DNA Special: Know political motivation behind assassination attempt on former Pakistan PM Imran Khan

The echoes of bullets rang through Pakistan on Thursday when an assassination attempt was made against former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan in a rally being conducted in Wazirabad. The PTI leader made a narrow escape with his life with an injury to his leg.

After this attack on Imran, many questions are being raised. People are also calling it a politically motivated attack. It is being said that an attempt was made to scare Imran Khan through this attack.

One of the major reasons for this is that the Shahbaz government of Pakistan was nervous about the long march of Imran Khan. The march, which has been going on for the last 7 days, was going towards Islamabad in Pakistan.

Imran Khan had received government threats for not holding this march. Pakistan's Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan, before the start of this march, had warned Imran Khan that "If Imran Khan takes out a long march to Islamabad, Pakistan's Shahbaz government will hang him upside down.” Rana Sanaullah Khan had virtually warned that 'mobs can flare up anytime, do anything.'

It is suspected that this attack was done to scare Imran, and this attack is politically motivated. In May this year, Imran Khan had taken out a long march, during which there was a lot of violence. The workers of Imran's party Tehreek-e-Insaf had done a lot of violence, after which Khan withdrew his long march.

However, Imran Khan did not get much support from the people in that march. But this time a large number of people are gathering in Imran Khan's march. Pakistan's Shehbaz Sharif government was irritated by this long march as it was being perceived as a rebellion against them.

Imran Khan started this long march from Lahore to Islamabad on October 28. It was named 'Haqiqi Azadi March'. Imran Khan's long march has only one purpose, and that is to topple the Shahbaz government and hold mid-term elections.

Elections are due in Pakistan next year i.e. in the year 2023, but a few months ago, the way the Imran government fell, the former Pakistan PM wants to hold mid-term elections in every situation.

One of the objectives of this long march is to check Imran's popularity in Pakistan. Imran Khan supporters had one particular aim in this march – to rebel against the Shehbaz Sharif government and defame them.

For this, Imran Khan talked about making many revelations about former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and the intelligence agency ISI in his long march. Imran Khan had also praised Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his public rallies, which didn’t sit well with the current Pakistan government.

Imran Khan has reiterated many times in his march that the Pakistani army and America have a hand in toppling his government. Imran had made statements against the US several times. He has also said earlier that "death is better than slavery to America". Due to the rhetoric against the United States, Imran Khan was caught in the eyes of the Pakistani government and the army.

The infiltration of the army and ISI in Pakistan's politics is so high that elections, voting, and democracy seem like a drama there. The manner in which turmoil is taking place in Pakistan today is not the first time. In fact, it is the army there that decides who will become the Prime Minister of Pakistan.

After repeatedly speaking out against the Pakistani Army, ISI, and Shehbaz Sharif, several red flags were raised against Imran Khan and his party PTI. Meanwhile, no official confirmation has been provided as to why the attempt against Khan’s life was made at the political rally on Thursday.

READ | Did former Pakistan PM Imran Khan predict his own assassination weeks before Wazirabad rally?