It began as a typical Tuesday evening. Komal, the wife of a Pakistani army officer stationed in a combat zone, was chopping vegetables for dinner while her two young girls sat in front of the television.

But their military base, undoubtedly one of the safest in Pakistan, was about to become very dangerous.

Komal was taken aback when her husband called her much earlier than normal. He advised her to keep the doors locked because supporters of former Prime Minister Imran Khan were attacking military quarters around the country. A lieutenant general’s home in Lahore had previously been set on fire.

“If they can attack a general’s mansion, will ours be next?” “The thought of it made me shiver,” adds Komal, who prefers not to use her true name.

She promptly closed the doors and windows and stocked the storage with food in case they had to flee. She even considered how she would get out of the flat if it caught fire – could she jump out the second-floor window with her daughters?

“When I watched videos of the protests, it terrified me,” Komal adds. “I have never felt so insecure and vulnerable.”

But she was conflicted because, as a Khan supporter, she felt let down.

“I and many others backed Imran Khan in the hope of seeing a change, but now I feel betrayed by the very person I backed.” “His irresponsible and inflammatory rhetoric fueled the hatred and violence that has engulfed this country,” she claims.