Pakistan: Pro-Imran Khan protests stoke fear of military takeover

Thousands of supporters of former Prime Minister Imran Khan have descended on the Pakistani capital Islamabad this week, staging violent protests and calling for Khan's release from prison. Several security forces members have already been killed in the unrest, according to the government.

The interior ministry said additional personnel has been deployed to protect diplomatic missions within the heavily secured Red Zone, which houses multiple government buildings and embassies in Islamabad.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the violence as "extremism" directed at fulfilling "evil political objectives."

With violence escalating however, many wonder if Sharif will remain in charge or be sidelined by the nation's powerful military.

What are the protests about?

The main demand of Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party is to set free all its leaders, including Khan himself, who has been jailed on multiple corruption charges since August 2023..

Khan's supporters also accuse the Sharif's coalition of rigging this year's general election. The current government is facing calls to step down.

Sharif's government has not shown any signs of conceding to the demands. Instead, authorities have positioned shipping containers to block key roads leading to Islamabad, and deployed police and paramilitary forces in riot gear. Public gatherings have been prohibited in Islamabad.

Mobile internet services have been disrupted, and schools have remained closed both in the capital and the adjacent garrison city of Rawalpindi.

'All bets are off' if military officers die

The military has also been deployed to the city to reinforce public order. But analysts fear that clashes between soldiers and protesters might make the unrest even more dangerous.

"If things turn violent then there will be a possibility of direct military intervention that will further deteriorate the situation," political commentator Zahid Husain told DW.

"If the army is going to crush the protesters then the situation will be beyond their control," he warned.

Legal expert Osama Malik told DW that an outright military intervention was "unlikely."

"However, if army officers are killed in clashes with this armed horde, then all bets are off," he added.

"The deployment of the military already means it is involved in this crisis. A military takeover is not the answer. The question is whether the army can play the role of an arbiter to bring this crisis to a peaceful conclusion," according to Malik.

'We are ready to die for Khan'

Protesters in Islamabad say they won't leave the streets until Khan is free. 

"We have faced all the hurdles and pain for Imran Khan, who is fighting for the people's rights and we will not leave this place until they will release Khan," protester Adnan Khan told DW. 

"We are ready to die for Khan," he said.

Pakistan is "on the brink" and could face an even greater crisis unless a political solution is found and both sides take a step back, Maleeha Lodhi, a former ambassador to the US, the UK and the UN, told DW. 

"It is uncertain if protesters can force Khan's release but they seem resolute and unyielding in defying the authorities but it is hard to predict how the situation will play out," Lodhi said. 

"The threat of violence is ever present with thousands on the streets of the capital and even greater numbers of police, paramilitary and regular troops in eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation," the former diplomat warned.

Khan's ally says government tries to intimidate protesters

The ongoing protest is led by Imran Khan's wife, Bushra Bibi, who described the demonstration as a "do or die" sit-in.

Khan's media advisor Zulfikar Bukhari said the government can only stop the protests by "increasing the intensity of brutality" and accused security forces of already killing three protesters.

"At the moment the most dangerous scenario is (the government) giving orders to the rangers to shot directly at the peaceful protesters. I think they will look to make an excuse to fire and increase the levels of brutality to try to make thousands of protesters come in fear," Bukhari told DW.