Pakistan has descended into chaos after the dramatic arrest of Imran Khan. Supporters of the former Pakistan prime minister stormed the army headquarters in Rawalpindi and entered the compound of the army commanders’ residence in Lahore on Tuesday evening. Protests erupted across the country soon after the 70-year-old cricketer-turned-politician was arrested as he was entering the Islamabad high court for a hearing in a case.

Prohibitory orders banning large gatherings were imposed across Islamabad and social media was suspended. But that has not deterred the former prime minister’s supporters. On Wednesday, Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) instructed the party leaders, workers and supporters to continue the sit-ins and demonstrations until their leader is not released.

The arrest with the use of Pakistan Rangers is seen as an action backed by the country’s powerful military and not by the civilian government led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

But once the blue-eyed boy of the army, how did Imran Khan become their Enemy No 1 in the country? We take a look.

When Khan and the army saw eye to eye

Imran Khan came to power with the promise of “Naya Pakistan”. There was speculation that he had the backing of the military, the most powerful institution in the country. The cricketer-turned-politician, of course, denies that the army had any role in the election, where he won by a slim majority.

But he was thick with them, a fact which was cemented when he said two months after the win, in November 2018 that his government and the military were “all on one page”.

Sources within the government said that the “military called the shots” during Khan’s first few years in power – pro-military reforms were introduced and the curbs were introduced on the media.

Two years on, the PTI leader remained in the army’s good books. In 2020, Khan reiterated that he had a “most harmonious relationship” with the army. “I honestly think it is the most harmonious relationship. We have complete coordination, we work together, the military completely stands by all the democratic government’s policies whether it is with India, whether it is for the peaceful solution in Afghanistan,” the then PM said in an interview with Al-Jazeera.

Also read: The Fall of Imran Khan: What finally led to arrest of former Pakistani prime minister?

The deteriorating ties

But soon after, ties with the military top brass started deteriorating. Already facing the heat for the handling of the pandemic and the country’s poor economic situation, he crossed paths with the army chief.

In 2021, cracks began to show in the “harmonious” relationship. The controversy was surrounding Lt General Faiz Hameed, chief of Pakistan’s powerful spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), at the time. The then PM was at loggerheads with the then army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa over the change of guard at ISI.

Khan wanted Hameed to continue and the PTI leader delayed the appointment of a new chief for months. But he seemed to have forgotten who calls the shots in the country. A new ISI chief – Lt Gen Nadeem Anjum – was appointed in November 2021. That’s not all. General Hameed was ousted from the ISI. This was the first blow to the authority of the PM.

While Khan back then appeared to be on board, he was humiliated. As he started losing favour with the Pakistan army, he became restless, desperate and more outspoken.

Khan’s ouster

In a video that went viral in January 2022, Khan warned that he would turn dangerous if attempts were made to oust him. Those in the Opposition interpreted this as Khan’s acceptance of defeat. A section of the Pakistani media said that Imran Khan’s message was directed at the army.

The military by now had already started withdrawing their support unhappy with Pakistan’s deteriorating economic condition. Khan had failed to deliver on his promises.

In April 2022, Khan was ousted from power. PTI’s key ally Muttahida Qaumi Movement joined hands with the Opposition and the government lost its majority in Parliament. The leader tried to hang on to power by unconstitutionally dissolving the parliament but it didn’t work.

Soon, Khan lost a no-confidence vote and Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) leader Shehbaz Sharif, the brother of Nawaz Sharif, replaced him. The army did not come to the PTI leader’s defence – in fact, it said it would not intervene in politics.

Protests erupted back then as they are now, showing the support Khan enjoys among the masses. Khan remained defiant. Positioning himself as an anti-establishment rebel, he started publicly slamming military generals, who reportedly brought him to power in the first place. He especially targeted Gen Bajwa, accusing him of favouring the Sharif family and causing “more damage to the country than any enemy”. In speeches and videos on social media, he blamed the military for orchestrating a “Western-backed conspiracy” to topple him. He led marches and undertook rallies as corruption cases against him mounted.

In October 2022, he was disqualified from running for political office for five years for “corrupt practices”. Khan alleged that he survived an assassination attempt after the Pakistan election commission’s decision.

In November 2022, he was shot in the leg by a gunman at a rally, where he was calling for snap elections. Once again, he accused the government and the army of joining hands with foreign powers to have him assassinated.

Khan faces several corruption cases. He has also been accused of treason and blasphemy. As his popularity soared, he was booked in at least 121 cases. It is seen as an attempt by the army and the Shehbaz Sharif government to keep Khan out of power.

Crossing the line

In March, this year Khan managed to evade arrest as he escaped to a neighbour’s house.

But he was finally arrested on Tuesday. Scores of Pakistan Rangers personnel in riot gear swarmed into the Islamabad high court complex on Tuesday afternoon and arrested him in the Al-Qadir Trust case about land bribery

Those familiar with the matter said Khan crossed a red line when he accused top ISI officer Maj Gen Faisal Naseer of trying to kill him twice while addressing a rally in Lahore on Saturday. Though Khan had referred to the same general obliquely in other speeches, he had never named Naseer publicly, according to a report in The Hindustan Times.

On Monday, a day before the arrest, the military said in a strongly worded statement that the PTI chief levelled “highly irresponsible and baseless allegations” against a serving military officer without any evidence. “This has been a consistent pattern for last one year wherein military and intelligence agencies officials are targeted with insinuations and sensational propaganda for the furtherance of political objectives,” the statement said.

PM Sharif also hit out at Khan for “maligning and threatening” the army and ISI. Khan’s “levelling of allegations without any proof against Gen Faisal Naseer and officers of our Intelligence Agency cannot be allowed and will not be tolerated,” Sharif said in a tweet on Monday.

Yes, the army and the government are in hand in gloves. Not as popular as Khan, the Pakistan Democratic Movement government would not have acted without a sign-off from the army. Many looked at Khan’s action as an attempt to cause a divide in the military and that would not be tolerated.

Pakistan might claim to be a democracy but those in power in Islamabad and mere puppets. Khan’s fallout and arrest are proof.

With inputs from agencies

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