By Tahir Masood (Rafa’el)
Foreign Correspondent – Europe
Daily Capital Mail
Imran Khan’s political journey has turned into one of the most dramatic cautionary tales in Pakistan’s history – a leader who once enjoyed unprecedented love and legitimacy now publicly branded as a “security threat.” The latest DG ISPR press conference has officially drawn a sharp red line: Imran Khan is no longer being treated as a political opponent but as a destabilising force, a man whose words and actions allegedly undermine state security. This escalation did not begin suddenly; it is the outcome of a series of miscalculations by PTI and by Khan himself, amplified by the party’s peculiar social-media machinery that chose vengeance over wisdom.
For years, PTI’s digital force has operated as a parallel army — aggressive, emotional, sarcastic, lightning-fast, and often destructive. Instead of using its unmatched reach to shape policy discourse, educate the public, or strengthen democratic norms, PTI’s online spaces became battlegrounds of personal attacks, ridicule, and targeted harassment. Anyone perceived as critical, journalists, judges, bureaucrats, ex-supporters , was labelled an enemy. Memes replaced arguments, insults replaced strategy, and abusive trends replaced political messaging. This digital militancy often served as PTI’s way of taking “revenge” against institutions and individuals, a peculiar mode of online warfare aimed at humiliating rather than persuading.
That strategy thrilled supporters but alienated power centres. It created an unprecedented rift between PTI and the very institutions that dominate Pakistan’s political architecture. And in the aftermath of the DG ISPR’s press conference, which directly referenced fake narratives, foreign linkages, and coordinated targeting of the military. It is clear that PTI’s social-media posture has become part of the case against Imran Khan himself. The state believes this digital ecosystem is not just emotional activism but a weaponised machine causing institutional damage.
In this environment, the DG ISPR’s remarks mark something even deeper: a point of no return. Once a political disagreement is reframed as a national-security threat, the path back is almost impossible. The establishment rarely softens its stance after making accusations of this magnitude in public. And PTI’s behaviour, instead of defusing the situation continues to harden it. Every retaliatory trend, every mocking hashtag, every sarcastic jab on X feeds directly into the narrative that the party is unrestrained, unrepentant, and unwilling to de-escalate.
Imran Khan himself now stands at the centre of this storm. His charisma, once his greatest shield, is no longer seen as a force of unity but as a catalyst of chaos. His speeches, once seen as inspirational, are now being framed as incitements. His popularity, once a source of pride, is now interpreted as a potential risk. PTI’s rigid confrontational style supercharged by its digital warriors – has turned even sympathy into suspicion.
What makes the tragedy deeper is that Imran Khan had the most powerful mandate any leader could hope for. But he never converted that popularity into long-term safety or political stability. Instead, PTI and Khan moved with emotional intensity but no political calculation. Their energy was explosive but not strategic. Their resistance was brave but directionless. And their digital revenge campaigns, driven by passion not prudence, pushed the party further toward isolation.
Today, Imran Khan’s reality is harsh: political cases are overshadowed by national-security allegations; state hostility has reached its maximum threshold; and the military’s public classification of him as a threat has closed many doors forever. Meanwhile, PTI’s online supporters, instead of rescuing the movement, continue acting in ways that justify the system’s crackdown.
This is the haunting irony: Imran Khan had all the ingredients to become Pakistan’s most transformative leader, yet he stands among the unluckiest not because the people turned against him, but because he and his party crossed a point of no return without realising it. Their passion became their undoing. Their digital militancy became evidence against them. And their refusal to step back, moderate, or reassess ensured that the path forward is now narrower than ever. The tragedy is not just that a giant has fallen, but that he fell by stepping repeatedly on the very ground that could not hold him.
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