Imran Khan and the Theatre of Betrayal
Pakistan’s Democracy in the Grip of Empire
In the dim corridors of global power where empires dress coercion as democracy Pakistan stands as a tragic case study where a nation trapped by its own elite, aligned with Western patrons, Israeli strategists, and the Gulf’s indulgent autocrats. The pattern was set leading up to the 2018 elections. Imran Khan, once a cricketer and now a blunt critic of corruption and foreign dependence, was on the verge of a decisive win. His message was clear to end the drone wars that turned the frontier into a graveyard, anchor foreign policy in dignity, and stand openly with Palestine. As his victory became certain, Western media swooped in, not to report but to distort. A straightforward mandate was recast as a crisis.
The labels were sharp and intentional, “Taliban Khan,” “Islamist,” “populist menace.” Newspapers from Washington to London amplified them, mirroring the panic of Pakistan’s own dynastic rivals. But the manipulation didn’t happen just at the ballot box; it also happened in the story being told. Behind it all lurked pro-Israel anxieties, Khan had refused to entertain normalization with Tel Aviv without justice for Palestinians, and that alone made him intolerable. His reach across the Muslim world threatened a carefully managed regional order.
Leaked Epstein communications only confirmed the depth of this hostility. In mid-2018, just days after Khan’s rise, Epstein, linked to networks that spanned Mossad circles and Washington elites described Khan as a “greater threat to peace” than Erdogan, Putin, Khamenei, or Xi. These weren’t idle remarks but reflected the worldview of a security establishment that saw Khan as someone capable of shifting public sentiment against their designs. Inside Pakistan, the real betrayal came from the usual quarters, military establishment, bureaucrats, and business clans who have treated the country as a controlled estate for decades. They have choreographed elections since the Cold War, cutting deals that served Washington’s needs from funneling arms in the 1980s to running a bloody proxy role after 9/11. Khan’s ouster in 2022, backed by leaked diplomatic cables hinting at foreign pressure, was simply the old machinery moving again. The military brass chose American goodwill over the public’s vote.
The farce deepened in the 2024 elections when PTI candidates jailed, party symbols scrubbed, votes flipped. Despite PTI’s surge, a hastily assembled coalition under Nawaz Sharif was installed. Western outrage so loud in 2018 was now barely a whisper. Instead of condemning rigging, the global press offered gentle talk of “transitions” and IMF compliance. Stability for Washington mattered more than legitimacy for Pakistan.
On the streets, the cost was paid in blood. In November 2024, security forces opened fire at D-Chowk on unarmed PTI supporters, leaving a trail of bodies. The coverage abroad was perfunctory at best. The Muridke massacre in October 2025 when TLP’s pro-Palestine marchers were ambushed at dawn met the same indifference. These were tools of discipline, meant to silence any movement within the country. Western silence was not accidental it protected their alliances and exposed their own moral emptiness.
Behind all this sits a mesh of alignments binding Pakistan’s establishment to the West, to Israel through indirect channels, and to the Gulf monarchies. Saudi Arabia’s 2025 defense pact with Pakistan, the intelligence-sharing, the quiet accommodations with Tel Aviv via the widening Abraham Accords, soon to be UN vote on Gaza stabilisation force, these are the strings that hold Islamabad in place. Israeli spyware, Gulf investments, military cooperation, it’s all part of a bargain that enriches the ruling class while the country collapses under inflation, energy failures, and a mass youth exodus.
Imran Khan was never perfect. But in the eyes of empire, his real crime was simple, he wanted Pakistan to stand upright. Everything that followed, smear campaigns, rigged elections, street massacres, shows how far the system will go to crush that idea. What remains is an indictment of a global order where the West preaches liberty but funds repression, Israel shapes politics from a distance, and Gulf monarchs purchase loyalty while Pakistan’s elite sell out their own people.
Until that order is broken, Pakistan will remain hollowed out, living proof of how empire survives by devouring its own allies from within.