Imran Khan assassination attempt: Pakistan's turbulent past includes many political killings

Imran Khan, former Pakistan Prime Minister and thechairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was wounded byan unspecified number of bullet shots on Thursday, sending shockwaves across the Indian subcontinent and the rest of the world. Khan was addressing his supporters at a rally in Punjab's Gujranwala while leading a march towards the capital Islamabad, when an unidentified gunman opened fire, wounding Khan and some of his supporters.

Imran Khan was swiftly taken to a Lahore hospital where he is reported to be out of danger.

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Earlier, Khan had claimed threats to his life, which many dismissed as a political ploy.

But the ghost of political assassinations that came to haunt Pakistan on Thursday, proved Khan's claims right.

The South Asian country's history has been turbulent, with multiple political leaders assassinated since the country's founding in 1947. No Pakistan Prime Minister has ever completed its five-year term, including Khan.Imran Khan is the latest to have faced an assassination attempt.

Pakistan's first Prime Minister, Liaqat Ali Khan, was assassinated in the Company Baugh of Rawalpindi on the stage that was later named Liaqat Bagh.

Another staunch leader of Pakistan, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was hanged by General Zia-ul Haq's military administration. He was hanged only a short distance from Liaqat Baugh. Nine years after he was hanged, Zia Ul Haq died in a plane accident. Some believe it was a murder.

Despite strong security and death threats, the nation had witnessed the savage killing of Pakistan's two-time Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto, in the same city.

According to the media reports, her husband refused to perform a postmortem on her body. While everyone understands that a post-mortem is essential for determining the cause of death, it was not done in the instance of Benazir Bhutto, and her killers were never apprehended.

Pakistani politicians' lives have been fraught with risk from the country's inception. The Pakistani politician who dies of natural causes is fortunate. Pakistani leaders were hung, shot, and killed. And there was also a strange plane crash. Benazir Bhutto was no stranger to violence and was assassinated too. Her father and two brothers were all murdered.

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