Lahore: Incarcerated former prime minister Imran Khan on Wednesday asked his party members to hold Pakistan Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir accountable if anything happens to him in jail.
The 72-year-old cricketer-turned-politician has been behind bars since August 2023 after he was booked in multiple cases.
Khan’s party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is gearing up to launch a massive drive from August 5 across the country to press the Shehbaz Sharif government and military establishment to free Khan.
In a statement posted on X, the 72-year-old said both he and his wife, Bushra Bibi, were being subjected to inhumane treatment in jail. “Even the television in her cell has been turned off. All basic human and legal rights have been suspended for both of us,” he wrote. He claimed that a jail superintendent and a colonel were acting “on the orders of Asim Munir.”
Khan instructed his party members to hold the army chief directly accountable if anything happened to him in jail. “I give clear instructions to my party — if anything happens to me in jail, Asim Munir must be held accountable,” he wrote, adding, “I am ready to spend my life in jail, but I will never bow to tyranny.”
Khan repeated an earlier claim that Gen Munir’s alleged actions stemmed from a personal grudge. He said Munir had attempted to send a message to his wife through PTI leader Zulfi Bukhari while being removed as ISI chief during Khan’s tenure. “She firmly refused to meet. Since then, the targeting of Bushra Bibi has been a way to emotionally break me,” Khan claimed.
With the PTI planning to launch a nationwide protest campaign from August 5 to demand Khan’s release, the former PM urged all party leaders to unite. “I urge every party member to set aside personal differences and join the protest. Retweet my messages and amplify my voice,” he said.
Khan alleged he was being treated worse than convicted terrorists, claiming a military officer serving a sentence for murder was enjoying VIP treatment in jail. “Meanwhile, I am subjected to relentless abuse. But no matter what they do, I have never bowed before oppression, and I never will.”
The PTI founder also lashed out at Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, accusing them of unleashing a “fascist and tyrannical rule” in the province over the past two years.
Separately, Imran Khan’s sister Aleema Khan told reporters that he had clearly instructed party members to hold General Asim Munir accountable if anything happened to him while in custody.
