Pakistani Home Minister Rana Sanulla on Friday urged former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party to reconsider its defenses after yesterday’s assassination attempt.
Khan is recovering in hospital today after being shot in the leg following an assassination attempt, while his supporters have vowed to continue the “long march” he has begun towards Islamabad to pressure the government to organize elections.
Thursday’s attack on his convoy by what appears to be a single gunman left one dead and at least 10 wounded, heightening tensions in a country mired in a deep political crisis after Khan was ousted from power in April.
And the former cricket star is “in stable and good condition” in a hospital in Lahore, East, his doctor Faisal Sultan told AFP on Friday.
Khan, 70, launched last Friday a “long march” involving thousands of his supporters between Lahore and the capital Islamabad to push for early elections, the first stop on the road to power he hopes for.
He was wounded in at least his right leg when a militant fired an automatic pistol at the container of the truck that Khan had been carrying to the crowd since the start of the march.
The assassination attempt took place as the truck was moving slowly in front of a large crowd gathered in Wazirabad, about 170 kilometers east of the capital.
“Everyone in the front row was injured,” Fuad Chaudhry, a former information minister in Khan’s government, told AFP.
“It was an assassination attempt, attempted murder,” Raouf Hassan, one of Khan’s closest advisers, told AFP.
Ansar Khan’s campaign continues
Chaudhry explained that Khan’s party officials will meet on Friday to discuss the strategy to follow for the “long march” while promising that it will continue.
He tweeted: “The long march for true freedom will continue, as will the people’s rights movement, until the election is called.”
Khan, a former cricket champion, was removed from power in April in a vote of no confidence in his government after some of his coalition partners defected. Since then, he has continued to press for an immediate election, capitalizing on his enduring popularity to win a second term.
The government prefers to wait until the October 2023 deadline to give itself time to revive the economy and make it the focus of the campaign.
“Crime scene”
On Friday morning, Khan’s truck became a crime scene. The site was shut down and surrounded by security personnel while science police were at the site.
During the night, thousands of Khan’s supporters gathered at the meeting place, many of them carrying banners with political slogans.
Information Minister Maryam Aurangzeb said the assailant was arrested and a recording of the alleged confession circulated online.
In a video apparently recorded at a police station, the man says: “I did it because he (Khan) is misleading the public, I tried to kill him, I did everything I could.” He added that he was angry because the procession played music during the call to prayer.
“Death for the Country”
Despite being removed from power, Khan still enjoys strong popular support. Since April, he has organized large rallies across the country, involving tens of thousands of people, to put pressure on the fragile ruling coalition.
He continues to claim that his downfall was the result of a “plot” orchestrated by the United States and is highly critical of Shahbaz Sharif’s current government as well as the military establishment.
Khan came to power in 2018 on the basis of an anti-corruption campaign and won the support of voters tired of the family parties that dominate the country’s politics. But his mismanagement of the economy and deteriorating relations with the military contributed to his dismissal.
Khan has repeatedly told his supporters that he is ready to “die for the country,” and his aides have long warned of unspecified threats to his life.
