Aimal Wali Khan, great grandson of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, of the Awami National Party, openly said that former governor of KPK, present chief minister of KPK, three other ministers and former speaker of the national assembly are paying regular "bhatta" to the TTP for their safety. The situation is so dire that the TTP is indulging in extortion from top government functionaries. The TTP, on one hand, is holding dialogue with the Pakistan army after declaring ceasefire and on the other, spreading its tentacles in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) and carrying out targeted killings of its opponents. Not only the precarious condition of the economy, but the Pakistan army is also worried over its inability to tackle Baloch insurgency and the violent depredations of TTP with whom it is holding talks facilitated by Sirajuddin Haqqani, Interior Minister of the Taliban government. The US was also waiting for this opportunity, as it can now wean away Pakistan from Chinese stranglehold and once again use the country to neutralise threats emanating from Afghanistan. However, the Pakistan army can ill afford annoying the US and hence reinstalling Imran Khan is not an option. What worries the Pakistan army is that a large number of Imran's supporters are ex-servicemen and their family members from Punjab, the main catchment area of its recruitment. Now out of power, Imran Khan is turning out to be more dangerous both for the army and the US interests. The army needed the US support for bailout by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to avoid a default, getting out of the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force and assured military and intelligence assistance in dealing with the growing threat of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) as also keeping its powerful neighbour, India, at bay. Pakistan, having remained subservient to the strategic and economic interests of the US for decades, can ill afford angering the superpower. What compelled the army to throw out Imran Khan was the hostile statements and interviews he had given to the international media against the US policies in Afghanistan during the latter's withdrawal from there. Numerous social media accounts associated with Imran's party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, have not only targeted the Pakistan army, but also lampooned its chief, Qamar Javed Bajwa (on extension till November 29 this year) and ISI chief Nadeem Anjum. In fact, first backing Imran and now Shehbaz, has irreparably dented the public image of the army. People are even not questioning him about his dismal performance when he was in power and his promise of a 'Naya Pakistan' that he made before the 2018 general elections. The economic distress is so grave that people have forgotten that even Imran Khan was raised in the nurseries of the army and the Inter-Services Intelligence. The response of the masses in favour of Imran Khan has baffled the army and his political opponents, who thought that once out of power, he would gradually fade away. There is no doubt that Imran Khan has successfully channelised the public anger and discontentment emanating from the dysfunctional economy, appalling inequalities, and political turmoil against his political opponents and their backers in the army. What emboldens Imran is the fact that the ever surging and animated crowds at his meetings are believing his narrative that the real reason for the present distress in the country is due to the army foisting "corrupt" politicians to subserve the US' strategic interests in the region. Revelling in the swelling crowds in public meetings, former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan is simultaneously taking on the army, the Shehbaz Sharif government, the Election Commission and the judiciary without fearing the possible consequences.
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