The Pakistani government, or rather, the army that pulls its strings, seems determined to ban the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and settle accounts once and for all with former Prime Minister Imran Khan, who founded the party. Rumor has it that Khan, currently in prison for a myriad of real or alleged crimes (despite being officially acquitted by many) could be charged with treason for the riots that followed his arrest in May 2023. Protests that, according to Information Minister Ataullah Tarar, constituted “a direct threat to the fabric of our nation” and that were instigated by Imran himself. The government’s move, if actually implemented, could spark a full-blown civil war, but that doesn’t seem to interest Shahbaz Sharif and his puppeteers. The fact is that the government, elected with one of the worst and most hidden electoral frauds in the history of a country where electoral fraud is the norm, was thrown into panic by a Supreme Court decision that assigned 23 vacant seats in Parliament to the PTI, thus depriving the brave Sharif and his army of quarrelsome allies of the two-thirds majority needed to govern without problems. In fact, the PTI, even if no one noticed, is the party that actually won the elections: it does not govern only because, having been deprived of a national electoral symbol, it had to present its candidates as 'independents'. And above all, because the current head of the army has the classic grudge against the former prime minister who at the time opposed his election. In Islamabad and its surroundings, it is said that Sharif and his followers are desperate and this latest announcement is proof of that. Not only does the government shine only for its total lack of any coherent political line, but it seems incapable of taking any initiative that is not clearly dictated by the army and its direct or indirect interests. Like the launch, last May, of Operation "Azm-e-Istehkam", or "Resolve for Stability": an operation aimed at "combating the threats of extremism and terrorism in a comprehensive and decisive manner" at both diplomatic and military levels, officially. But above all, they say in Islamabad and its surroundings, aimed at convincing Beijing, concerned about the numerous attacks against Chinese citizens and infrastructure that have occurred in recent months in Pakistan, that the army and politics take the security of the citizens of the Land of the Rising Sun and of the projects related to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor seriously. The friendship "sweet as honey and deep as the sea" between the two countries has in fact been sailing in muddy waters for some time now and is starting to taste like vinegar. During his visit to China in February, Sharif reportedly asked Beijing for new loans and more time to repay outstanding debts that amount to about a third of Pakistan’s total external debt. However, sources close to the government said China instead asked Pakistan to clear outstanding payments of $1.8 billion owed to Chinese independent power producers (IPPs), take active measures to streamline future payments, and allow investors to channel their investment profits to China. In addition, to revive the CPEC, China is reportedly pressuring Pakistan to seek investors from “third countries,” particularly by leveraging its influence among members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). It is also worth noting that Beijing has started referring to the CPEC as an “open corridor” to attract external investors since it no longer trusts Islamabad and that the Chinese have effectively ‘suspended’ new investments in Pakistan while continuing to increase the presence of military personnel in strategically important areas such as Gwadar in Balochistan, the Karachi port area in Sindh and the territories of Pakistani Kashmir. Meanwhile, in the areas covered by ‘Resolve for Stability’ stability is only in name. According to data from the South Asia Terrorism Portal, the victims linked to terrorism in Pakistan in the first half of 2024 were around three hundred. Islamabad attributes the responsibility for the increase in terrorist attacks to the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, which according to the army has its bases in neighboring Afghanistan. And which consequently concentrates, as it did in 2009, its operations in the border provinces: tribal areas, Waziristan, Khyber-Pakhtunkwa. Just like in 2009, however, speaking to the inhabitants of the area who for months have been taking to the streets with peaceful demonstrations of thousands and thousands of people constantly and knowingly ignored by the media, things are not exactly as the government paints them. Waziristan, according to locals, is looking more and more like an occupied country. "The good Taliban," they say, "continue to recruit young people, host terrorists from other parts of Pakistan, and help them cross the border into Afghanistan when they need it. They all work under the auspices of the Pakistani army." Citizens have long been denouncing the presence of Taliban commanders in Waziristan: according to locals, the Taliban have been given land and sometimes entire districts. They administer justice according to Sharia law and have been put in charge of so-called "Peace Commissions," which are designed to mend relations with ordinary citizens who hate them. One of the Peace Commission's first acts was to burn five villagers alive. The citizens, caught between the harassment of the military and that of the Taliban leaders (who in many cases fraternally share the headquarters with the aforementioned military), see no way out: extortion and threats are the order of the day, as are reprisals against those who refuse to cooperate. Those who protest disappear, are killed or, if they are lucky, simply beaten to death. As in Balochistan or, for example, in Pakistani Kashmir where the citizens' protests for lack of water and electricity and the exponential increases in prices have been quelled with the usual display of violence by the police and the army. Curiously, however, no one touches the protagonists of lynchings and torture and burnings in the square by pious citizens who take it out on the protagonists of alleged episodes of blasphemy, but that's another story. The country is in disarray, say the few sane voices who insist on staying in Pakistan despite everything: the economy no longer exists, prices are skyrocketing, there is no work, half the citizens are under arms or protesting more or less peacefully, there is no law (if it ever existed) and, above all, there is no serious and univocal point of reference for the rest of the world to talk to. The 'most dangerous country in the world', they say, has never been more dangerous than it is now.