The PakStack — July 2

As Imran Khan calls for resistance and PTI fractures from within, India’s regional bluff unravels, Pakistan’s deep state tightens its grip, and a generation is sacrificed to failure and fear

Welcome to The PakStack, where what matters today in Pakistan, India and the rest of South Asia can be read and processed in five minutes or less.

Written by Shiza M. / Edited by Wajahat S. Khan

PTI’s civil war, India’s desperate diplomacy and the ISI’s colonels and their choreography…

One More Showdown: Another Imran Call for Protest is Marred; This Time by PTI’s Civil War and the ISI’s Take-No-Prisoners Approach to Dismantling Parliamentary Politics

• From jail, former PM Imran Khan calls Pakistan a “monarchy in disguise” and a “system of slavery” upheld by “rigged votes,” “a crushed judiciary,” and “mafia rule.” He urges resistance after Ashura, invoking Islamic poet-philosopher’s Iqbal’s falcon and the spirit of Karbala

• It’s a romantic appeal but Khan’s PTI is imploding from within: Chief Minister Ali Gandapur and Parliamentary Leader Junaid Akbar are at war, with some help military stooges, who are making the ISI’s divide-and-rule machine work like a charm.

• Khan expects the PTI to up for another protest rally to challenge the legitimacy of the military-installed assemblies and demand reinstatement of its purged members – but is the PTI united enough to deliver for their Captain?

• Meanwhile, the the pro-Khan Peshawar High Court has blocked the swearing-in of rigged KP reserved seat members—finally some legal pushback against the ECP’s daytime robbery theft, where PTI-linked candidates were shafted to make room for pro-regime cronies.

Takeaway: Imran Khan’s PTI was never the most organized party, even when he was around. Now, with him in jail for 698 days, it’s become a collection of lobbies and egos, its rank and file populated by backstabbing Brutuses and Judases. From the ISI’s perspective, this isn’t chaos—it’s colonel-level choreography. The regime isn’t stumbling; it’s dismantling democracy by careful design. The PTI’s been stripped of its reserved seats, weakening it permanently in parliament for the next four years — if this charade lasts that long. As for the 26th Amendment that Imran has blasted in his latest tweet, well, it was never for reform—it was a blueprint to gut the vote, rig the courts, muzzle the press, and redraw power. What remains isn’t a state—it’s a cartel in ceremonial robes and Blue Patrol uniforms.

Postscript – What System Is Left To Save? Imran may have garnered sympathy this Ashura, for invoking Karbala from prison—but PTI remains fractured, gripped by ego and infighting. CM Gandapur and Parliamentary firebrand Junaid Akbar trade blows; senior PTI leaders get together over tea and biscuits in Islamabad to pen a dud resolution. The judiciary, reshuffled under the same amendment, is now a lego set—modular, flexible and pliable. Meanwhile, the ECP rigs seats with impunity, and some late Peshawar High Court pushback barely scratches the surface. What’s unfolding isn’t a political crisis—it’s a hostile takeover. And when the dust settles after this Ashura or one a decade from now, the question won’t just be whether people rise. It’ll be whether there’s anything left to rise

New Delhi’s Shine Worn Off? India Tries to Find Friends in the Quad

• While the Quad was hosted by Marco Rubio—talking big about about trade, flexing against China, and pretending India is the Indo-Pacific’s new sheriff—one topic that got dropped was: Pakistan. Despite condemning the Kashmir attack, the alliance skillfully dodged any mention of Islamabad.

• Meanwhile, India and France are butting heads over the Rafale jet deal, with the French being denied an audit by Delhi that might expose India’s engineers and pilots and the French denying Indians the source code for the jets’ avionics suite that might expose the $280 million dollar jet’s faulty design

• As Modi flaunts BRICS credentials on a five-nation tour, China quietly eats away at Delhi’s influence across South Asia—leveraging trade, infrastructure, and diplomacy to pull Nepal, Bangladesh, and the Maldives deeper into its orbit.

• New Delhi’s defense buildup continues: the induction of stealth frigate INS Tamal and the ramp-up of space-based military assets signal confidence, but as Operation Sindoor and its follow ups have proven, India’s military and civilian leaders are a long away from being ready for prime time

• India’s opposition Congress has slams Modi’s foreign policy missteps, calling Pakistan’s UNSC presidency a “diplomatic face-slap”—a humiliating contrast to Delhi’s global image-building.

• Enter Bilawal Bhutto Zardari—Pakistan’s most articulate nepo-baby—who’s stepping up his game and offering India a “terror cooperation framework” at a military-backed conference in Islamabad.

Takeaway: Post-Operation Sindoor saw a flurry of diplomatic activity from Pakistan. Now, the Indians are making moves. The Quad – the Indo-Pacific’s most exclusive club – preaches "peace and stability" while crumbling under America's tariff tantrums, leaving Japan, Australia, and India as potential economic casualties of Washington's anti-China obsession. The Quad's Kashmir statement epitomizes Western diplomatic double-speak—condemning terrorism without naming Pakistan and enabling Indian occupation while ignoring state terror. Into this farce walks Modi, with his first foreign 5-nation trip since losing five (or is it six) jets to Pakistan last May. Bilawal, the military establishment’s golden boy, continues his role as Pakistan’s English-Speaker-in-Chief, peddling the "can’t lose a billion souls to extremism" melodrama and playing nice with Modi for cooperation, all as Delhi arms the Baloch, supports the TTP and crushes dissent in Kashmir.

Postscript — India First Looks Like India Alone: India's shine in Western capitals has worn off, and its regional dominance is crumbling. The Rafale clash with France—Delhi demanding sensitive source codes, Paris refusing—exposes the fragility of the "self-reliance" rhetoric. Despite the bluster, India remains dependent on foreign technology. This isn't strength—it's insecurity in expensive packaging. Once South Asia's self-declared leader, India now watches Bangladesh, Nepal, and the Maldives turn to Beijing. China quietly redraws the regional map – wooing Bangladesh and Pakistan into a possible alliance – while Delhi's “India First” policy actually plays out like “India Alone.” Pakistan's UNSC presidency becomes a sharp rebuke, triggering opposition criticism of Modi's diplomatic failures. The appeasement-driven policy of local and global players has made Indian diplomats lazy and arrogant, hurting India's global standing. Like last season’s MVP struggling to make it off the bench this season, Modi's lengthy foreign tours showcase strength while masking eroding influence. Sure, military upgrades like INS Tamal and public-private space defense partnerships are tactical patch up jobs, but at the core of India’s strategic decline is its leaders’ blind ideology: The RSS cannot and should not be the driver of policy. “Akhand Bharat” should not push regional policy. That’s why SAARC is dead; And that’s where Pakistan, China, and even Bangladesh are signalling a new regional order, minus India. The center of gravity has shifted—Modi's India is increasingly sidelined in its own neighborhood.

Pakistan’s Deep Rot: Disappearances, Terror, and Institutional Failure

• Enforced disappearances surge with 125 new cases in six months, pushing Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to over 3,600 missing persons—according to Pakistan’s official commission, which rights groups say remains powerless as the military’s grip deepens

• A bomb blast in Bajaur kills Assistant Commissioner and four others, injuring 11, raising fresh alarms about deteriorating security in the tribal belt.

• The deep state’s “disappearance factory” churns on unchecked, silencing dissent and crushing any questioning of military actions in KP and beyond.

• A child abuse ring uncovered in Muzaffargarh exposes systemic neglect, mirroring the horrific Kasur case from nearly a decade ago, revealing Pakistan’s persistent failure to protect its vulnerable children.

• Digital exploitation of children skyrockets, but law enforcement remains stuck in the past, failing to adapt or act, ensuring predators continue to operate with impunity.

Takeaway: Pakistan’s rot runs deep and wide, stretching from the shadows of enforced disappearances to the open wounds of security failures and institutional decay. One hundred twenty-five new vanishings in six months are not anomalies—they are symptoms of a deep state machinery that operates without accountability, crushing any voice brave enough to question its unchecked power. The so-called “commission” set up to investigate these horrors is nothing but bureaucratic theater, offering hollow words while families keep searching for answers that never come. Security in regions like Bajaur is unraveling, with bombings killing officials and civilians alike, yet the state’s response remains sluggish and ineffective. The latest child abuse ring uncovered in Muzaffargarh is a damning indictment of Pakistan’s institutional collapse. Nearly a decade after Kasur, the same silence and inertia continue to allow predators to operate freely, while law enforcement clings to outdated practices. This isn’t merely a scandal—it is a moral and administrative stain on the nation.