Pakistan: A country that is unsafe for its own leaders
Imran Khan
On Thursday, Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan was shot at by assailants during his ‘real freedom’ rally in Wazirabad. Although out of danger, Khan has sustained gunshot injuries on his leg. One of the two assailants has been caught.
Benazir Bhutto
Another ex-prime minister of Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto, was assassinated in December 2007. The tragedy struck three months after Bhutto ended her self-imposed exile. Her killer was identified as Bilal. The 15-year-old first shot Bhutto and then blew himself up during a political rally in Rawalpindi.
Liaquat Ali Khan
The first prime minister of the country, Liaquat Ali Khan was shot dead during one of his public meets in Rawalpindi’s Company Bagh on 16 October 1951. His attacker, Said Akbar, was later shot at the same location by the police. To honour Khan, the Company Bagh was renamed Liaquat Garden.
General Zia-ul-Haq
In August 1988, a C-130 plane that carried the then president and army chief of Pakistan, General Zia-ul-Haq, exploded soon after it took off from Bahawalpur airbase. According to media reports, the plane crash still remains a mystery.
Omar Asghar Khan
In 2002, former federal minister Omar Asghar Khan was found hanging from a ceiling fan at his in-laws’ residence under ‘mysterious circumstances’ . Pakistani media house Dawn reported, “Police claimed that Omar Asghar had committed suicide but initial report of the postmortem examination and the circumstantial evidence suggested otherwise.