Tens of thousands of Pakistanis worldwide took to the streets after the removal of Imran Khan’s government following a no-confidence vote. After 174 parliament members voted against him, the former prime minister lost despite blocking the effort and dissolving the assembly. The cricketer-turned-politician alleged that the opposition conspired with the United States to bring regime change in Pakistan. Khan has become the first-ever prime minister in the history of Pakistan to get overthrown in a no-confidence motion. He called on his supporters to stage protests against his ouster and reject the “imported government”.
Protests Break Out against Regime Change in Pakistan
Imran Khan’s supporters rallied across Pakistan cities on Sunday, 10 April waving massive PTI flags and placards. As always, the country’s youth was present in large numbers. Several videos of the protests started making rounds on social media. Here is one video showing streets filled with vehicles and humans shouting slogans in favour of Imran Khan.
Khan stimulated his supporters by saying it was a “freedom struggle” against a “foreign conspiracy of regime change in Pakistan”. The charged public, including women and children, reportedly started rallying from 9 PM to 3 AM in several cities of Pakistan. According to reports, these cities include Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad, Peshawar, Multan, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Jhelum, Vehari, Quetta, Mardan, and Gujrat districts. Here are some scenes from Millennium Mall Karachi last night.
Protestors carried placards that read “Imported government not acceptable”, “Any friend of America is a traitor”, and “we want Imran back”.
Overseas Pakistanis Refuse to Send Remittances
Meanwhile, protests also took place in other parts of the world. According to reports, overseas Pakistanis in London, Dubai, Chicago, and Toronto also staged protests and accused the opposition of conspiring with the US for regime change in Pakistan. Protestors gathered in London Hyde Park and outside Nawaz Sharif’s residence. They said that they will not send remittances through proper banking channels if Khan was not reinstated as the PM. According to reports, local PTI management led the demonstrations in each city.
Demonstrators were also heard raising slogans against the opposition parties. Some specifically targeted PMLN leader Shehbaz Sharif, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari, and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) leader Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman for aligning to remove Imran Khan as the Prime Minister of Pakistan.
Imran Khan Thanks His Supporters
Reportedly, Khan’s party issued the proper schedule for the various protests planned for Pakistani cities last night. Khan claimed that the US wanted to bring him down because of his foreign policy favouring China and Russia. Khan has sparked the ire of America by occasionally criticizing the war in Afghanistan after 9/11. Moreover, the US was also disturbed over Khan’s visit to Russia amid the Ukraine conflict. However, the US has denied the allegations of conspiring to overthrow Khan’s government.
Imran Khan thanked his supporters for demonstrations around the world against a “US-backed regime change in Pakistan”.
It is not clear if the regime change in Pakistan is organic or conspired, but it has happened. Reportedly, Shehbaz Sharif is the leading candidate for the next Prime Minister.
Anticipating his loss, Khan requested to dissolve parliament on 3 April, triggering a political crisis in Pakistan. Later, the Supreme Court of Pakistan had later ordered to restore the assemblies and hold the Vote of No Confidence, which ultimately happened at midnight of April 9, resulting in the ouster of the Prime Minister. Khan’s supporters have now taken to the street for condemning the opposition which is now in government and for showing solidarity with their leader.
