Former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan was shot three times in the leg in an assassination attempt on Nov. 3. 

Imran Khan was shot at a rally in the city of Wazirabad from a government building along with multiple other people in an attempt on his life. A shooter was quickly tackled and arrested, although there may have also been another shooter. The arrested gunman Naveed Ahmed claimed he did it because “Imran Khan thinks he is The Prophet,” according to aljazeera. The Prophet is a very important religious figure in Islam, the primary religion in Pakistan.

According to Indiatimes, Khan has put blame on the army which he says has weakened independent institutions, and with political dynasties has acted as though they are “above the law.” When Khan was in power in early 2022, he was accused of trying to elect an army chief which would support his alleged agenda of victimizing opposition leaders, and now Khan is accusing the coalition government of the very same thing. The army has ruled over the coup-prone country for over half of its 75 year life span which has caused it to have a lot of power in matters of security and foreign policy. Since its independence, Pakistan has had 45 prime ministers get assassinated.

“This incident is more proof of how unstable Pakistan is and how it can’t separate its politics from violence,” Debate coach and Social Studies teacher Lauren Velazquez said. “Violence never has any place in arguments, even if it’s political.”

Since its independence, Pakistan has experienced constant political violence and war, both of which have become very influential in Pakistani politics. As seen with the war between Pakistan and India in 1999, and being one of the most unstable countries in the world shows how the political landscape in Pakistan could cause highly damaging effects within its region and even in international politics.