Jailed former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan has said that the military establishment in the country would murder him, adding he would prefer death over slavery. In an article for the British daily, The Telegraph, Khan, the chairperson of the Pakistan-Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), wrote on Thursday (May 2) that in today’s time, Pakistan and its people stand in confrontation with each other.
“Almost two years ago, an engineered vote of no confidence was moved against my government and a government cobbled together by the military establishment came into being,” Khan wrote. “Since then, the military establishment, under the direct guidance of Gen Asim Munir, the chief of army staff, has tried every tactic to decimate my party’s presence from the political environment of Pakistan,” he added.
What Imran Khan said
Khan pointed out that the oppression, torture and denial “of our election symbol have been extensively documented, but nothing has worked for the military and the powerless civilian leadership acting as its puppets.”
“Pakistan’s general elections on Feb 8, 2024, showed the utter failure of their design,” he wrote in The Telegraph.
Khan further said that the response of the state has been to unleash more oppression and violence not just against PTI workers but also against human rights defenders. The former prime minister highlighted that there has been a systematic attempt to destroy the independent functioning of Pakistan’s judiciary at all levels.
He also talked about the ongoing economic crisis and an upsurge in terrorism in the country.
“The military establishment has done all they could against me. All that is left for them is to now murder me. I have stated publicly that if anything happens to me or my wife, Gen Asim Munir will be responsible. But I am not afraid because my faith is strong. I would prefer death over slavery,” he added.
PTI alleges rigging in February 8 polls
Khan’s remarks in the British daily came as the PTI alleged rigging in the February 8 general elections.
The elections delivered a fractured mandate. Independent candidates backed by the PTI won 93 seats in the 336-member National Assembly. Former PM Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) won 75 seats while Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) won 54 seats, and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) won 17 seats.
The PML-N struck a post-poll deal with the PPP and the smaller parties to gain power at the federal level.
The PTI has said that the powerful establishment had favoured PML-N and the election commission deliberately used a different form to declare the results to “steal the mandate” that belonged to it.
“We won 180 seats in the (February 8) elections. Our seats were given to other parties through Form 47,” PTI’s Gohar Ali Khan told reporters. Khan said that the party filed a petition in the Supreme Court against the alleged rigging, but the plea had not been fixed for hearing yet.
“We are issuing a 300-page white paper to bring it to the notice of the people as to how their mandate was stolen,” he added.