Whether anyone accepts it or not, the truth is that Pakistan’s politics revolves around a man who has been imprisoned in Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail for the past three years. The name of this prisoner is Imran Khan. On 18 August, the Supreme Court of Pakistan ordered that Imran Khan be transferred to Al-Shifa Hospital in Islamabad within two days. Ignoring this order, Shehbaz Sharif’s government gave Imran Khan a tour of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) and locked him back up in Adiala Jail.
Sohail Afridi, Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, belongs to Imran Khan’s party, Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). Afridi announced a long march toward Islamabad for Imran Khan’s release. To stop the march, the federal government began negotiations with PTI. But Afridi said that if Imran Khan tells them to stop the long march, they will stop. The federal government did not agree. Holding Afridi responsible for the failure of the talks, it decided to impose Governor’s Rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Governor’s Rule means the end of Afridi’s government, but the long march has not ended. On Sunday, Shehbaz Sharif convened a meeting of the federal cabinet, declared Afridi a facilitator of terrorists, and decided on Governor’s Rule and an emergency. Imposing Governor’s Rule in a province of Pakistan is nothing new, but the history attached to it is very painful. Sadly, this bitter history is being repeated again and again.
In 1954, when elections were held in East Pakistan (present-day Bangladesh), the Muslim League was defeated and A.K. Fazlul Huq of the United Front became chief minister. The federal government of Pakistan declared Fazlul Huq an enemy of the country, dismissed him, and imposed Governor’s Rule in East Pakistan through Iskander Mirza. In the 1970 elections, the Awami League won a majority. Instead of transferring power to the Awami League, the military dictator General Yahya Khan decided on a military operation.
First, Lieutenant General Sahabzada Yaqub Ali Khan was made governor and ordered to carry out the operation. When he refused, General Tikka Khan was made governor. Tikka Khan began the operation but could not establish peace, so General AAK Niazi was made governor, and he surrendered to joint forces and thus Bangladesh was born.
Even after Pakistan broke apart, the lessons of old mistakes were not learned. In 1973, the elected government of Balochistan’s Chief Minister Ataullah Mengal was dismissed and Governor’s Rule was imposed in the province. Akbar Bugti was made governor, but only ten months later he bid farewell to Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. In 1975, Hayat Muhammad Khan Sherpao, a close associate of Bhutto, was murdered at Peshawar University. Blaming Wali Khan and his associates for the murder, Governor’s Rule was imposed in the province.
Major General Syed Ghous, a former ISI officer, was made governor, but he could not handle the province’s situation. Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa stand today exactly where they stood fifty years ago. Akbar Bugti, who became governor in 1973, was declared a traitor by the Pakistani army in 2006 and was killed in the mountains of Balochistan. Ataullah Mengal and Wali Khan were declared facilitators of the country’s enemies.
And Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who made that declaration, was hanged at the gallows in 1979 at the hands of the Pakistani army.
Pakistan’s political history is very cruel. This history tells us that in 2018, Imran Khan, too, became prime minister riding on the shoulders of military generals. When differences arose with those generals, Imran Khan was removed from power and Shehbaz Sharif was seated in the prime minister’s chair.
The generals thought that, just as politicians like Nawaz Sharif had in the past struck deals after going to jail and gone to Saudi Arabia or Britain, Imran Khan too would not be able to spend long in jail. Like Nawaz Sharif, Imran Khan would make a deal and go abroad. But Imran Khan refused to become Nawaz Sharif.
Shehbaz Sharif’s government is not ready to take the risk of releasing him, and is not even ready to transfer him to a hospital. Had the Supreme Court’s 18 August decision been implemented, there would have been neither Governor’s Rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa nor a long march.
Sohail Afridi’s long march is for Imran Khan’s release, but Shehbaz Sharif has also started a long march of his own. This long march is pushing Pakistan toward a civilian dictatorship.
The Shehbaz Sharif government’s position is that whatever they are doing, they are doing within the Constitution. The Constitution also commands them to implement the Supreme Court’s orders, but where the Constitution becomes an obstacle in their path, they ignore it. Where the Constitution serves the fulfillment of their political agenda, they become champions of the Constitution. Imran Khan used to do much the same.
Imran Khan jailed many of his political opponents, including Shehbaz Sharif, and kept a ban on an insolent journalist like me for nine months.
But there is one difference. In the Global Democracy Index, Imran Khan’s government was classified among Hybrid Regimes, but today Shehbaz Sharif’s government has been classified among Authoritarian Regimes.
Governor’s Rule and an emergency have been imposed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa at a time when Pakistan’s relations with India and Afghanistan are extremely tense. India has suspended the Indus Waters Treaty and begun new projects to divert the flow of Pakistan’s rivers. Terrorism is taking place in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan via Afghanistan.
Until a few months ago, Pakistan’s rulers were boasting proudly of their mediating role between America and Iran, because US President Donald Trump was praising them every day. Then Trump began direct negotiations with Iran.
Pakistan made a mutual defense agreement with Saudi Arabia and Turkey. The Pakistani government claims it will defend Saudi Arabia at all costs. By all means, let Saudi Arabia be defended, but Pakistan’s government should first put its own house in order.
In the Global Terrorism Index 2026, Pakistan has ranked first. To combat terrorism, Shehbaz Sharif’s government will have to unite all political forces. There must be no impression that, in the name of the war on terror, an operation is being carried out against one political party in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Such a policy will not bring peace to the province.
Shehbaz Sharif’s government has become a prisoner of Imran Khan phobia. This captive government has pushed Pakistan toward civilian dictatorship. This government needs to be freed from Imran Khan phobia and should learn a lesson from the fate of Bangladesh’s former prime minister, Sheikh Hasina.
*Hamid Mir is a Pakistani journalist who has survived several assassination attempts and faced repeated bans under successive governments.