Hello Reader,
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This week's essay is the second excerpted from our upcoming report, 10 Revolts That Will Shake the World in 2026. Current subscribers will receive the full report next Saturday. Today's preview features Revolt #8 on the list (ordered by ascending global impact):

The Cricketer's Revolt—Pakistan's "Movement for Justice"

The gates of Adiala Jail remained sealed as Aleema Khan approached in late November 2025 with growing dread. She had traveled to Rawalpindi to visit her brother, imprisoned for over two years. She had not heard from him for weeks, and rumors suggested he might already be dead.
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When Aleema insisted on seeing her brother, officers surrounded her. One grabbed her by the hair and violently dragged her away as others beat her with batons. Her sister received the same treatment when she tried to intervene. Blood streamed from Aleema's head as she was thrown into a police van—all caught on video.
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The episode was typical of Pakistan's militarized justice system, but Aleema's brother is no ordinary prisoner. He is Imran Khan, one of the greatest cricketers in Pakistan's history and the country's former Prime Minister. The brutality sent a clear message: even the family of Pakistan's most popular politician would face violent consequences for demanding his release.
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Khan's transformation from cricket legend to political prisoner represents perhaps the most dramatic arc in modern Pakistani history. As captain of Pakistan's national cricket team, he led his country to its only World Cup victory in 1992, becoming a national hero whose fame transcended ethnic divisions. He leveraged this celebrity to found Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf—the Movement for Justice— in 1996, promising to end the corrupt dynastic politics that had dominated Pakistan for decades.
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PTI's ideology defies easy Western categorization. The party espouses populist nationalism rooted in conservative Islamic values while promising welfare programs for the poor. Khan built his political identity on fierce opposition to military interference, corruption, and Western imperialism, frequently condemning American drone strikes and foreign intervention. His admiration for China's development model and sympathy for Taliban resistance to occupation made him enemies in the West.
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PTI is not a liberal movement in any Western sense. It does not champion individual rights, secular governance, or progressive social policies. Yet PTI has achieved what no other Pakistani party has in generations: genuine mass mobilization that crosses ethnic, linguistic, and regional boundaries.
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This is why PTI matters for Pakistan's democratic future. As the only mass electoral force not controlled by the military or a corrupt dynasty, it is the only party with authentic youth appeal. Now it faces the military's harshest repression since the Zia dictatorship of the 1980s.
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Pakistan's descent into dictatorship accelerated dramatically under General Asim Munir, who became Chief of Army Staff in 2022. The military has controlled Pakistan's political landscape since independence in 1947, staging at least four successful coups and maintaining power over foreign policy, defense, and intelligence. Yet Munir's tenure has witnessed democracy's near-total collapse. Freedom House now rates Pakistan as "Not Free."
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The military controls vast portions of the economy, from banking to agriculture to real estate. The Inter-Services Intelligence monitors domestic political activities with sophisticated surveillance technology. Judges who rule against military interests face intimidation, while the Election Commission operates as a military proxy, disqualifying opposition candidates and manipulating results.
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After the military removed him as Prime Minister in 2022, Khan became the regime's primary target. Authorities charged him with over 150 cases ranging from corruption to terrorism. By late 2024, Khan had been sentenced to multiple lengthy prison terms. Solitary confinement, denial of medical care, and denial of legal counsel followed in 2025. As of early December, speculation swirls that he has died in custody.
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PTI's followers have mounted a sustained resistance campaign. In 2024, PTI-backed candidates won the most National Assembly seats despite vote-rigging, yet authorities prevented PTI from forming a government. Nationwide protests erupted and continued throughout 2025.
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In November 2024, thousands of PTI supporters converged on the capital demanding Khan's release and fresh elections. Security forces responded with tear gas, rubber bullets, and live ammunition. The government imposed a complete internet shutdown, killed at least 12 protesters, and arrested thousands. Khan's wife, who had led the march, was arrested, yet protests continued.
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General Munir cultivated ties with the Trump administration, positioning Pakistan as a crucial partner in counterterrorism operations while securing diplomatic cover for the domestic crackdown. Pakistani forces conducted joint operations with American intelligence against terrorist networks while engaging in periodic clashes with Taliban militants along the Afghan border throughout 2025.
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Yet Pakistan's internal conflicts extend beyond PTI. When security forces abducted and tortured Dr. Mahrang Baloch's father to death in 2011—one of thousands of enforced disappearances designed to crush Baloch aspirations for autonomy—she transformed personal tragedy into political resistance. Through the Baloch Yakjehti Committee, her peaceful organizing has drawn hundreds of thousands to demonstrations, evolving in 2025 from demanding accountability to openly advocating independence. Meanwhile, Pakistan's relationship with India deteriorated sharply as border skirmishes in disputed Kashmir intensified, with terrorist attacks prompting airstrikes and counter-strikes that brought the nuclear-armed neighbors to the brink.
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The convergence of these crises has created unprecedented instability. General Munir's regime faces simultaneous challenges from PTI's resistance, Balochistan's independence struggle, tensions with India, Taliban militants, and economic collapse with inflation exceeding 30%.
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Conditions are ripe for upheaval—a imprisoned leader possibly dead, streets filled with protesters, multiple fronts of armed conflict, economic devastation. Yet revolution's outcome remains uncertain. PTI's values may not mirror those of the West, but their appeal transcends ideology: citizens, not generals, should determine Pakistan’s future. No military power can extinguish the spirit of those facing violence for this belief.
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