 9/11 attack, President Bush prepared to invade Afghanistan and demanded global allegiance, announcing, “Those not with us are against us.” Pakistan’s ruler at the time, General Musharraf, sided with the U.S., despite Pakistan’s close ties to Afghanistan. Khan denounced this alliance, highlighting the loss of 70,000 Pakistani lives and an economic setback of $150 billion. His claim was that the partnership was formed not for public interest but for financial gains.
Refusal to partner with the U.S.: Khan firmly declared that Pakistan would never again join the U.S. in warfare, chastising past decisions to engage in U.S.-led conflicts.
Opposition to U.S. military bases in Pakistan: Khan stoutly resisted any U.S. military presence within Pakistan, fearing it would lead to retaliatory attacks.
Seeking oil deals with Russia: Amidst the Ukraine conflict, Khan went to Moscow and met President Putin for oil deals. This antagonised the U.S.
Resistance to U.S. aid: Khan has long been a critic of U.S aid, feeling it compromises national sovereignty.
Allegations of a U.S. conspiracy: Khan has voiced his suspicions about a U.S.-led plot that led to his ousting in 2022.
These actions have made Khan a thorn in the side of the U.S. government, and by extension, the Pakistan army, which has historically kowtowed to U.S. interests. As mentioned above, high-ranking Pakistani army officers enjoy direct or indirect benefits from the U.S., be it lucrative jobs for their children in America, or scholarships to prestigious institutions, or direct bribe in the form of a cut in defense deals.
Khan’s defiance towards the U.S., in essence, is the ‘crime’ that has seen him get imprisoned in Adiala Jail under grim conditions, and one cannot help but wonder whether he will meet the same fate as ZA Bhutto.
This is the truth about what is happening in Pakistan.