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    Op-Ed                                                                 AUGUST 28, 2026      |  The Indian Eye 14

                      Why Pakistani regime is

                            afraid of Imran Khan

                    Three years behind bars have not diminished Imran Khan’s political influence; if anything, his

              imprisonment has turned him into the central challenge to Pakistan’s political and military establishment

            ASHISH K SINGH

                  here is a simple question behind Pakistan’s
                  continuing political crisis: if Imran Khan is
            Tas politically finished as the government and
            military establishment suggest, why is he still in jail?
                Khan has been imprisoned since August 2023
            and remains at Adiala Jail, despite several of the
            cases that once threatened to keep him behind bars
            having been overturned, suspended or otherwise
            weakened. He is still facing a formidable collection
            of legal cases, however, including corruption-re-
            lated  convictions.  The  most  consequential  is  the
            Al-Qadir Trust case, in which Khan and his wife
            were sentenced in 2025 to 14 years in prison. Khan
            denies wrongdoing and says the prosecutions are
            politically motivated.
                That is the legal explanation. The political ex-
            planation is more revealing.
                Khan is not in prison simply because he is a
            convicted  former  prime  minister.  He  is  in  prison
            because he remains the most formidable political
            challenger to Pakistan’s existing power structure.
                His popularity was demonstrated dramatically
            in  the  February  2024  general  election.  Although   The irony is that every attempt to push Imran Khan out of politics appears to reinforce his centrality (File photo)
            Khan was behind bars and his Pakistan Teh-
            reek-e-Insaf (PTI) was prevented from contesting   establishment that has traditionally exercised enor-  comes greater than the cost of releasing him, the
            under its party symbol, candidates backed by the   mous influence over Pakistan’s political system.  calculation could change.
            party won the largest number of directly elected Na-  Khan’s relationship with the military was once   For now, however, the government’s behaviour
            tional Assembly seats. The result forced a coalition   close. His rise to power in 2018 was widely seen as   suggests that it sees Khan’s release as a political risk
            of rival political parties to form the government.  having  benefited  from  military  support.  But  the   rather than merely a legal decision. For India, an un-
                That election exposed the central weakness of   relationship collapsed spectacularly before his re-  stable Pakistan is never a comfortable development.
            the present arrangement: it can keep Khan away   moval from office in April 2022. Since then, Khan   A Pakistan consumed by an internal power
            from power, but it has struggled to remove him   has transformed himself into perhaps the strongest   struggle has less political bandwidth for economic
            from the political imagination of Pakistan.  civilian critic of the establishment.         reform, regional engagement and sustained diplo-
                The latest controversy concerns Khan’s health.  For the military establishment, therefore, the   macy with its neighbours. At the same time, political
                His family and PTI have raised serious concerns   issue is not simply whether Khan becomes prime   instability inside Pakistan can increase the tempta-
            about his medical condition, particularly problems   minister again. It is whether a politician who has   tion to use nationalism and India-related rhetoric as
            with his right eye. Khan has been diagnosed with   openly challenged its political role can return to the   a means of consolidating domestic support.
            central retinal vein occlusion, and his lawyers have   centre of Pakistani politics.          The more important Indian interest is stabili-
            argued  that  he  requires  specialist  treatment.  Jail   The present government therefore has a legiti-  ty — a Pakistan where civilian institutions function,
            authorities, meanwhile, have maintained that his   macy problem. It may possess parliamentary power,   elections command credibility and the military does
            condition has improved and that he is receiving ad-  but parliamentary power and popular legitimacy   not remain the ultimate arbiter of political power.
            equate medical care.                         are not necessarily the same thing.              Imran Khan’s imprisonment has not solved Pa-
                The episode illustrates why Khan remains such   That explains the extraordinary sensitivity sur-  kistan’s political problem. It has exposed it.
            a sensitive figure: even a hospital visit can become a   rounding Khan’s movements, prison access and   The irony is that every attempt to push Khan
            political mobilisation point.                medical treatment.                            out  of  politics  appears  to  reinforce  his  centrality.
                The current political order has survived partly   Khan has multiple cases and convictions, mean-  His opponents may control the government, parlia-
            because its most popular opponent has been physi-  ing that winning or suspending one case does not   ment and much of the state machinery. But as long
            cally removed from the political arena. His release   automatically free him. The state can continue to   as a jailed politician can remain the most powerful
            would give PTI a leader capable of addressing sup-  rely on other proceedings to keep him incarcerated.  symbol of opposition, the question confronting Pa-
            porters directly, organising protests and potentially   But politics can move faster than courts.  kistan is not whether Imran Khan matters.
            challenging the government through elections.    If negotiations emerge between PTI and the   It is how long the system can continue to keep
                More importantly, Khan’s confrontation is not   establishment, if courts provide broader relief, or if   him behind bars without confronting the political
            merely with one political party. It is with a wider   the political cost of keeping Khan imprisoned be-  forces that put him there.

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