Critical Pakistan Studies (2023), 1, 14–44

doi:10.1017/cps.2024.1

FORUM ESSAY

Critical Forum: Populism, Hybrid Democracy,

and Youth Cultures
Amina Yaqin1 , S. Akbar Zaidi2, Ayesha Siddiqa3 and Aasim Sajjad Akhtar4
1
University of Exeter, UK, 2Institute of Business Administration, India, 3King’s College, UK and
4
Quaid-i-Azam University, Pakistan
Corresponding author: Amina Yaqin; Email: [email protected]

(Received 05 January 2024; accepted 05 January 2024; first published online 20 May 2024)
Keywords: Military; Civilian; Democracy; Justice; Political Economy; Populism; Hybrid
Democracy; Elections

Introduction
Amina Yaqin
In 2022 the prime minister and leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Party
Imran Khan was removed from office following a vote of no confidence. He lost the
support of his coalition government based on poor economic performance. Khan also fell
out with the military and was disqualified from running for office by the Election
Commission Pakistan (ECP) for five years on corruption charges. Despite these setbacks,
he retained popularity, and his arrest in May 2023 led to mass protests by his supporters.
The public showdown between the state and PTI members following Khan’s
imprisonment has been used to shut down PTI’s continued participation in politics.
Meanwhile, ECP announced elections would be held on February 8, 2024. As the
economic predicament worsens, it has been interesting to see how the state has utilized
negative attitudes toward migrants with Afghan refugees being sent home.1 The country
is in the full throes of disaster capitalism, climate crisis, political turbulence, and
heightened securitization.2 In this forum, we invited critical responses from leading
scholars on Pakistan’s political and economic crisis. We asked our contributors to
critically reflect on issues related to populist politics, the challenges to established
1
This triggers a strong link in public perception between economic problems and a refugee group tied in to
local and global policies underscoring Pakistan’s complex relationship with Afghanistan (Anchita Borthakur,
“Afghan Refugees: The Impact on Pakistan,” Asian Affairs 48, no. 3 (2017): 488–509; and Katja Mielke and
Benjamin Etzold, “Afghans’ Narrowing Mobility Options in Pakistan and the Right to Transnational Living:
A Figurational Perspective,” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 48, no. 18 (2022): 4347–64).
2
Niloufer A. Siddiqui, Under the Gun: Political Parties and Violence in Pakistan (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge
University Press, 2023); Aasim Sajjad Akhtar, The Struggle for Hegemony in Pakistan: Fear, Desire and
Revolutionary Horizons (London: Pluto, 2022); Antony Loewenstein, Disaster Capitalism: Making a Killing Out of
Catastrophe (London and New York: Verso, 2015); Naomi Klein, This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the
Climate (Delhi: Simon and Schuster, 2015).

© The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press in association with the American Institute of Pakistan
Studies. This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction,
provided the original article is properly cited.

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 Critical Pakistan Studies 15

structures of power and/or the emergence of a new alternative, and the way in which
political uncertainty has affected marginalized communities. Our contributors S. Akbar
Zaidi, Ayesha Siddiqa, and Aasim Sajjad Akhtar offer insightful commentaries on why the
middle class has abandoned economic prosperity in favor of an authentic leader who
promised an end to corruption; the political hegemony of a hybrid democracy that relies
on civil-military relations; and the impact of digital technologies and the mobilization of
youth. Their reflections on Imran Khan’s populist leadership style point out the
strengths and weaknesses of a mass politics that has not led to a dismissal of the military
elite. They show how Khan’s politics has introduced new directions in the political
landscape that have undermined the soft power of the military among a younger
population. While his time in power has contributed to a changing trajectory of civilian-
military relations, it has not necessarily led to democratization. Khan’s anti-military
populism and “Naya [‘new’] Pakistan” politics seem to model itself on Recep Tayyip
Erdoğan’s “New Turkey” without the same influence over the army.3
In “Theorizing the Making and Breaking of Imran Khan,” S. Akbar Zaidi argues that
social science scholarship in Pakistan has been co-opted and extracted to suit the
purposes of those who view the country from a geopolitical lens only. In his view, the
events leading up to the removal of Imran Khan from the office of Prime Minister in
2022 have followed the protocol required by the existing model of functioning
democracy in Pakistan of “democratic, constitutional and electoral norms.” He argues
that to move away from simplistic explanations ranging from “populism” to “myths
about the middle class,” there needs to be greater recognition of contributing factors
such as an evolving historic hybrid regime and changing middle-class behavior from a
conventional desire for economic prosperity to a risky trust in charismatic leadership.
Zaidi notes that Imran Khan’s challenges to the army have opened up unprecedented
fissures among their shared Punjab and Khyber Pukhtunkhwa middle-class
supporters, threatening the army’s long-term power base through voter mobilization.
This is a different view to that offered by Atika Rehman in her analysis of Khan,
suggesting that “neither vision, nor courage was there during PTI’s tenure.”4
Ayesha Siddiqa in “New Shades of Praetorianism” revisits the context of a hybrid
democracy in Pakistan. Presenting an outlook markedly different to Zaidi’s, she notes a
steady rise in the army’s ownership of national and natural resources, and a political
hybridity that is skewed in their favor. She argues that this contributes to a hegemonic
hybrid system in which democratic structures and the parliamentary system are unable
to sustain the weight of authoritarian influence. Her analysis of Imran Khan’s populism
with its promise of anti-corruption and appeal to the youth and middle classes is close
to what Jan-Werner Müller has described as an ideological system that gives high
importance to a “leader.” An alternative could be sought in Chantal Mouffe’s
understanding of democratic populism as a “political strategy” to “re-establish the
democratic dimensions of popular sovereignty, of equality.”5 This is an interesting

3
Hakki Tas, “Populism and Civil-Military Relations,” Democratization (https://www.tandfonline.com/
doi/epdf/10.1080/13510347.2023.2255976?needAccess=true [accessed December 14, 2023]).
4
Atika Rehman, “King Khan,” Prospect Magazine (https://pocketmags.com/us/prospect-magazine/
april-2023/articles/1281969/king-khan [accessed December 14, 2023]).
5
Chantal Mouffe draws on her work with Ernesto Laclau to explain her position on populism to
David Klemperer (“Interview: Chantal Mouffe on Democracy, Populism, and Why the Left Needs to

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 16 Amina Yaqin et al.

position that is not borne out in empirical studies of global populism.6 The somewhat
flawed populist political strategy in Pakistan has come up against unequal civil-military
hybridity and the return of a praetorian state with substantial economic power.
The concluding contribution on “Fountain of Youth: The Imperative of Intellectual
Pessimism and Willful Optimism” by Aasim Sajjad Akhtar analyses PTI’s significant
connection with the youth bulge and how digital social spaces have come to shape
political identities. Akhtar considers the intersections in resistance-led narratives
across class, ethnicity, and gender, arguing for a progressive redistributive justice
that rights the wrongs of an extractive system supported by the military and
bourgeois political parties. In his assessment, the work has to be done in tandem with
addressing environmental injustice working toward shared planetary futures.
Underscoring the importance of gender, he reviews PTI’s contradictory stance
toward women, which has contributed to greater participation in elections and
grassroots work while deploying a conservative stance on feminism from the top. In
his estimation, long-term political change for Pakistan lies in shifting from a narrative
of exceptionalism to one of revolutionary feminism building on inclusive and
international futures. Akhtar’s representation of a shared future has echoes of a
“planetary democracy” envisioned by Achille Mbembe, which demands justice and
reparations from the entanglements of neoliberal capitalism, social media, and
informational technologies that saturate the everyday.7
In conclusion, the contributors identify the pressure points of a hybrid democracy
in which the political system remains vulnerable to military stakeholders. Their elite
power base relies on an extractive system and a donor economy. Natural disasters
have exacerbated Pakistan’s climate crisis, but it is also an outcome of policy
mismanagement. The country is in the grip of “necropolitical power,” and youth
identities are subject to “technostructures.”8 Populist politics and a hybrid military-
civilian infrastructure continue to divide the country.

***

Theorizing the Making and Breaking of Imran Khan

S. Akbar Zaidi Imran Khan fauj ke khilaf inqilaab chahte thay magar nakaam huwe
[Imran Khan wanted a revolution against the military but failed].9

Introduction
It has been challenging for social scientists to theorize Pakistan’s political trajectory
despite numerous scholars writing monographs attempting to do so. Many have

Read Spinoza” [https://tocqueville21.com/interviews/interview-chantal-mouffe-on-democracy-populism-

and-why-the-left-needs-to-read-spinoza (accessed December 14, 2023)]).
6
Carlos de la Torres, “Introduction,” in Routledge Handbook to Global Populism, ed., Carlos de la Torres
(London: Routledge, 2018).
7
Achille Mbembe, Necropolitics, trans. Steven Corcoran (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2019).
8
Ibid., 38 and 93.
9
Parvez Khattak in Jang (August 27, 2023). Khattak was the former PTI chief minister of Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa (2013–2018) and minister of defense (2018–2022) under Prime Minister Imran Khan. He was
also the former secretary general of the PTI and one of Imran Khan’s closest lieutenants.

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 Critical Pakistan Studies 17

written mere chronologies instead of explanations or analyses, with a few notable

exceptions.10 The absence of good social science institutions, to start with, has
undermined such output.11 Pakistan’s geopolitics and developments based on factors
such as the War on Terror and extensive donor-funded “research” co-opted social
scientists, making many of them mere consultants.12 The quality and nature of social
science scholarship in Pakistan has been uneven for decades. Those who have spent
their academic years looking at the material conditions that may have indicated the
form and nature of the social structural transformation of state and society have been
distracted from a granular local social analysis by geopolitics.13 Unlike most societies
and countries, developments in politics or political economy did not follow a
knowable or predictable path, with too many unaccounted-for extraneous “unknown
unknowns” impacting politics and political developments.
Two examples suggest that when structural social, and class analysis was
undertaken, first in the 1980s and then separately in the 1990s, two events outside
Pakistan completely dominated subsequent theorization about the state and society
in Pakistan. While social scientists looked at how society was being transformed in the
1970s and understood and anticipated the coup and martial law of General Zia-ul-Haq
(1977–1988), the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan put aside all our understanding
of what was going on at a material and structural level in Pakistan, to be replaced by a
very different frame of analysis. Similarly, as we started analyzing the 1990s and the
decade of four elections between 1988 and 1999, coming to grips with social change
and its consequences for political outcomes, 9/11 happened. It brought actors, trends
and developments into Pakistan’s state and society, which social scientists were
unprepared for and had not accounted for.14 Unlike many other countries,

10
Some works worth reading include Farzana Shaikh, Making Sense of Pakistan (New York: Columbia
University Press, 2009); Saadia Toor, The State of Islam: Culture and Cold War Politics in Pakistan (London:
Pluto Press, 2011); Aasim Sajjad Akhtar, The Politics of Common Sense: State, Society and Culture in Pakistan
(Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2018).
11
Shafik H. Hashmi, ed., The State of Social Sciences in Pakistan (Islamabad: Council of Social Sciences, 2001);
Inayatullah, Rubina Saigol, and Parvez Tahir, eds., Social Sciences in Pakistan: A Profile (Islamabad: Council of
Social Sciences, 2005); Matthew McCartney, “In a Desperate State: The Social Sciences and the Overdeveloped
State in Pakistan, 1950 to 1983,” in New Perspectives on Pakistan’s Political Economy: State, Class, and Social Change,
eds., Matthew McCartney and S Akbar Zaidi (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2019).
12
Nadeem ul Haque and David Orden, “Developing Research and a Research Culture: Results from a
Pilot Project in Pakistan,” The Pakistan Development Review 59, no. 3 (2020): 553–70.
13
During the 1980s and 1990s, the two independent monthly magazines from Karachi, Herald and
Newsline, published much analysis on Pakistan’s changing social transformation, including election
results or other outcomes. Yet, with military interventions and unexpected events, such as the Soviet
invasion of Afghanistan or 9/11, much of the analysis lost explanatory power. In the case of election
analysis and results, see among many, Peoples Democratic Alliance’s How an Election Was Stolen: The PDA
White Paper on the Pakistan Elections 1990 (Islamabad: Midasia, 1991); also, Zahid Hussain’s “How to Steal an
Election” in Newsline (September 2002).
14
One example is when General Pervez Musharraf conducted his coup in October 1999. The economy
went into a near default situation given the country’s debt, and following sanctions imposed after the
1998 nuclear tests. September 11 changed all that and brought in much windfall aid (Parvez Hasan, Fateh
M. Chaudhri, and Eatzaz Ahmad, “Pakistan’s Debt Problem: Its Changing Nature and Growing Gravity
[with Comments],” The Pakistan Development Review 38, no. 4 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/i40056773
(accessed December 14, 2023)]; S. Akbar Zaidi, Issues in Pakistan’s Economy: A Political Economy Perspective
[Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2015], Chapter 25; Footnote 5 above).

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 18 Amina Yaqin et al.

continuously evolving trends and patterns that allow for some, even limited,
prediction or even indicative direction or patterns have not been possible with so
many unexpected extraneous disruptions affecting social processes and evolution.
Although things have evolved considerably from when social science was considered
“dismal” two decades ago, much of what constitutes social science in Pakistan is still
dominated by the very general clichéd newspaper reportage of the mundane, day-to-
day, even by academics writing in scholarly journals.

Theorizing Imran Khan

Lately, there has been extensive speculation and commentary on the political economy of
Pakistan, especially in recent months, surrounding the removal of former prime minister
Imran Khan in April 2022.15 From analysts to journalists and lay observers, numerous
arguments and impressions have been presented ranging from the facile “lovers’ spat” to
fears of the “little promise of democracy in Pakistan,” to “myths about the middle class,”
or those who suggest that there is the “impossibility of democracy” in Pakistan, and the
usual suspects who still frame their commentary based on an imagined “clash of
institutions,” the military and civilian political parties and forces.16 A false equivalence is
sketched through comparisons between Imran Khan and Indian prime minister Narendra
Modi’s populism. While Modi has grown up in an ideological political party emerging
literally from its grassroots, Imran Khan has been a lone crusader, collecting a motley
handful of sympathizers just a few years ago. Moreover, the nature of piety has deeper
electoral roots in Pakistan, which has manifested itself more recently in India, mainly
after Modi’s first election in 2014, allowing the state to carve its requirements in pietist
terms. Imran Khan has been seen by some, bordering on the hagiographic, to be
“saturated in the promise of rescuing and restoring sovereign agency and power.”17
For the most part, attempts to theorize beyond the analysis based on personalities and
egos—primarily of Imran Khan and the senior-most army officials, the “clash of egos of
state male elites”—have been inadequate.18
Increasingly, there is mention of the media’s wide and often influential role
in shaping opinion and narratives, and many lawyers have also brought in legal,

15
There have been scores of articles printed in newspapers and on the net since Imran Khan’s
removal, by journalists or as editorials in local and international papers and on numerous websites.
16
Mohammed Hanif’s “The End of the Affair: How Imran Khan Went from the Pakistan Army’s Saviour
to Its Nemesis,” BBC News (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-south-asia-65711385 [accessed December
14, 2023]); Asadullah Khan Wazir, “Cracks in the System: Growing Middle Class Discontent in Pakistan,”
Pakistan Observer (https://thefridaytimes.com/15-Jun-2023/cracks-in-the-system-growing-middle-class-
discontent-in-pakistan [accessed December 13, 2023]); Nadeem Farooq Paracha, Imran Khan: Myth of the
Pakistani Middle Class (Lahore: Vanguard Books, 2023); Mohammad Waseem, “Clash of Institutions?”
(Mahbub ul Haq Research Centre, LUMS, Lahore, July 9, 2022).
17
See SherAli Tareen’s “Imran Khan’s Battle for Sovereignty” in Critical Muslim Studies (https://
criticalmuslimstudies.co.uk/imran-khans-battle-for-sovereignty [accessed December 14, 2023]). Tareen is one of
the very few who has tried to theorize the Imran Khan phenomenon, but, given his great admiration for Khan,
he borders on the hagiographic (For example, see SherAli Tareen, “Liberal Fundamentalists and Imranophobia”
(https://www.globalvillagespace.com/liberal-fundamentalists-imranophobia/ [accessed December 14, 2023]).
18
There are far too many posts and articles in newspapers and on the internet to cite, and a quick
search will show that the removal of Imran Khan was supposedly based on a “personality clash” with
General Bajwa, the former Chief of Army Staff.

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 Critical Pakistan Studies 19

constitutional, and juridical issues and individuals into the political economy and political
equations in Pakistan.19 It is insufficient and lazy to think or theorize that the military
simply chose and made Imran Khan, or that Pakistan’s politics and political economy
function merely based on some perceived “clash of institutions” mantra. Before one
begins to untangle many of these and other aspects of Pakistan’s political economy, it is
necessary to underscore and emphasize some stylized facts, based on material,
socioeconomic factors, which often escape such analysis and result in vacuous opinions.

Some Stylized Facts

Lest it be forgotten, this is the longest stretch of uninterrupted civilian government in
Pakistan’s 76 years, suggesting a significant shift in politics and governance. Importantly,
these civilian governments (2008–2023) have all been elected.20 Pakistan has had three
back-to-back elections, and despite evidence of fraud and rigging, there has been civilian
transfer of power in 2008, 2013, and 2018. Every expectation is that a fourth civilian
elected government will be in force in some months. Despite problems and concerns, four
elections are a process that carries weight. Elections are now increasingly anticipated and
demanded by numerous constituencies, not least those who want to vote and especially
those who expect to win and benefit by winning. Democracies evolve, not always in one
direction, and not simply in a linear fashion and are not always strengthened. Moreover,
as the experience of Thailand, Egypt, and Pakistan shows, elections and democratic
processes give rise to multiple contradictions in an era where some scholars wonder
whether India is “still a democracy” having asked “why India’s democracy is dying,” or
whether it is now an “illiberal democracy.”21 Democracy has numerous manifestations
and forms. Pakistan has its particular form of participation, perhaps not one to be
emulated, but from openly military dictatorships to one where the military requires
civilian proxies and surrogates. Notably, the change in government brought about in
April 2022 was based on very well-defined and accepted democratic, constitutional, and
electoral norms, very much part of a functioning democracy. However, while the military
played a critical role, as it always has done, the platform, process, and result were very
much democratic, not like the method used in 1977 or 1999.
Moreover, the fact that the military requires constitutional amendments to make
its unconstitutional actions into law, such as amendments in the Official Secrets
Act 1923 allowing “agencies” the power to “arrest suspects or search without warrants,”
19
Qaisar Abbas and Farooq Sulehria, eds., From Terrorism to Television Dynamics of Media, State, and
Society in Pakistan (New Delhi: Routledge 2020); Aasim Sajjad Akhtar, The Struggle for Hegemony in Pakistan:
Fear, Desire, and Revolutionary Horizons (London: Pluto Press, 2022).
20
Pakistan had many civilian governments between 1947 and 1958, followed by martial law and
military governments 1958–1971, then an elected government 1971–1977, followed by military rule 1977–
1988, and four elected governments each for a short tenure between 1988 and 1999, another military
government 1999–2008 (with an elected government from 2002 to 2008), and since then, three elections
with elected governments in 2008, 2013, and 2018.
21
See numerous articles that question the nature of Indian democracy. For instance, see the recent
Symposium “Is India Still a Democracy,” with essays by Maya Tudor, Tripurdaman Singh, Sumit Ganguly,
Rahul Verma, and Vineeta Yadav, with titles like “Why India’s Democracy Is Dying,” “The Authoritarian
Roots of India’s Democracy,” and others, in The Journal of Democracy 34, no. 3 (July 2023). Also see Martin
Wolf, “Modi’s India Is Moving in an Illiberal Direction,” Financial Times (https://www.ft.com/content/
bf591089-6e9d-4cf9-ac80-8c63e3b12f42 [accessed December 14, 2023]).

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gives new meaning to the term “praetorian democracy.” The 15 years of uninterrupted
popular participation through elections has never been witnessed in Pakistan before,
suggesting that the naked hegemony of the army may have changed compared to the
past. While this is clearly not an ideal form of democracy, such small transitions could
indicate possible change.22 In the case of Pakistan, much responsibility for democratic
backsliding rests on the shoulders of democrats as well, who tend to be obsequious and
opportunistic and pander to and collude with the military, seeking ways and means to
power, compromising all democratic pretensions.
The term “hybrid” has been much used in the public sphere about Imran Khan’s
government, implying that the military influenced his civilian, elected government.23
However, every elected government since 1985—all 10—including the one that replaced
Imran Khan, has been hybrid, with different degrees of military influence, interference,
and patronage in governance and public and foreign policy.24 “Hybridity” is a constant,
albeit evolving, nature of Pakistan’s democracy and is not new. However, one must
highlight the opportunism of political parties that actively concede to pass regulation in
Parliament and voluntarily offer space to the military, most recently in July 2023 in
amendments to the Pakistan Army Act 1952. Every civilian, elected government in
Pakistan gives the military ample space to stay in power.
This so-called hybridity model is not sufficiently theorized and is limited to
arguing that even in civilian governments, the military eventually has its way. While
the military may be the eventual victor, as we have seen on numerous occasions in
the past and as recently as early 2022, the brand of the military has been greatly
damaged and maligned by the consistent attacks by Imran Khan. Unlike attacks by
Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif in the past, Imran Khan’s defiance is unprecedented,
escalating the stakes by naming and shaming two of the most important and
influential individuals in the military today.25 The military has produced and
nurtured scores of political leaders, no less Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Nawaz Sharif, and
Imran Khan, who eventually took on the military at some point. The need to cultivate

22
Nevertheless, as has been seen in numerous countries, military dictatorships remerge, and coups
take place even after a democratic transition has taken place, such as in Thailand. Democratic changes
are not permanent where strong militaries exist or have existed in the past and can constantly challenge
democratic politics, as has happened in Turkey and Indonesia.
23
Among many, see Imtiaz Alam, “As Imran Khan’s Populism Goes Bust, Pakistan’s Hybrid Regime
Remains Mired in Crisis” The Wire (https://thewire.in/south-asia/imran-khan-pakistan-populism-
hybrid-regime [accessed December 14, 2023]); Abdul Basit, “Pakistan’s Military Ends Its Experiment
with Hybrid Democracy,” Foreign Policy (https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/04/25/pakistan-military-imran-
khan-hybrid-democracy/ [accessed December 14, 2023]); Nadeem Malik, “Imran Khan’s Ouster Is a Failure
of Hybrid Regime in Pakistan,” The Friday Times (https://thefridaytimes.com/13-Apr-2022/imran-khan-s-
ouster-is-a-failure-of-hybrid-regime-in-pakistan [accessed December 14, 2023]).
24
Ian Talbot is wrong when he says, “Since the end of the Musharraf era in 2008, Pakistan has been
classified as a hybrid regime with elements of electoral democracy coexisting with continuing military
influence,” since this relationship has existed since 1985 (Ian Talbot, “Pakistan’s Hybrid Regime: Growing
Democratization, or Increased Authoritarianism?,” in Routledge Handbook of Autocratization in South Asia,
ed. Sten Widmalm (London: Routledge, 2021).
25
Imran Khan called out, on numerous occasions, now retired General Qamar Bajwa, former Chief of
Army Staff (COAS), Major-General Faisal Naseer, a senior officer of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), also
nicknamed “Dirty Harry” by Imran Khan. He has even said that the current COAS, General Asim Munir,
“ordered his arrest” in May 2023.

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 Critical Pakistan Studies 21

civilians to do the military’s bidding and safeguard its interests could be seen as a
weakness, for the military now requires a civilian (elected) government to impose its
writ. Those that the military creates come back to undermine their creators.
However, the persistent defiance by Imran Khan is unrivalled and, with his public
support still significant, has damaged the image and hegemony of the military. He
singled out two Chiefs of the Army Staff (including the current one, General Asim
Munir) in his very strong tirade. He had not relented for 14 months despite knowing
and facing the consequences, damaging the military’s sanctimonious image until he
was arrested in August 2023. Imran Khan has challenged the military’s hegemony
unlike any other political leader.
Also, it is worth emphasizing that there is great resentment of the military in most
political parties, especially the three largest ones.26 But the tradition of Pakistani
politics is based on collaboration, compromise, and opportunism; therefore, there is
benefit to be gained by the military’s largesse and their “good offices.” While all
parties have benefited from collusion with the army, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)
and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz group (PMLN) leaders have stepped outside
the mutually beneficial relationship by publicly criticizing the military leaders.27
Imran Khan, yet another of the military’s creations who was until recently their blue-
eyed boy, has also been highly vocal in naming the head of the military.
The military, especially the army, is often seen as highly united under one
command and never lets its internal dissent known to the public. Matters are kept
secret and within. However, events around Imran Khan and his pronouncements
resulting in the violence of military property—itself an infrequent occurrence,
especially in the heartland of the military, the Punjab—resulted in the army
confessing to great disharmony within its ranks when it gave a long list of military
personnel found guilty (by the military) and subsequently dismissed from service.28
Imran Khan has fractured the myth of unity-and-command within the army. His
moralizing pietism and nationalism have found much favor and sympathy across
different social groups, from the generals to the subalterns.
Imran Khan has also fractured another dominating institution, which used to be
pliant and often a junior partner to the military, that of the Superior Judiciary. Not
only is the Superior Judiciary now highly politicized, it is split. It has pro- and anti-
Imran factions within it, to the extent that the Supreme Court of Pakistan has also
been dragged through the mud in popular television talk shows.29 The history of the

26
The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN), and the PTI.
27
The most recent manifestation of this has been the somewhat unexpected and confrontational
statement by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, hoping to return to Pakistan and become prime
minister for the fourth time, when he severely criticized the former Chief of Army Staff, now retired,
General Qamar Javed Bajwa and the former ISI chief, General (retd.) Faiz Hameed, saying that both
“should be brought to justice” and that he would prosecute them, as if they were “criminals of Pakistan.”
He repeated this statement twice in five days (Express Tribune [September 22, 2023]).
28
This disharmony was made public when the military held three serving major generals and seven
brigadiers accountable in the May 9, 2023, assault for “ransacking military installations” in the Punjab.
One serving lieutenant general was dismissed, as were other serving officers (https://tribune.com.pk/
story/2423641/army-axes-high-ranking-officers-over-may-9-chaos [accessed December 14, 2023]).
29
The 16-member Supreme Court of Pakistan has been split asunder, with some judges, including the
previous chief justice of Pakistan, said to be partial and supporting Imran Khan, while others are either
against him or impartial (Zahid Hussain, “The Division within the Top Judiciary and Pakistan’s Worsening

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 22 Amina Yaqin et al.

Superior Judiciary shows that it is not in disagreement with the wishes of the
government and the military, which now seem to be on the “same page.” Sections of
the Superior Judiciary are reading a different script, at least for now. Moreover, it is
also rare for the sitting government to completely ignore, and hence challenge,
directives from the Supreme Court of Pakistan to hold provincial elections on a
mandated date, as recently with elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Imran Khan and the Middle Classes

For some analysts, the “middle class” seems to be a recent discovery, and the Imran
Khan phenomenon is called a middle class “revolution” of varying nature. For many
writers, the middle class has only just emerged. However, a reading of Pakistan’s
political economy over the last many decades demonstrates that many middle classes
have appeared and existed at many junctures in Pakistan’s history and have played
consequential and multiple roles in determining the fate and nature of politics.30 The
first rise of the middle class, mainly in Central Punjab, which changed the face and
socioeconomic composition of Pakistan permanently, took place in the 1960s as an
outcome of the Green Revolution in agriculture with its consequences for society and
industry. Further development of, and in, the middle class took place in the later
1970s and 1980s, when the Gulf States and the Middle East opened up for Pakistani
labor, mainly unskilled at that time, but brought about a phenomenal structural
transformation in Pakistan. A third wave of the middle class came about in the early
2000s, as globalization and global capital integrated Pakistan’s economy and its people
in various forms—the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the War on Terror after
9/11, and growing mobility—through the social, economic, and cultural manifes-
tations of globalization. The middle class has always played a role in politics in
Pakistan, first supporting Z.A. Bhutto, then Nawaz Sharif and now Imran Khan.
A point linked to the one above about Imran Khan and the middle class, now
repeated by many, is that Pakistan is now (finally) predominantly urban. This
observation was raised many decades ago by scholars who argued that even in the
1990s, Pakistan was primarily urban.31 The new-found nexus of Imran Khan–urban
middle class is very old and has only recently seen this manifestation emerge. It is
incomprehensible that in 2023, Pakistan is officially considered to be only 38 percent

Predicament,” Arab News (https://www.arabnews.pk/node/2280031 [accessed December 14, 2023]); and,

among other examples, Staff Writer, “PM Shehbaz Deplores ‘Double Standards of Justice’ with Imran
Khan,” Nation (https://www.nation.com.pk/12-May-2023/pm-shehbaz-deplores-double-standards-of-
justice-with-imran-khan [accessed December 14, 2023]).
30
S. Akbar Zaidi, Issues in Pakistan’s Economy: A Political Economy Perspective (Karachi: Oxford University
Press, 2015); Akhtar’s The Politics of Common Sense; McCartney and Zaidi’s New Perspectives on Pakistan’s
Political Economy.
31
The early work in this regard was done by M. A. Qadeer (“Ruralopolises: The Spatial Organisation
and Residential Land Economy of High-density Rural Regions in South Asia,” Urban Studies 37, no. 9
[2000]). He develops it in further detail in Pakistan: Social and Cultural Transformations in a Muslim Nation
(London and New York: Routledge, 2006). Also see Reza Ali, “Underestimating Urbanisation,” Economic
and Political Weekly 37, nos. 44–45 (2002); Arif Hasan, The Unplanned Revolution (Karachi: City Press, 2002);
S. Akbar Zaidi, “Rethinking Urban and Rural,” Dawn (https://www.dawn.com/news/1354670 [accessed
December 14, 2023]). For a fuller understanding and explanation of the implications of the urban
phenomenon, see Chapters 26 and 27 of S. Akbar Zaidi’s Issues in Pakistan’s Economy.

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 Critical Pakistan Studies 23

urban. If that were the case, the entire structure of Imran Khan-urban-middle-class
would not be possible. How scholars, in the third decade of the twenty-first century,
still square the Pakistan-is-feudal narrative or argue that the “electoral balance is
tipped heavily in favor of the ‘feudal class’,” is beyond comprehension.
The demographic transition underway in Pakistan, with those born at the cusp of
or in this millennium, who would have been voters in 2018 and will be again when the
next elections are held, have grown up in a very different world. This “youth” has
found a new savior. The presence of a political leader like Imran Khan—different
from all the leaders in 2018 or 2024—offered them something new, untested, far more
charismatic than Maulana Fazlur Rahman, Nawaz Sharif, or Asif Zardari, and perhaps
more presentable to this new, young, voter. While voters make their choices for
numerous reasons, the moniker “handsome” was applied only to Imran Khan, not to
any of the other leaders. Perhaps appearance, deportment, and apparent “polish”
mattered to the new millennial voter. As technology has become more mainstream
and is cheaply and easily accessible, it was possible to create a new digitalized image
of a new leader than to do a makeover of Fazlur Rahman, Nawaz Sharif, or Asif
Zardari.
With their smartphones on multiple platforms with limited attention spans, the
new millennials fit in well with this new demographic, with more access and
information about global trends and influences, better informed than their immediate
older peers. Populism, with its empty moralizing slogans on the rule of law,
nationalism, sovereignty, economic freedoms, a strong military, anti-corruption, anti-
elite, and so on, repeated by the likes of Imran Khan, was well-received by this
younger audience looking for a change. The performative displays of his leadership
have reverberated with pronouncements like “I am democracy,” bragging to his
voters that he “was elected after bagging the most votes in Pakistan won from five
constituencies.”32
While the military in Pakistan actively manufactured the Imran Khan project,
building him as an alternative to the other two major political parties run by Nawaz
Sharif and Asif Zardari, Imran Khan had to get himself elected across approximately
150 constituencies. He could have been anointed as an individual head of government.
Still, he needed to win across diverse political terrains against well-established and
entrenched political opponents in a parliamentary system. Even despite overt
backing, support, and rigging, Imran Khan was required to emerge as the head of the
single largest party in Pakistan, which he did in 2018. This victory existed not simply
on the military’s wishes but on the material social, and economic conditions that
produced voters who cast their ballots for the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI). Even
bringing “electables” from other parties into the PTI, for the elections would have
required getting the electables to be elected. They could have won in any party, not
because of the charisma of their new leader, but because the new middle class would
have voted for them. The electables were imported into the PTI precisely because
they were electable, in any party.

32
Mumtaz Alvi, “‘I Bagged Most Votes, Won from Five Constituencies’: I am Democracy, Says PM
Imran Khan” (https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/726928-i-am-democracy-bagged-most-votes-won-from-
five-constituencies-says-imran [accessed December 14, 2023]).

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 24 Amina Yaqin et al.

Summarizing the propositions made above, we can identify a few trends. Pakistan
continues to be dominated by the middle class economically and politically, as it has
been for the last three decades. Imran Khan is the best representative of this class,
particularly in the Punjab and in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.33 Pakistan is now
predominantly urban in its social, cultural, economic, and political manifestation.
Uninterrupted civilian governments, all elected for 15 years, imply a semblance and
form of democracy not seen in the past in Pakistan. While still hegemonic, the
military must operate through proxy civilian instruments rather than through naked
military government; this change has not been theorized enough. Civilian leaders can
challenge and take on the military, albeit at a significant cost to themselves. Still,
defiance of the military can be an increasing element of democratic practice with
access to enhanced means of communication and connectivity with greater public
participation than ever before.

The Missing Economics of the Middle Classes

Numerous analysts writing about Imran Khan have correctly identified strands and
themes in Imran Khan’s public performativity, which have appealed to the Pakistani
middle classes. From his charismatic personality, pietism, nationalism bordering on
xenophobia, religious conservatism manifest in numerous catchy initiatives, anti-
establishment stands, and misogyny, both the Pakistani male and female constituents
of the middle classes have found great attraction in his messages and slogans. Yet
there is little discussion on Imran Khan’s economic vision, policy and initiatives.
The Imran Khan government’s three-and-a-half years were particularly poor in
terms of economic performance, with four finance ministers, three governors of the
State Bank of Pakistan, and numerous other senior officers circulating at positions,
which demonstrated a poor understanding of how to run the economy. If not for
COVID-19, the consequences of his government’s economic policy would have been
far worse. What remains strange in this context is that despite a failing economy, the
middle classes continue to support the populist Imran Khan. In contrast, the economy
runs on empty, if at all. This blind eye toward a deteriorating economy is an
important distinction from the previous three middle-class surges in the economy.
In the 1960s, the middle classes supported the military dictator’s development
model and, at least in Central Punjab and Karachi, benefited greatly from the so-called
Decade of Development. A decade later, the middle classes, satisfied with the religio-
economic policies of another dictator, General Zia-ul-Haq, supported him with much
help and material assistance from Saudi Arabia and the Central Intelligence Agency
(CIA). Again, General Pervez Musharraf’s lifestyle liberals benefitted from U.S. funding
for the War on Terror, with the middle classes and the elite reaping uncountable
returns from “investment” in real estate and the stock market. Yet, the middle
classes, which supported Imran Khan for three-and-a-half years, suffered financially
and economically but mostly adhered to his empty politics. Compared to the three
previous waves of the rise of the middle class, usually under extended military rule,

33
It is essential to state that the middle class does not dominate in numbers, but access and control to
instruments of social and cultural capital allow this dominance.

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 Critical Pakistan Studies 25

the middle classes saw their economic prospects diminish substantially under Imran
Khan. This economic prosperity was also one reason why, previously, these classes
and the elite were willing and eager to compromise with authoritarian military rule,
whether under martial law or some less obvious manifestation.34 The support for
Imran Khan by the middle classes, without economic well-being or any policy or sign of
anticipated improvement, leaves a gap in our understanding.
Is this a possible, though partial, explanation of why he was removed from power?
Had the economy been functioning well, would the military have worked with him
despite differences of opinion on appointing key individuals in the army? Imran
Khan’s government, like many populists, had a lot of slogans but no programs,
nothing substantive or concrete was delivered in his three-and-a-half years of
leadership.

A Provocation, as a Conclusion
In conclusion, a provocation is offered to explain why Imran Khan and the military
fell out. While the more person-related concerns are well-known—the likes or
dislikes of individuals, preferred appointments and postings and the conflict
thereof—we could look at a more substantive structural and systemic argument. The
“same page” Imran Khan–military relationship worked well, with Pakistan’s (mainly
Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s) ideal, conservative males supporting both. All
elements were in sync precisely because there was a collusion of interests and plans.
Imran Khan was the continuation of militaristic policies through a civilian guise, not
because he was the love child of the military, but because he embodies the practices of
aggressive authoritarianism in the image of civilian complicity. He exhibits similar
tendencies, programs, aspirations, and virtues as does the military, but in civilian
dress, making it easier to legitimize militaristic authoritarianism under a civilian
facade. He was not simply doing the military’s bidding on behalf of the military but
independently following his own priorities. The fact that his and the military’s views
and practices coincided was based on a similar constituency to which both appeal.
While this first worked as complicity, contradictions emerged because it was based on
competing political interests, and the military has chosen to eliminate him as a
political force.
In the earlier era of Nawaz Sharif, there was great synergy between the Punjab-
based middle classes and the military’s base, and both worked well for some years. But
the discomfort over the distribution of resources, both material and political claims
and vision for the country, made the military sideline Nawaz Sharif. Imran Khan has
posed a more significant, more formidable challenge so far. He has not been cowed

34
At the time of writing, there is a dominant public narrative in Pakistan being endorsed by
mainstream influential voices, that the main agenda of the Army-backed Caretaker government is to
ensure that the economy stabilizes and improves, and if this latest hybrid regime needs more time to
delay the elections, which are constitutionally mandated to take place in 90 days, the Army will ensure
there is a delay. As long as the elite, and the middle classes, are economically prosperous, the military can
continue to remain the “most popular institution” in Pakistan, at a time when Imran Khan remains the
most popular politician in all polls.

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 26 Amina Yaqin et al.

down yet and stands his ground backed by many million voters (who could very well
walk away from the next elections as a sign of protest).
Over time, Pakistan’s social and structural transformation may have given rise to
deep contradictions between military authoritarianism and democratic agency. The
concessions being asked for by the military through Acts of Parliament show its
weakness, not its strength, requiring a civilian/parliamentary facade. If the military
and Imran Khan’s social base are similar—the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
middle classes—we have an emergent contradiction between the two over who
makes decisions regarding power and its manifestation. Imran Khan’s continued
resistance and protest against the military base can undermine the military’s material
and ideological fortunes by offering similar, but often distinct, visions of new futures.
Despite having similar ideas, civilian autonomy about domestic and international
arrangements will also somewhat contradict the military’s worldview. The Pakistan
military is a significant party to Pakistan’s politics, and Imran Khan is its most
prominent challenger. His dismissal by the military and their desire to eliminate him
politically is based on a realization that their constituencies are similar, and he
challenges their hegemony, defiantly, like no one before.
There may well be some truth in what Parvez Khattak said.

***

New Shades of Praetorianism

Ayesha Siddiqa
The literature on Pakistan’s democracy classifies the system as hybrid—drifting
between a weak democratic rule and civil-military authoritarianism.35 The Economist
and Freedom House reports for 2023 have both categorized Pakistan as a hybrid
democracy, basing the assessment on the condition of political rights, human rights,
political pluralism, civil liberties, functioning of government, and the rule of law.
Broadly, the picture emerges of a weak but struggling democracy. Their assessment is
understandable given that the events since the beginning of 2023 have pushed Pakistan
toward a situation where it has begun to resemble a non-democracy. The use of force,
enactment of laws that compromised the power of political stakeholders and expanded
influence of the army chief are developments that raise questions about the nature of
hybridity—the polity has begun to resemble an evolved form of military authoritarian-
ism where political forces are in an increasingly subordinate-superordinate relationship
with the powerful Army General Headquarters (GHQ). The military is asserting itself just
like in times of martial law while allowing electoral democracy to meekly survive.
History is repeating itself as the army is targeting a single political party, the
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI), which fell out of favor with the largest armed forces
service, especially after May 9. Its supporters are jailed, and efforts are launched to
dismember the party so it can’t win the next elections. But it is also apparent that
other parties are not being given a free hand either. Therefore, the primary argument

35
Ian Talbot, “Pakistan’s Hybrid Regime Growing Democratization or Increased Authoritarianism?”
(https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/oa-edit/10.4324/9781003042211-15/pakistan-hybrid-regime-
ian-talbot [accessed December 14, 2023]); Katherine Adeney, “How to Understand Pakistan’s Hybrid
Regime: The Importance of a Multidimensional Continuum,” Democratization 24, no. 1 (2017): 119–21.

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 Critical Pakistan Studies 27

of this article is that present developments should not be seen as the beginning of the
metamorphosis toward a hybrid military rule but as one of the milestones during a
process that started much earlier. The removal of a populist government in 2021, as
much as its establishment in 2018, are parts of the process of manipulating the
political system into creating more significant space for the military’s control of
governance. The real change is the military shifting from government control to
governance that allows it longevity in power politics and influence on the state. This
increase in the military’s abusive influence in politics or military praetorianism in the
political system cannot be fully understood by merely looking at the continuity of
elections. We are observing a gradual creeping control of the state by the military’s
takeover of governance, a process in which the defense forces have given a noticeable
pushback to civilian stakeholders. With changing circumstances, the proverbial lamb
clothing is being shed fast to expose a wolf-like regime in which the military has a
dominant position. In studying this political setup in which Pakistan has begun to look
more like Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s Egypt, the continuation of elections and Parliament
are mere distractions to hide where the real power rests. If the political class does not
build its capacity to push back the military, the political system will remain more of a
hybrid martial law than a hybrid democracy.

Defining Pakistan’s Hybridity

The cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan’s removal from power, his incarceration,
and a deliberate effort to break his party afterwards may serve as an eyeopener for
many who in the past few years were distracted by the seeming stability of the
electoral process to think of Pakistan as a hybrid democracy—weak yet fighting for
more ground. After 2008, elections had begun to happen regularly, with governments
getting voted in instead of being booted out. This was despite discomfort with election
results. To many observers, the shift was noticeable and indicated a move away from
years of military authoritarianism to becoming hybrid, which Guillermo O’ Donnell
and Fareed Zakariya described as a flawed or “defective” democracy.36 Authors like
Katherine Adeney extensively used the literature on hybridity to point out the
political contestation and democracy struggling to get on its feet. The author pointed
out a flaw in existing literature that failed to capture sufficiently the emerging
political unity against the military.37 She based her assessment on W. Merkel’s three
measures of “vertical legitimacy, horizontal accountability and effective government”
to conclude that while democracy might be weak, politicians were asserting
themselves.38 Muhammad Waseem concurs with this hypothesis, arguing in his book
Political Conflict in Pakistan that the political class creates a parallel pole through its
negotiation with the army.39 Thus, the political party system may be weak but not
redundant.
While electoral democracy is an essential pointer, focusing on it tends to hide the
system’s metamorphosis from this imagined hybridity to, as pointed out by columnist

36
Adeney, “How to Understand Pakistan’s Hybrid Regime,” 120.
37
Ibid., 119–21.
38
W. Merkel, “Embedded and Defective Democracies,” Democratization 11, no. 5 (2004): 33–58.
39
Mohammad Waseem, Political Conflict in Pakistan (London: Hurst Publishers, 2022), 149–246.

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 28 Amina Yaqin et al.

Fasih Zaka, “naked praetorianism,” which indicates the extent of the military’s
manipulation of the political process and strategic control of the state.40 Controlling
governance allows the military to remain in charge without coming into direct power.
It is a military hegemonic order in which the politically powerful army has penetrated
all political stakeholders and societal groups—from traditional to populist politics
and from media to non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the private sector.41
In her 2023 publication, Rabia Chaudhry talked about military hegemony by reviewing
its extended role in the welfare sector and engaging in activities that blur and violate
civil-military boundaries.42 So even if we try to employ Asim Sajjad Akhtar’s narrative
of hegemony in Pakistan as a combination of neo-liberal capitalism and the emerging
middle class, the military is central to the debate as representative of the middle class
and entrepreneurial forces.43

From Hybrid Democracy to Hybrid Martial Law

Even if we insist on not calling Pakistan a “non-democracy” because elections are held
regularly and a multiparty system is in play, a glance at sociopolitical conditions
makes the argument a tough sell.44 The military junta, through the Chief of Army Staff
(COAS), has begun to give direction to the state without declaring martial law. While
speaking to private entrepreneurs in Lahore and Karachi, the COAS, General Asim
Munir condemned all politicians as insincere.45 Within months of assuming charge as
service chief in November 2022, Munir’s displeasure with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-
Insaaf (PTI) began to be felt. The confrontation between the party and the army
further opened doors to subversion of the political system. From watching over a
delay in elections beyond the stipulated constitutional period of 90 days and
overseeing selection of an interim prime minister known for connections with the
establishment, to hounding the PTI and imprisoning hundreds of its followers, the
army’s hand is visible in such negative management of electoral democracy and the
political system.46 Though the delay was explained as necessitated by the Election
Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) need to redraw constituencies based on the latest

40
Fasih Zaka (@fasi_zaka), Post, Twitter, August 2, 2023, 10:22 a.m., https://twitter.com/fasi_zaka/
status/1686744243849588741?s=20.
41
Ayesha Siddiqa, Military Inc.: Inside Pakistan’s Military Economy 2nd Edition (London: Pluto Press, 2017),
298–310.
42
Rabia Chaudhry, The Changing Dynamics of Civil-Military Relations in Pakistan: Soldiers of Development
(New York: Routledge, 2023).
43
Aasim Sajjad Akhtar, The Struggle for Hegemony in Pakistan: Fear, Desire, and Revolutionary Horizons
(London: Pluto Press, 2022), 16–35.
44
Larry Jay Diamond, “Is Pakistan the (Reverse) Wave of the Future?,” Journal of Democracy 11, no. 3
(July 2000), 91–92.
45
Staff Writer, “Army Chief Believes No Political Party Is Sincere with Country, Says Businessman
Mitiwala,” The Friday Times (https://thefridaytimes.com/05-Sep-2023/army-chief-believes-no-political-
party-is-sincere-with-country-says-businessman-motiwala [accessed December 14, 2023]).
46
Adnan Aamir, “Who Is Anwaar Kakar, Pakistan’s New Caretaker Prime Minister?,” Nikkei Asia
(https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/Who-is-Anwaar-Kakar-Pakistan-s-new-caretaker-prime-minister
[accessed December 14, 2023]).

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 Critical Pakistan Studies 29

population census, the argument was debated and not stomached by the public.47 The
delaying tactic was accompanied by dismembering the PTI into smaller pieces to
block its possible success in the coming elections. From the standpoint of military
praetorianism, such action was considered a necessary treatment for a party that had
fallen out of favor with the establishment. Moreover, it had to be dealt with severely
as a punishment for inspiring—what sources claim is—a mini rebellion inside the
armed forces against the COAS and an open provocation against the army on May 9.
PTI supporters attacked military memorabilia and buildings, a violent attack that the
army has not confronted except in the form of a civil war in East Pakistan in 1970–
1971. In this respect, the crackdown on the PTI was more brutal than blocking
political parties in the past that had fallen out of favor with the armed forces. The
post-May 9 political conditions call into question the possibility of free and fair
elections.
The adulteration of the electoral system is driven both by the military’s urge to
demolish a populist leader Imran Khan and a longer-term plan to dominate everyday
governance. As I argue in the later part of the article, Imran Khan’s populism
contributed toward strengthening the armed forces. The PTI’s creation in 2018, its
failure, and its forced removal in 2022 contributed to enhancing the military’s control
of governance.

Imagining Change, 2008–2022

The military’s rapid shift toward hegemonizing the polity should be viewed as a
process rather than an event or as driven by an individual moment in recent history.
There is a deep distrust regarding the political class and their intent to stabilize and
modernize the state. However, constant intervention and periodic playing the arbiter
in politics is costly for the military’s image and maintaining its legitimacy among the
masses. Since the second martial law in 1969, every intervention and the period after
brings more criticism. This was obvious in 2006–2007 when the lawyer’s movement
not only raised voices against the Musharraf government but also attacked the
military’s economic predation. Slogans like “yeh jo dehshatgardi hey is key peechey wardi
hey” [behind every act of terrorism is the military] or “yeh watan key sajiley jawano
sarey raqbey tumharey liyay hein” [oh great soldiers all the agricultural lands are for
you] referring to the armed forces allotment of urban and rural land to its personnel,
aimed at questioning exploitation of national resources by the armed forces. This
posed a challenge for the generals, especially when the top leadership of two main
parties, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz
group (PMLN) came together. In 2006, both Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif signed
the Charter of Democracy (CoD) to cooperate in the future and to ensure pushback to
the Army GHQ.
The Imran Khan project, as vouched by senior politician and leader of the Pashtun
ethnic National Democratic Movement (NDM) Party, Afrasiab Khattak, was launched

47
Asif Shahzad, “Pakistan Elections to Be Delayed by New Census” Reuters (https://www.reuters.
com/world/asia-pacific/pakistans-general-elections-under-new-census-indicates-delay-2023-08-05/#:∼:
text=%22It%20was%20a%20consensus%20decision,will%20take%20about%20four%20months [accessed
December 14, 2022]).

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 30 Amina Yaqin et al.

in 2008.48 It indicated the military junta’s realization to rebuild the organization’s

reputation considered vital for the army’s longevity in power politics. Civilian
stakeholders developing understanding among themselves would emerge as a
counterweight to the military. A fractured polity with parties working at cross
purposes, not ideologically but at a personal level, naturally makes the defense
establishment look better. The plan to bring in a third political alternative may have
been inspired by political developments in Bangladesh, where, from 2006 to 2008, the
military colluded with the caretaker government and tried to influence political
choices and perhaps create a third option.49 Indian scholar Baladas Goshal termed this
political hyperactivity of the military without taking power as aiming for “power
without responsibility.”50
Where the Bangladeshi army failed, Pakistan gained by injecting a third option in
Imran Khan’s populism, whose benefits can be seen in three ways. First, it created a
populist narrative of building a Naya Pakistan (New Pakistan) that automatically
labeled the old one as redundant and harmful. Second, Khan’s narrative highlighted
anti-corruption that inspired the youth and urban middle class toward new
ideological politics. Just like in Turkey, where, as author and journalist Ece
Temelkuran suggests, democracy was pushed back through the introduction of
“ruthless populism,” Khan’s narrative normalized fascism and authoritarianism.51
Though the PTI got the urban middle class interested in electoral politics, its
ideological stance aimed at eliminating all opposition and introduced a non-
compromising and aggressive style. This generated greater polarization and allowed
the army to act and justify its bigger political role. Third, Khan was also a favorite
because he voluntarily marketed the concept of hybridity in which the military got
greater ingress in governance. From heading the Naya Pakistan Housing Authority to
the national airline, armed forces personnel penetrated almost every government
department. The then prime minister Khan even allowed the army chief to hold
meetings with business groups and media.52 In addition, Army Chief, General (retd.)
Qamar Javed Bajwa was elevated from the role of an army commander to a member of
the National Development Council, a body formed at the highest level for economic
planning in 2019.53 Around that time, other bodies also cropped up, such as the
National Coordination Committee (NCC) and National Command and Operation
Center (NCOC) to fight COVID-19 and natural emergencies, the National Locust
Control Center (NLCC) to fight locusts, and the National Intelligence Coordination

48
Afrasiab Khattak, Personal communication to author, June 20, 2023.
Baladas Goshal, “The Anatomy of Military Interventions in Asia: The Case of Bangladesh,” India
49

Quarterly 65, no. 9 (2009): 70–80.

50
Ibid., 70.
51
Ece Temelkuran, How to Lose a Country: The Seven Steps from Democracy to Dictatorship (London: Fourth
Estate, 2019): 15–48.
52
Staff Writer, “Pakistan’s Top Business Leaders Meet Army Chief Gen Bajwa,” Geo TV (https://www.
geo.tv/latest/249798-pakistans-top-business-leaders-meet-army-chief-gen-bajwa [accessed December
14, 2023]).
53
Staff Writer, “Pakistan Army Chief Made Member of Newly Developed National Development
Council,” Times of India (https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/pakistan-army-chief-made-member-
of-newly-established-national-development-council/articleshow/69843874.cms [accessed December 14, 2023]).

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 Critical Pakistan Studies 31

Committee, a supra intelligence body headed by the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) to

overlook intelligence activities by all civilian and military intel organizations.54 There
was no challenge to the military’s ingress in private business as the Khan government
took measures such as allowing tax exemption to two major military business
networks in the finance bill for 2021.55
Civil-military hybridity was publicly embraced as an equal and operational
partnership between the civilian government and the army that would work
effectively in dealing with challenges.56 Khan welcomed the complex decision-making
structure in journalist Fahd Hussain’s article and wholeheartedly and unquestioningly
accepted this institutional relationship that made the army chief his equal rather
than a subordinate. He even allowed the army chief to meet businessmen and media
personnel.57 However, this kind of hybridity did not start in 2018.58 I would argue that
hybridity under the Khan regime was an advanced version of what started in 2013, if
not earlier. As argued earlier, the military’s intervention in governance was planned
in 2008 and implemented in different ways starting in 2013 when the top four-star
generals were made members of the National Security Committee (NSC).59 This was
also when the National Security Division was raised as an independent body but under
more significant influence of the army. This infrastructure was created in an
environment where the Parliament had little capacity to oversee and regulate
military matters. From 2008 to 2013, the Parliament surrendered its right to regulate
weapons procurement.60 These were not just ordinary moves but the military
establishing its institutional superiority and autonomy. The abovementioned
developments are a serious assault on democracy as senior generals acquiring an
equal responsibility to manage the state can only lead to greater military control and
weaker democracy.

Politics and Governance after Imran Khan

The military already dominated the governance system when the GHQ was
confronted with the problem of containing Imran Khan after his removal in April
2022. Despite the past confrontation between the army and the PMLN, the party did
54
Ayesha Siddiqa, “Imran Khan and the Generals” The Diplomat (https://thediplomat.com/2021/08/
imran-khan-and-the-generals [accessed December 14, 2023]); Azaz Syed, “Military Names Its Officers for
NACTA’s Joint Intelligence Directorate,” The News International (https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/
125681-Military-names-its-officers-for-Nactas-Joint-Intelligence-Directorate [accessed December 14,
2023]).
55
Shahbaz Rana, “Govt Frees AWT from Income Tax” The Express Tribune (https://tribune.com.pk/
story/2308175/govt-frees-awt-from-income-tax [accessed December 14, 2023]).
56
Fahd Hussain, “Command and Control Governance,” Dawn (https://www.dawn.com/news/1568272
[accessed December 14, 2023]).
57
Zee News, “Pakistan’s Top Business Leaders Meet Army Chief General Bajwa,” YouTube Video, 02:18,
October 3, 2019 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rV3vioQllYg [accessed December 14, 2023).
58
Staff Writer, “Off the Record?: COAS Bajwa Met Dozens of TV Anchors, Social Media Continues to
Speculate, ” Naya Daur (https://nayadaur.tv/28-Apr-2021/off-the-record-coas-bajwa-met-dozens-of-tv-
anchors-social-media-continues-to-speculate [accessed December 14, 2023]).
59
Ayesha Siddiqa’s “Imran Khan and the Generals” The Diplomat (https://thediplomat.com/2021/08/
imran-khan-and-the-generals [accessed December 14, 2023]).
60
Sartaj Aziz, Between Dreams and Realities: Some Milestones in Pakistan’s History (Karachi: Oxford
University Press, Pakistan, 2020).

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 32 Amina Yaqin et al.

not resist power expansion of the defense forces. For example, the Finance Bill 2021
passed by a majority vote also included the PPP and the PMLN who initially criticized
it.61 The PMLN government also passed the notorious Pakistan Electronic Crimes Act
(PECA) in 2017. Projected to curb hate speech, the law was eventually used to gag
political activists and dissidents.62 Moreover, the party supported PTI’s decision to
extend General Bajwa’s tenure as Army chief along with the PPP and other parties.63
Similarly, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) granted 9,000 acres of land to the military
and continues to look forward to an understanding with the Army to help it return to
power in the federal government at some future stage.64 Over the years, political
players have contested military power to eventually surrender and accept GHQ’s
dominance and partnership to retain a share in power politics.
Imran Khan, being a new entrant in the game of power politics, erred like his
predecessors to imagine his populism was sufficient to fend off the military or that he
could decisively divide the institution from within. Indeed, his narrative of fighting
against corruption and creating a Naya Pakistan caught on even in military circles.
Numerous war veterans and military families fought on his side to the extent of being
imprisoned after May 9.65 But, it empowered the military state more in using the
events of May 9 to justify the use of brute force against PTI supporters and all forms of
dissidents. The military propaganda presented PTI’s aggression against military
symbols and buildings as a rebellion against the state and an act of terrorism. The
Army used it as an excuse to tighten control over Khan’s populism. His opponents saw
the confrontation between the PTI and the Army as a way to enter into a cooperative
arrangement with the generals while his followers were confronted with a further
deterioration of the democratic process experienced through increased infringement
by the military under the excuse of correcting the domestic balance disturbed by
Khan’s politics.
The military had two apparent reasons to intervene in making its role more
pronounced after 2021. First, it saw its autonomy (not its power) being challenged by
Khan, whose bid to select a COAS of his choice for furthering his personal power
ambitions was not allowed by the junta. Constitutionally, the prime minister appoints
the service chiefs, but he cannot do so without consultation and agreement of the
outgoing COAS and the Army as an institution. Any move to disturb the Army’s
internal cohesion is not allowed. Khan’s case differed from Nawaz Sharif’s, who was
removed in October 1999 for wanting to do the same. Second, Khan’s popularity seems

61
Shahbaz Rana, “NA Clears Budget with Majority Vote,” The Express Tribune (https://tribune.com.pk/
story/2307934/na-clears-budget-with-majority-vote [accessed December 14, 2023]); Javed Hussain,
“Opposition Criticizes Budget 2021, Deems it ‘Anti-People’,” Dawn (https://www.dawn.com/news/
1563059 [accessed December 14, 2023]).
62
Farieha Aziz, “Project Peca I: How to Silence a Nation,” Dawn (https://www.dawn.com/news/
1725805 [accessed December 14, 2023]).
63
Asim Hashim, “Pakistan Passes Bill Legalizing Extensions for Military Chiefs,” Aljazeera (https://
www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/1/8/pakistan-passes-bill-legalising-extensions-for-military-chiefs
[accessed December 14, 2023]).
64
Correspondent, “Sindh Allots 9,000 Acres of Land to Army,” Khaleej Times (https://www.
khaleejtimes.com/world/sindh-allots-9000-acres-of-land-to-army [accessed December 14, 2023]).
65
Staff Writer, “Khadija Shah Sent to Jail for Another Fourteen Days,” The Nation (https://www.nation.
com.pk/04-Jul-2023/khadija-shah-sent-to-jail-for-another-14-days [accessed December 14, 2023]).

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 Critical Pakistan Studies 33

to have grown after his removal in April 2022, incidentally proportionate to his
political opponents and the Army. Despite that, earlier in 2020, even Nawaz Sharif
had publicly named and shamed top Army officers, a campaign that the PMLN later
abandoned; Khan seems to have made the anti-Army narrative more popular.66
The PTI leader seems to have drawn a wedge within the more prominent military
fraternity, with numerous military families, and war veterans supporting him
against the COAS. Although the May 9 PTI protest did not compare with the Tahrir
Square demonstrations in Egypt in 2011, it confirmed Khan’s potential for
weaponizing politics against the Army. Though the PTI protestors were in the
hundreds, unlike in Egypt in 2011, where hundreds of thousands of protestors
demonstrated for President Hosni Mubarak’s removal, forcing the military to
concede to the demand, the act of protest that denoted willingness to violently
question the military came as a shock. Subsequently, a narrative was spread not
just decrying the May 9 attack but presenting it as an attack of terrorism and an
attack on the state’s security.67
Notably, the May 9 events were used by the GHQ to arm-twist the politically weak
coalition government of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) to concede to
legal changes to help the Army with repressive measures to curb the PTI. The
outgoing Parliament passed the Army act earnestly, giving the service greater power
to act against its own personnel to curb internal political dissent.68 The Shahbaz
Sharif government, which shared the Army’s resentment against the PTI, looked away
as hundreds of Khan party supporters were jailed, women incarcerated, and several
key party civilian members handed over to the Army for trial.69

The Journey toward Non-Democracy

Removing Khan from power and the center of Pakistan’s politics wasn’t just an
isolated event as it turned into a defining moment for the country’s democracy. The
Army used its partnership with the PTI’s opposition and fear of Khan’s politics to
attain greater power for itself. The urge to undermine Khan’s growing popularity,
combined with the precarious conditions that the PDM government inherited in the
form of a declining economy, rising oil prices, and a challenging deal with the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) entrenched the Shahbaz Sharif government’s
dependence on the GHQ. To win in the 2024 elections, the PMLN and the PPP need to
inspire confidence in the economy. One of the reasons the PTI leader lost confidence
in the military was his inability to beef up the country’s national reserves and

66
Staff Writer, “Nawaz Sharif Blames Gen Bajwa & Gen Faiz for Pakistan’s Current Turmoil,” The Hindu
(https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/nawaz-sharif-blames-gen-bajwa-gen-faiz-for-pakistans-
current-turmoil/article66413716.ece [accessed December 14, 2023]).
67
ARY News, “Progress Regarding the rarest of Culprits Involved in 9th May Attacks,” YouTube Video,
00:47, May 19, 2023 (https://videos.arynews.tv/video/x8l27tc/ [accessed December 14, 2023]).
68
Staff Writer, “President Alvi Signs Army, Official Secrets Acts into Law (https://www.brecorder.
com/news/40258747 [accessed December 14, 2023]).
69
Staff Writer, “PTI Lawyer Haider Majeed Handed Over to Military for Trial,” Daily Pakistan (https://
en.dailypakistan.com.pk/21-Aug-2023/pti-lawyer-haider-majeed-handed-over-to-military-for-trial [accessed
December 14, 2022]); Rana Bilal, “PTI Chief’s Nephew Handed Over to Military for Trial, LHC told,” Dawn
(https://www.dawn.com/news/1770793 [accessed December 14, 2023]).

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 34 Amina Yaqin et al.

resources.70 The coalition government increased the Army’s partnership in economic

decision-making and control of the state infrastructure to show their loyalty to the
military and gain popularity with the public by using this as a premise to stabilize the
financial system. Furthermore, the Shahbaz Sharif government gave the military and
intelligence agencies vetting power over civil service appointments.71 This will have
long-term implications in strengthening the military’s power by undermining the
civil bureaucracy, reversing the relationship between two state bureaucracies
reverting it to the status quo of the 1950s. The superordinate-subordinate
relationship that the civil bureaucracy had with its military counterpart changed,
especially after the 1990s with the restoration of electoral democracy.72 Despite a
weak democracy, there was an alignment between civil servants and political parties
based on patronage provided by the latter, this was referred to as a politicization of
the bureaucracy. With this law, politicization will not stop, but it will put the military
in the driving seat as a patron with the power to reward or punish bureaucrats.
Similarly, giving the Army a bigger role in economic management will have long-
lasting implications. The Sharif government made the Army chief a member of the
newly formed Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) responsible for bringing
foreign investment in the country.73 Unlike the past when the Khan government gave
a role to the COAS as an economic planning body, the SIFC also includes another Army
officer to be deputed to the newly formed body to coordinate investment operations.
The role is critical as the unique body would also privatize national assets. Islamabad
is already negotiating with the United Arab Emirate (UAE) to sell Karachi Port Trust,
three major airports, and much more. In another unprecedented move, the Army
launched its corporate farming initiative “FonGrow” to operationalize its plans to
energize the agricultural sector.74 The Army hopes to take charge of hundreds of
thousands of acres of state land and further enhance productivity through
mechanized farming and bringing foreign investment for export-oriented growth.
What appears like an ambitious plan is fraught with long-term risks for the
economy, society, and politics. The Army spearheading the economic program is a
reminder of a similar mistake made by the military ruler, Field Marshal Ayub Khan.
His development plan deepened the chasm between the eastern and western wings of
the country, eventually resulting in a civil war and, finally breakaway of the east wing.
Economists like Kaiser Bengali have already challenged the efficacy of the plan that,
according to him, will have a long-term impact in depleting the productivity of the

70
Haris Gazdar, “At the Heart of Imran Khan’s Loss of Power—The Economy,” The Wire (https://
thewire.in/south-asia/at-the-heart-of-imran-khans-loss-of-power-the-economy [accessed December 14,
2023]).
71
Shah Meer Baloch, “Fear for Democracy in Pakistan as ISI Gets Power over Civil Service,” The
Guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/12/fear-for-democracy-in-pakistan-as-isi-
gets-power-over-civil-service [accessed December 14, 2023]).
72
Saeed Shafqat, Civil-Military Relations in Pakistan (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1997): 9.
73
Staff Writer, “New ‘Investment Facilitation’ Council Gives Pakistan Army Formal Seat at Economic
Table,” Arab News (https://www.arabnews.pk/node/2325301/pakistan [accessed December 14, 2023]).
74
Staff Writer, “Army Chief, PM Inaugurate Pakistan’s First Corporate Farm to Modernize Agricultural
Practices,” Arab News (https://arab.news/wqj93 [accessed December 14, 2023]).

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 Critical Pakistan Studies 35

soil and creating sociopolitical problems.75 One of the possible major issues pertains
to the distribution of water and other resources, which, in turn, will feed into the
inter-provincial and ethnic divide. Water distribution is already a politically emotive
issue.76 But more importantly, the Army has a history of stealing water in South
Punjab by forcibly taking water from the canals without official authorization for
private use.77 It is also impossible not to bring into discussion the impact on
approximately 20 million landless peasants in the country. Thus far, many would get
evicted from state land that they occupied if the military acquired the land for its
corporate ventures as in the case of Okara farms or for the personal gain of individual
officers or personnel. Landless peasants would then shift to other vacant state land,
which they may be deprived of because the Army will acquire more land for corporate
farming.78 Driven by its arrogance and power the military’s corporate imagination
will also influence the long-term politics of the state as has happened in other cases of
a combination between ugly power and capitalist ambitions of state-backed
companies. As the American United Fruit Company expanded its footprints in
Central America, it gravely damaged democratic institutions and curbed media
freedom and human rights. The company turned several states into banana republics,
nourished military dictators and fed into an environment building that led to the
violent removal of democratic leaders like Chile’s Allende and created greater poverty
and large-scale political victimization.79
Pakistan’s military has a history of extracting national resources through its
corporate ventures in the name of the welfare of its personnel. Successive
governments have made the mistake of not understanding how economic extraction
deepens political predation. The new formula can potentially change the overall
sociopolitical milieu drastically, clipping the wings of democracy.

Conclusion
In July 2000, Larry Diamond frowned on Pakistan’s military coup of October 1999 as
the most serious reversal of democracy. A middle-sized country with nuclear
capability returning to military rule came as a shock reversing an overall democratic
trend. However, after 2008, many felt hopeful as the country returned to electoral
democracy, which by 2022 seemed uninterrupted. The trend took attention away
from the fact that Pakistan had embraced a guided democracy in which the military
used elections and the Parliament to consolidate its control of the state. Completely
distracted by electoral competition and lacking the ability to negotiate with the
generals, political stakeholders conceded greater space to maneuver the armed forces
by creating provisions in the Constitution and decision-making structure to provide
further roles to military echelons.
75
Imtiaz Gul, “White Elephants of Economy Thriving at Cost of Public: Kaiser Bengali Warns of
Corporate Farming Risks,” YouTube Video, 25:59 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQIT_GGtGZo
[accessed December 14, 2023]).
76
Ibid.
77
Siddiqa, Military Inc., 313–314.
78
Ibid., 233–34.
79
Peter Chapman, Bananas: How United Fruit Company Shaped the World (Edinburgh: Canongate Books,
2022): 127–41 and 173–90.

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 36 Amina Yaqin et al.

A more significant institutional role in governance was, indeed, a plan initiated

after 2006 when the two main political parties, the PMLN and the PPP, signed the
Charter of Democracy to empower them against the military’s exploitation. To
counter this, the military launched the populist project of Imran Khan but also shifted
its emphasis away from control of government to governance. The objective of the
populist project was to deepen further the military’s entrenchment in both state and
society. Getting rid of Khan is yet another project that will require even greater
military intervention that political parties will ignore at the risk to democracy.
In conclusion, I have argued that Pakistan’s political elites have given the military
free access to governance and economic roles, damaging democracy. In addition, the
Army has been granted extractive powers over national resources, paving the way for
economic, political, and ecological disasters. As a result of these favors, the Army
generals have gained in power over political parties. Deploying a colonialist strategy
of divide and rule, they use the electoral system to usher in their preferred candidate.
Furthermore, the insertion of political hybridity and conditions after 2013 have
marked the future direction of Pakistan as a controlled democracy that is unable to
recover from the military’s influence unless political stakeholders evolve a plan to
reduce, if not eliminate, the armed forces’ intervention in the day-to-day running of
the state and involvement in economic decision-making. It is worrying that the new
military leadership is not worried about its visibility as a praetorian entity and seems
willing to apply force where required to attain its goals. This will not bode well for the
political future, human rights, and civil liberties.

***

Fountain of Youth: The Imperative of Intellectual Pessimism and Willful

Optimism
Aasim Sajjad Akhtar
The largely undifferentiated category of “youth” has become increasingly
prominent in Pakistani politics, culture, and economy in recent years. This is not
by chance. Never before in the country’s history has its demographic profile looked
like it does today—the median age of the 250 million-strong population is 23, and
approximately 160 million Pakistanis are under the age of 25. When this demographic
explosion is considered alongside the ubiquitous availability of mobile internet and
budget smartphones, it can be posited that the youthful majority of Pakistanis now
increasingly inhabits what, in recent work, I have called a “digital lifeworld.”80
No mainstream political-ideological formation has identified itself more with
“youth”—and captured the imagination of significant numbers of young people—than
the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI). As striking is the popularity that Imran Khan boasts
among youthful segments of Pakistan’s population today, far exceeding any of his rivals.
Young people were at the forefront of the PTI’s sensational rise during and after its
October 2011 public meeting in Lahore and remained prominent during its equally
sensational fall from April 2022 onward. The concerted crackdown on the party after

80
Aasim Sajjad Akhtar, The Struggle for Hegemony in Pakistan: Fear, Desire, and Revolutionary Horizons
(London: Pluto, 2022). The present article draws in significant measure from this work.

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 Critical Pakistan Studies 37

the events of May 9, 2022, has also clarified, however, the apparent limitations of
youthful social media-savvy PTI supporters; while the latter are still able to (quite
literally) make waves in online spaces, their ability to mobilize on-the-ground has
been dealt a potentially fatal blow by the forces of state repression.
Indeed, the systematic dismantling of the PTI by the military establishment
illuminates a great deal about the nature and extent of its support base, especially those
who fall into the “youth” bracket. Recent events have underscored the diaspora’s role in
sustaining the PTI, the party’s popularity (or lack thereof) in the ethnic peripheries,
class composition, and ideological positions in Pakistan’s political economy.
In this brief exposition, I explore some of these issues against the backdrop of
Pakistan’s unique demographic moment and the emergence of the digital lifeworld.
I submit that social-scientific methodologies concerned with making sense of
contemporary political life in Pakistan and the postcolonial world at large must
become more attentive to the centrality of the digital. Drawing from—and beyond—
the experience of the PTI and Imran Khan, I consider the potentialities for Pakistan’s
youthful majority to coalesce around a left-progressive political project that can
meaningfully challenge the militarized, classed, racialized, and gendered structure
of power.
This essay is organized as follows: I briefly interrogate the category of “youth” and
its contribution to the PTI’s ascendance to governmental power. In particular,
I consider cleavages within “youth” along class, ethnic-national, and gender lines.
I then move on to an analysis of development since the party was ousted from
governmental power in April 2022. I conclude by reflecting on how an alternative
left-progressive hegemony can be constructed in light of the PTI experience.

Deconstructing the “Youth”

One of the main rhetorical devices deployed by the PTI during its rise to power (2011–
2018) was to emphasize the alienation from mainstream political parties of ordinary
Pakistanis in general and “youth” in particular. These parties were derided for being
family fiefdoms, internally undemocratic, and endemically “corrupt.” Such rhetoric
has a long genealogy in Pakistani politics, with military dictators Ayub Khan, Zia-ul-
Haq, and Pervez Musharraf justifying their overthrow of civilian governments under
similar pretexts.81
Nevertheless, how the PTI reconstructed an otherwise hackneyed narrative to
secure the allegiances of a younger generation of Pakistani—particularly through
social media and other digital platforms—demands attention in its own right. Crucial
in this regard was the cult of personality developed around Imran Khan’s person;
unlike other political leaders hailing from dynastic families like the Bhuttos and
Sharifs, Khan was depicted as a self-made and incorruptible man who had
transcended parochial interests to win Pakistan a cricket world cup and build an
unmatched cancer hospital.
The popularization of this narrative generated huge credibility for Imran Khan, but
it is telling that it took more than a decade after he entered politics for his
breakthrough moment. All critical analyses of his “launching” in the early 2010s, after
81
Mazhar Aziz, Military Control in Pakistan: The Parallel State (New York: Routledge, 2007).

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 38 Amina Yaqin et al.

almost 15 lean years for the PTI, emphasize the military establishment’s role in
lending Khan a substantial helping hand. I concur. But it is essential to consider other
interrelated aspects too.
First, the end of the 2000s and early 2010s marked the breakthrough moment for
digital networks as smartphones and cellular internet became accessible to a
significant cross-section of Pakistani society. Second, the Musharraf dictatorship
(1999–2008) represented the heyday of Pakistani neoliberalism, christening around
what I have termed a hegemonic “middle-class aspiration.” Finally, the military
establishment had also entered the digital age, its Inter-Services Public Relations
(ISPR) wing putting money and professional brainpower into movies, songs, memes,
and more to propagate traditional ideological tropes through new technologies. In
this emergent digital lifeworld, a familiar Pakistani hero in the shape of Imran Khan
was made the vehicle to take on the usual suspects—“corrupt” politicians—whilst
familiarly upholding “national security” and ushering in “development.”
Yet, like all khaki-backed governing regimes before it, the new era of digitalized
hegemony was, despite its pretensions, unable to acquire anything like universal
consent. That the PTI and Imran Khan were relatively successful in controlling digital
spaces confirmed that these spaces at best abstracted from, and at worst mirrored
entrenched, classed, racialized, and gendered social networks.

Class
There is, to my knowledge, no scholarly or even journalistic study that explicitly
analyzes the class base of any major political party in contemporary Pakistan. Studies
on electoral outcomes, including the 2018 general election, which brought the PTI to
power, primarily focus on the role of manipulation by the military establishment and
the role of “big men” or what are widely called “electables” in Pakistan.82
In government, all three major political parties—the PTI, Pakistan People’s Party
(PPP), and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) —have more or less been pro-
business in their orientation whilst also acceding to IMF conditionalities in varying
degrees. The PPP has, through the Benazir Income Support Program (BISP), dedicated
a modicum of public resources to social security and cash transfers, a policy that was
retained by the PTI (2018–2022) under the guise of the Ehsaas program.83 However,
the overall policy tilt of both parties is uninhibitedly pro-capital and anti-worker; all
mainstream political players, including the military establishment, privilege
financialized forms of accumulation (like real estate) alongside natural resources
capture/grabs.84
To return specifically to the PTI’s class base, the anecdotal evidence suggests that
the party’s most vocal and politically prominent segments hail from relatively
affluent class backgrounds. This is apparent from social media platforms like Twitter,
now X, as well as from the nature of its public mobilizations from 2011 onwards,
82
Hasan Javid and Mariam Mufti, “Electoral Manipulation or Astute Electoral Strategy? Explaining the
Results of Pakistan’s 2018 Election,” Asian Affairs 49, no. 2 (2022): 65–87.
83
It also won some plaudits for introducing the Sehat Card in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which provides
lower-class segments free or highly subsidized health care, but the jury is out on its overall effectiveness,
and its “successes” tend to camouflage that it is, at best, a publicly funded private insurance scheme.
84
Aasim Sajjad Akhtar, “Aid or Albatross?,” Discourse 1, no. 2 (2022): 23–24

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 Critical Pakistan Studies 39

during which the party was able to draw in surprisingly large crowds in political
gatherings across the country, including unprecedented numbers from the
historically apolitical middle and upper-middle classes.85
At the same time, however, I think it is important not to understate how the PTI’s
overall pitch to the “youth” drew in support from lower class brackets.86 More
specifically, in the absence of other mainstream parties able and willing to speak the
language of class politics, the PTI’s “them versus us” discursive politics attracted less
affluent segments aspiring to upward mobility but often unable to climb the social
ladder.
Put differently, the PTI concerned itself with the plight of “the poor” to the extent
that it could benefit from established patronage-based modalities of politics—in
effect denying the autonomous political agency of subordinate classes. One example
to which I was privy was street vendors in Islamabad, whom, under the guise of the
Ehsaas Rehri Baan initiative, were issued formal licenses to operate in a handful of the
city’s markets (sector G-11 being the most prominent). However, the party stopped
short of backing an institutionalized process of union-building.87 When these licenses
were revoked by the new government after April 2022, the PTI was neither committed
to organized street action nor could it do much more than make noise on social media
platforms.88

Ethnic-National Identity
Ethnic-national identity has arguably been the most significant fault line in Pakistani
politics; the Pakistani state retains the dubious distinction of being the only modern
nation-state in which a majority of the population has seceded to form a separate
country. It is noteworthy that the PTI has appeared to generate at least as much
support in unevenly developed ethnic-national social formations as any other
mainstream party in recent decades. It won successive general elections in Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa (KP) in 2013 and 2018 and in the latter election, secured a plurality
of seats in Punjab and urban Sindh. For context, urban Sindh was dominated by the
Urdu-speaking Muhajir Qaumi Movement (MQM) for most of the three decades
before the 2018 election, KP, previously a battleground between Pashtun
nationalists and the religious right, and Punjab controlled by various factions
of the Pakistan Muslim League.89 For the PTI to make inroads into all of these
bastions demands consideration.

85
Umair Javed, “Continuity and Change in Naya Pakistan,” Catalyst 2, no. 4 (2019): 83.
86
With respect to social media platforms, the PTI has nevertheless also established itself as the far-
and-away leader on Tik Tok, which caters to a much more humble class audience than platforms such as
Twitter (Abdul Moiz Malk, “Tik Tok: The New Frontier for Political Info-Wars,” Dawn (https://www.dawn.
com/news/1755000 [accessed December 15, 2023]).
87
Indeed, a systematic commitment to class-based politics would have seen the PTI focus on trade
unionization in a plethora of sectors, the revival of student unions, as well as efforts to create peasant-
farmer collectives in rural regions.
88
Staff Writer, “Imran Slams Govt. for Demolishing Vendor Carts Provided under Ehsaas Initiative,”
Dunya News (https://dunyanews.tv/en/Pakistan/696184-Imran-slams-govt-for-demolishing-Ehsaas-
vendor-carts-in-Islamabad [accessed December 15, 2023]).
89
The MQM renamed itself Muttahida Qaumi Movement in 1997.

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 40 Amina Yaqin et al.

It is worth being reminded that many electoral outcomes reflected the PTI’s
military-backed strategy to win over “electables.” Furthermore, the PTI remained
vastly distant, and at times, outrightly opposed to many youth-led ethnic-national
political struggles outside of the mainstream, including the Pashtun Tahaffuz
Movement (PTM) as well as Baloch, Sindhi, and other activists campaigning against
enforced disappearances. More generally, the PTI reinforced standardized ideological
narratives about Islam, Pakistan, and Urdu as the national language, including the
highly regressive Single National Curriculum.90 Additionally, the PTI online support
base deployed textbook right-wing fear-mongering tactics. It was effectively hand-in-
glove with the military establishment in talking up foreign conspiracies, demonizing
opponents for being anti-state, and stoking fears about a “fifth generation war.” All of
these represent continuity with statist hegemonic apparatuses of the past.
An overall report card reads as follows: The PTI made most inroads among young
people in the core region of central and northern Punjab, alongside more developed
parts of KP (most notably the Peshawar Valley and Swat) and urban Sindh.91 It was
moderately successful in mobilizing support in Siraiki-speaking south Punjab.
Generally, it had the least support in Baloch and Sindhi heartlands whilst positioning
itself, particularly in government, against democratic federalism in general.92

Gender
In its genesis and during the years before and after gaining governmental power, the
PTI was generally perceived to have created space for young women to enter the
public and political sphere. Its public rallies featured song and dance, with
noteworthy participation of young women and girls. Young women also emerged as
some of the best known PTI activists on social media and digital platforms, which in
turn was key to encouraging other women to become members or sympathizers of the
party. At higher levels of the party, a significant number of relatively young women
acquired prominent positions, took on elected seats in the National Assembly and
Senate, and became spokespersons for the party.93
That many of these women hailed from relatively affluent backgrounds—and, in
some cases, highly elite families—should not detract from the visibility accorded by
the party to female leadership. In an extremely male-dominated public sphere, where
patriarchal norms and violence are rife, the PTI allowed young women to challenge
the status quo. Unfortunately, however, many of the PTI’s women leaders towed
extremely retrogressive party lines on numerous issues. The party took virtually no
meaningful policy initiative to address patriarchal structures in the almost four years

Faisal Bari, “Pakistan’s Education Reform Test,” Current History 120, no. 825 (2021): 133–39.
90
91
It also won elections in the disputed territories of Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu Kashmir (AJK),
but this represented little more than an established trend.
92
In fact, for as long as the PTI remained close to the military establishment, Imran Khan and the
party leadership appeared to be willing to roll back the 18th amendment and introduce a presidential
form of government (Saqib Virk, “Opposition Warns Govt. against Bringing in Presidential System,” The
Express Tribune (https://tribune.com.pk/story/2254711/opposition-warns-govt-against-bringing-in-
presidential-system [accessed December 15, 2023]).
93
Some examples include Maleeha Bokhari, Tayyaba Raja, Khadija Shah, Kanwal Shauzab, Shandana
Gulzar, and Ayla Malik.

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 Critical Pakistan Studies 41

that it remained in government. There are enough examples of harassment of women

by men at the highest echelons of the party—Imran Khan included—to suggest that
misogyny remained rife within the PTI.94 As significant was Khan’s public rants about
women’s skimpy dressing as the primary cause of sexual assaults; by repeatedly
blaming the victim and refusing to back down on his misogynistic positions, Khan set
an example to be replicated by party leaders and activists.95

The Fall from Grace

In this section, I reflect on what the PTI’s dramatic decline has illustrated about its
political genus and broader matters relating to the future of politics in military-
dominated Pakistan against the backdrop of the digital lifeworld. I want to start by
noting a very important self-perception of the prototypical PTI worker, especially in
the wake of the significant state repression to which s/he has been subjected since
May 2023. Simply, the young PTI supporter believes her/himself to have taken on a
vanguard role in resisting military domination in contemporary Pakistan.96 This is not
to be dismissed as delusion, notwithstanding the PTI’s otherwise insular worldview.
Notably, many PTI workers/supporters have been jailed and suffered other forms of
sanction by the state’s coercive apparatus, including many of its prominent young
women leaders.
The PTI retains the ability, even in the face of significant persecution, to mobilize
public opinion in digital spaces in large part due to its considerable support base in
the diaspora. Here too, it is youth that plays a major role; the example of Shayan Ali, a
17-year-old London-born Pakistani, is instructive. Ali has garnered a massive online
following, and, alongside others, is able to make interventions in faraway geographies
with significant effects in Pakistan itself.97
The persistence of “digitalized resistance” by PTI followers after the military’s
crackdown on the party certainly does not reflect any deepening of party positions on
class, gender, ethnic-national identity, and other deep fault lines in Pakistan’s polity,
economy, and society. But it is still notable that large numbers of young people in
Pakistan and abroad, many of whom have historically imbibed pro-establishment
political positions, have had a political awakening of sorts with regard to the role of
the military. To stretch this point further, PTI workers/supporters from working-
class backgrounds who have been incarcerated or faced other forms of persecution—
many of whose social media profiles do not garner attention—have been forced to
fend for themselves with no support from the party leadership or the organization at
94
Sune Engel Rasmussen and Nosheen Abbas, “Pakistan MP Who Says Imran Khan Harassed Her Faces
Wave of Abuse,” The Guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/sep/25/pakistani-mp-says-
imran-khan-harassed-her-abuse-ayesha-gulalai-wazir [accessed December 15, 2023]).
95
Soofia Tariq, “Outrage after Pakistan PM Imran Khan Blames Rape Crisis on Women,” The Guardian
(https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/25/outrage-after-pakistan-pm-imran-khan-blames-
crisis-on-women [accessed December 15, 2023]).
96
Indeed, the anti-establishment claim extends to the global political economy; the PTI insists that
Imran Khan was deposed in a US-backed regime change operation because he wanted to move Pakistan
closer to anti-Western powers: Russia and China.
97
Ayaz Akbar Yousazai, “UK-based PTI Social Media Activist Shayan Ali Booked under Anti-Terror
Law,” The News (https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1101420-uk-based-pti-social-media-activist-shayan-ali-
booked-under-anti-terror-law [accessed December 15, 2023]).

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 42 Amina Yaqin et al.

large. This speaks to the party’s limitations and the space that could exist for a
genuine political alternative foregrounding party cadres from working-class
backgrounds. It is worth bearing in mind that many of the young party workers
who, so to speak, have been left high and dry, hail from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. I am
privy to many such workers’ families seeking legal aid from left-progressives with
whom they were at loggerheads when the PTI was in government.
To pay attention to the experiences of “youth” after the PTI was ousted from
government—particularly those from lower class backgrounds and hailing from
ethnic peripheries—is, I wish to reiterate, important for a number of interrelated reasons.
First, they confirm that online spaces will remain a major site of hegemonic contestation
and do not necessarily translate into on-the-ground political presence/mobilization.
Second, they underline that the original military-backed hegemonic project in the form of
the Imran Khan–led PTI has created swathes of young people who are at least superficially
challenging military domination. Third, they represent a (most likely fleeting) opportunity
for burgeoning dissent to be channeled toward a hegemonic alternative that names and
challenges the hydra-headed monster that currently rules Pakistan.98

The Aftermath
Pakistan is gripped by a plethora of inter-related crises, which, even while coercion is
visited upon PTI and other political workers by the post-PTI regime, cannot simply be
swept under the carpet.99 The PTI’s dismantling has heralded a wider clampdown on
political forces across most of the ideological spectrum, save the far right. But history
teaches that viable and persistent hegemonies are reliant less on coercion and more on
the generation of consent. To date, the post-PTI regime has done little more than reassert
hegemonic middle-class aspiration inasmuch as it has adopted the same policy regime as
its predecessors. The emphasis remains on resource grabs, financialized accumulation,
and extraction of geostrategic rents from external patrons as diverse as the International
Monetary Fund (IMF), the Gulf kingdoms, and China.
Arguably, the most notable initiative taken since May 2023 is the announcement of
the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC), which will reportedly operate
under the direct supervision of the Chief of Army Staff (COAS).100 The SIFC represents
a clean chit for foreign investors to exploit mineral resources and grab agricultural
lands for so-called corporate farming. The official website explicitly advertises an
“investment-friendly regime, featuring a high ease of doing business, tax reduction,
tax holidays, and special economic zones” whilst also “boasting a consumer market
with a vibrant middle class.”101 Such heady claims are not new. When it was
introduced to similar fanfare in 2015, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)
98
Aasim Sajjad Akhtar, “Who Runs Pakistan,” Dawn (https://www.dawn.com/news/1773422 [accessed
December 15, 2023]).
99
It is important to note that left-progressives too have been persecuted in the post-May 9
conjuncture, most notably PTM (Umer Burney, “Islamabad Court Sends Ali Wazir on Judicial Remand in
Rioting Case,” Dawn (https://www.dawn.com/news/1771564 [accessed December 15, 2023]).
100
Rizwan Shehzad, “Army to Oversee Economic Revival,” The Express Tribune (https://tribune.com.
pk/story/2422716/army-to-oversee-economic-revival [accessed December 15, 2023]).
101
Special Investment Facilitation Council, “SIFC at a Glance,” Government of Pakistan (https://www.
sifc.gov.pk/ [accessed December 15, 2023]).

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 Critical Pakistan Studies 43

was widely hailed as a “game-changer” with limitless potential to meet the

employment and other needs of Pakistan’s youthful population. Indeed, all militarized
hegemonies throughout Pakistan’s history have featured similarly grand claims,
including Field Marshal Ayub Khan’s “Decade of Development” and General Pervez
Musharraf’s “Silent Revolution.” But never before in Pakistan’s history has the
militarized ruling class had to generate consent from such a young population, of
which a large segment was previously the proverbial foot solider of a khaki-backed
political project that has now boomeranged on the military.
The glitzy advertising around the SIFC neglects to mention that enormous
structural problems beset the Pakistani economy. These include ballooning external
debt, including a debt repayment burden of almost $70 billion between 2023 and 2026,
as well as an unemployment rate in the double digits, with rates for age groups under
30 particularly high. Persistent financial insolvency is explained by the very same
“tax holidays” for the rich and powerful that the SIFC promises; in this regard the two
most powerful players are foreign capital and Pakistan’s own inimitable “Military
Inc.”102

The Left Imperative

Yet the fundamental question remains how to foment a political subject that can
meaningfully challenge the increasingly contradicted militarized hegemonic order
based on what Antonio Gramsci would call a substantive national-popular will.
Indeed, aside from the Pakistani state’s stuttering failure to forge a meaningful
“national” identity, Pakistani progressives have their own tortured tryst with the
country’s highly vexed national question.103
With time, and particularly in the post–Cold War world, ethnic-nationalist
movements in Pakistan, with exception, have become more distant from admittedly
weak leftist and working-class movements. The PTI experience does hint at the
potentialities of a younger generation of working people closing ranks across ethnic-
national lines. Still, of course in the PTI’s case, this happened based on established
unitary statist narratives. Equally important is a recognition that where the PTI’s
reliance on “digitalized resistance” has proven insufficient, young leftists and ethnic-
nationalists operating in digital spaces must not be over-reliant on such spaces;
indeed, progressives must overcome the “competition of oppressions” that many
engage in unreflexively in the digital lifeworld. Even further, a robust theorization of
politics under conditions of digitalization is both a necessary and sufficient condition
for an alternative hegemony in the face of growing surveillance on the one hand and
individual alienation on the other.
In my estimation, ethnic-nationalists and the left are both charged with creating
new avenues of theory and practice in which the national question, class question,
and, crucially, the ecological question speak to one another.104 While the historical
102
Ayesha Siddiqa, Military Inc.: Inside Pakistan’s Military Economy (London: Pluto, 2007).
103
Kamran Asdar Ali, “Communists in a Muslim Land: Cultural Debates in Pakistan’s Early Years,”
Modern Asian Studies 45, no. 3 (2011): 501–34.
104
A useful starting point in this regard is Mallick’s brilliant exposition of “partisan universal” and
“concrete universal” (Ayyaz Mallick, “From Partisan Universal to Concrete Universal? The Pashtun
Tahaffuz Movement in Pakistan,” Antipode 52, no. 6 [2020]: 1774–93).

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 44 Amina Yaqin et al.

dialectic of class struggle and national liberation can be excavated from a shared past,
the ecological imperative is about the putatively shared future of all young working
people living in one of the most climate-change–prone countries in the world.
Indeed, the complete lack of will by the military establishment and all bourgeois
political parties to even marginally reform Pakistan’s extractive political economy
to cater to the future of an exceedingly young population is mirrored by the
intelligentsia at large. A wide cross-section of TV anchors, columnists, university
professors, and digital “influencers” perpetually invoke the need for “foreign
investment,” with little concern for the working masses or ravaged natural
ecosystems. In such a context, progressives can and must devise a political imaginary
for ecological restoration, economic redistribution, and a multinational society in
tandem with one another. I should add that where leftists and ethnic-nationalists are
charged with closing ranks, this is also necessary vis-à-vis Pakistan’s fourth wave of
feminists, led by young women who occupy the digital lifeworld.105
Indeed, the PTI experience points to the need for a much more substantive horizon
for women’s liberation in what is an utterly male-dominated public and political
sphere. If nothing else, Pakistan’s fourth wave of feminists would benefit from mutual
acknowledgment of a plurality of potentially “revolutionary feminisms.”106
Ultimately, the challenge is to articulate—in theory and practice—an emancipatory
framework founded upon the dialectical unity of class, gender, ethnic-national, and
the ecological imperative. A political project that learns meaningfully from the PTI
experience and seeks to decisively transcend it demands, borrowing again from
Gramsci, intellectual pessimism and willful optimism. Pessimism of the intellect is
essential—a recognition of the race to the bottom in economic, political, and cultural
life—because only such an unapologetic acknowledgment of the objective situation
can generate the self-reflexivity and willful optimism to foment the collective
political subject both necessary and sufficient to articulate a hegemonic alternative.
Finally, a note in closing: avoiding Pakistani exceptionalism in the current
conjuncture is essential. Look at neighboring India, for instance, where an even more
acute version of hegemonic middle-class aspiration that has undergirded the BJP’s
hegemonic project, is precipitating a downward spiral of majoritarian hate that was
unimaginable only a few short years ago. In our increasingly digital lifeworld—and a
highly financialized and digitalized global political economy—it is theoretically
unviable to remain wedded to methodological nationalism. Perhaps even more
importantly, Pakistani exceptionalism impedes our ability to imagine and, ultimately,
do, the politics of revolutionary internationalism.

105
Rubina Saigol and Nida U. Chaudhry, Contradictions and Ambiguities of Feminism in Pakistan: Exploring
the Fourth Wave (Islamabad: Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, 2020).
106
I borrow here the title of the recently published volume by Brenna Bhandar and Rafeef Ziadah,
Revolutionary Feminisms: Conversations on Collective Action and Radical Thought (London: Verso, 2020).

Cite this article: Yaqin, A., Zaidi, S. A., Siddiqa, A., and Sajjad Akhtar, A. (2023). “Critical Forum: Populism,
Hybrid Democracy, and Youth Cultures”. Critical Pakistan Studies 1, 14–44. https://doi.org/10.1017/
cps.2024.1

https://doi.org/10.1017/cps.2024.1 Published online by Cambridge University Press