Coup in Pakistan? Army chief General Asim Munir following Musharaff’s dirty game to topple Shehbaz Sharif using…

Lieutenant General Asim Munir has trained guns on Shehbaz Sharif over the rise of BLA and the group's recent waves of deadly attacks on the Pakistan Army.

Amid the rampant uncertainty and turmoil in Pakistan due the recent wave of devastating attacks, including the brazen hijack of the Jaffar Express by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) in Balochistan, Pakistan Army Chief General Asim Munir is purportedly plotting a coup to overthrow Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

General Munir using Pervez Musharraf’s playbook?

According to reports circulating in Pakistani media, General Munir is pulling a page straight out of former dictator Pervez Musharraf’s playbook, and cornering Shehbaz Sharif by laying the blame of recent terror incidents by the BLA and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), as well as the flare up with the Afghan Taliban, on the PM’s shoulders.

As per experts, all signs are pointing to another coup in Pakistan even as the country is battling terror attacks, as well as a crumbling economy.

Recently, General Munir has trained guns on Shehbaz Sharif over the rise of BLA and the group’s recent waves of deadly attacks on the Pakistan Army. The Army chief called Shehbaz government “weak”, as he targeted politicians, blaming them for the deteriorating security situation in Pakistan.

Pak army chief calls out Sharif’s ‘weak’ rule

In a briefing to Joint Parliamentary Committee, General Asim Munir stated that the country needs better governance to fight terrorism and insurgency and emphasized on making Pakistan a tough state. The Army chief asked how long innocent Pakistani citizens will be sacrificed at the altar of terrorism due to weak governance.

Analysts have pointed out that General Munir’s rhetoric mirrored that of former Army Chief Pervez Musharraf who used the same tactics to build dissent against Shehbaz’s brother and then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and ultimately toppled him, over two decades ago. Munir is blaming Shehbaz Sharif for the situation in Balochistan and surge in attacks by Baloch rebel group, which is eerily reminiscent of how Musharraf had blamed Nawaz Sharif for the Kargil war defeat, 25 years ago.

Baloch insurgency becomes catalyst

As per analysts, Shehbaz Sharif facing a high chance of meeting the same fate as his older brother as General Asim Munir is sending a clear message to the citizens that Pakistan needs a “strong leadership”, subtly implying that Army rule is the answer because the current regime is incapable of curbing fighting extremism and insurgency.

They note that the Army chief is using the Baloch insurgency as a pawn in his grand scheme to orchestrate a coup, which seems imminent at this point, unless some drastic measures are taken by elected government to rein in the Army.

On October 12, 1999, then army chief Pervez Musharraf orchestrated a military coup to overthrow Nawaz Sharif and seized power in Islamabad. The development came amid the backdrop of Pakistan’s defeat in the Kargil War, which Musharraf claimed Pakistan would have won, if not for Sharif being “forced” to order a ceasefire by the United States.