The Rubicon has been crossed with the arrest of IMRAN Khan. All dreams of a negotiated breakthrough in the continuing political impasse can be put to rest as new confrontations between the PTI and the state have broken out.

 According to the interior minister, Mr. Khan was detained because he refused to cooperate with a corruption probe into an alleged land deal involving money that real estate magnate Malik Riaz allegedly owed to the government.

Recent events, particularly Mr. Khan's last altercation with the military, seem to indicate that he might have been apprehended for a completely other cause.

The Punjab Rangers, not the Islamabad Police, were sent in to capture him from the grounds of the Islamabad High Court, which would appear to confirm the latter hypothesis.

The type and location of the demonstrations that erupted after Mr. Khan's detention yesterday indicate that the populace is also angry with the military. Video evidence from a number of protests revealed that the crowds were furious enough to break boundaries no one had dared to previously.

Because to Pakistan's unprecedented polycrisis, the military's past has been swiftly coming to light over the past 13 months, particularly in regards to its political intervention.

Mr. Khan was fully aware that when he recently accused a senior intelligence official of plotting to kill him once more, he was actually making a clear reference to the current military leadership.

The establishment appears to feel that it can no longer disregard Mr. Khan's statements since he has garnered enough support from the public over the previous year.

But Mr. Khan's removal from the situation doesn't make everything better. Instead, as evidenced by the demonstrations yesterday, his arrest may have seriously damaged the long-standing partnership between the populace and the military of the nation.

Political problems never have to be solved by violence or conflict, especially not when the economy is in shambles and the populace is furious about the hopelessness that now permeates every aspect of their existence.

The government and establishment are now much more embroiled in scandal as a result of Mr. Khan's detention, and this will further increase public mistrust of their actions.

Given that the nation is already on the brink of defaulting completely, this is the absolute last thing it needs.

No matter how much the current military leadership wants the public to forget its part in political engineering, perceptions that have developed over months and years cannot simply be wished away.

If the government wants to regain the trust of the populace, it must also take significant confidence-boosting steps. Continued conflict will only widen the chasm between the populace and the state as long as elections are postponed and the public is kept in the dark.