Former Pakistani Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s supporters have launched widespread demonstrations in several cities across the world to protest his ouster, which he claims was a “foreign conspiracy” perpetrated by the United States (US) that led to the trust vote against him on April 9.
According to Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) party’s Twitter handle, thousands gathered at demonstrations in many Pakistani cities, including Karachi, Peshawar, and Islamabad. While several accounts of the protests were seen on social media, Pakistani media houses have been largely silent on these rallies, which Khan’s allies allege is due to a media blackout on the protests imposed by the new government.
What an awesome sight!
— Ali Haider Zaidi (@AliHZaidiPTI) April 18, 2022
Millions recite the national anthem together!
Pakistanis have rejected this regime change & are standing with @ImranKhanPTI
Special thanks to our #OverseasPakistanis also for raising this issue globally! #PakistanNeedsElections #امپورٹڈ_حکومت_نامنظور pic.twitter.com/v3bPbr1BzI
Speaking from the demonstration in Karachi on Sunday, former Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly (NA) Qasim Suri said that the scale of the support seen for the PTI-led government showed that the people are firmly against PM Shehbaz Sharif’s “imported regime.” According to two provincial and federal intelligence agencies cited by Geo TV, 30,000-35,000 individuals participated in the jalsa in Karachi on Saturday.
While addressing protestors during a rally on Saturday, Khan declared, “I want to tell the nation that I’ve never been against any country. I’m not anti-India, anti-Europe or anti-US. I’m with the humanity of the world. I’m not against any nation. I want friendship with everyone but slavery with no one.”
Pakistan Trust Vote Coverage:
- US Echoes Pak Army’s Dismissal of Allegations of Foreign Conspiracy to Oust Imran Khan
- New Pakistani PM Sharif Says Peace With India Impossible Until Kashmir Issue Resolved
- Pakistan SC Rules Dissolution of NA “Unconstitutional”, Trust Vote Against PM Khan on Sat.
- Pakistan Imran Khan Dissolves Parliament and Calls for Early Election
- Pakistan PM Imran Khan Loses Majority Just Days Before Trust Vote as MQM-P Severs Ties
- Pakistan PM Imran Khan Insists on Foreign Conspiracy With Alleged Threat Letter
- Pakistan PM Khan Succumbs to Pressure From Within Coalition, Ousts Punjab CM Buzdar
- Pakistan PM Imran Khan Claims “Foreign Money” Fuelling Opposition’s Goal of Toppling Gov’t
- Pakistan Interior Minister Warns PTI “Turncoats” of Early Elections Ahead of Trust Vote
- Pakistan Army Chief Bajwa Reportedly Asks PM Imran Khan to Resign After OIC Conference
- Embattled Pakistan PM Imran Khan Calls Army “Animals” for ‘Neutral’ Stance on Trust Vote
- Pakistan PM Imran Khan Scrambles For Support as Opposition Submits No-Confidence Motion
- Pakistani PM Imran Khan Warns Opposition of Consequences of Failed No-Trust Vote
Reiterating his claim of a “foreign-funded conspiracy,” he said that the PTI members who had deflected from his party had been attending meetings at the American embassy, where they were offered “a lot of money” to help in his ouster. He also questioned Sharif’s competence as the country’s new leader, specifically in light of the “40 billion rupee corruption cases” against him. “What more insult of our country can it be that a person out on bail is the Prime Minister?” he asked rhetorically.
Massive protest outside Nawaz Sharif’s house in London.
— Sufyan | سفیان (@sandstorm82) April 17, 2022
@ImranKhanPTI
@PTIofficial pic.twitter.com/pjbNFrAw1Y
Apart from the rallies in Pakistan, Pakistani nationals and diaspora across the world took to the streets in support of Khan as well, with protests seen in Dubai, London, Chicago, New York, Birmingham, Manchester, Wellington, and Ottawa, among others, where protesters demanded the ouster of Sharif’s “imported government” and called for fresh elections.
In London, protestors gathered outside former PM Nawaz Sharif’s house. Sharif, who is also the brother of the incumbent PM, has been in London since he left a Pakistani jail in 2020, where he was completing his prison term for financial crimes. Similar protests were also launched outside his house immediately after Khan’s ouster, which resulted in clashes between Khan and Sharif’s supporters.
اتوار کو لندن میں عمران نیازی کی سابقہ اہلیہ کے گھر کے باہر احتجاج ہوگا۔ تا کہ اس کے بچوں کو بھی پتا چلے ان کا باپ کتنا کمینہ ہے۔ pic.twitter.com/9GL6QqPOhR
— Abid Sher Ali (@AbidSherAli) April 14, 2022
In response, members of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) launched demonstrations outside the house of Khan’s ex-wife, Jemima Goldsmith, in London. Expressing her concern about the protests, she noted that it reminded her of her time in Lahore in the 1990s, which she said indicated the revival of “Purana Pakistan,” or old Pakistan. She also mentioned that her children are being targeted with threats and anti-Semitic abuses on social media.
While Jemima has remained largely silent on the political turmoil in Pakistan, her brother, Zack Goldsmith, who is also the United Kingdom’s (UK) Foreign Office Minister for the Pacific and the International Environment, has vocally supported Khan. However, the British government has distanced itself from Goldsmith’s opinions, clarifying that his position was not the UK’s official stand.
Protest points nationwide. Shortly the Nation will demonstrate how they stand with their leader @ImranKhanPTI ! #امپورٹڈ_حکومت_نامنظور pic.twitter.com/52Mjjs8a7L
— PTI (@PTIofficial) April 10, 2022
Pakistan became an independent state in 1947; but the freedom struggle begins again today against a foreign conspiracy of regime change. It is always the people of the country who defend their sovereignty & democracy.
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) April 10, 2022
Since Khan’s ouster on April 9, protests have continued in Karachi, Peshawar, Malakand, Multan, Khanewal, Khyber, Jhang, Quetta, Okara, Islamabad, Lahore and Abbottabad. Khan called them the beginning of the “freedom struggle” against the “foreign conspiracy of regime change.” In this respect, PTI spokesperson Fawad Chaudhry stated that Khan is obligated to lead the massive movement to refrain from betraying the “country’s politics and Constitution.”