By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Former Prime Minister Imran Khan, imprisoned since August 2023, has urged British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to speak out against the erosion of democracy in Pakistan, where Khan says he is being held in solitary confinement on politically motivated charges.
Khan, in an interview from solitary confinement to British ITV News, congratulated Starmer on his election victory but asked him to imagine senior Labour figures being “abducted in the dead of night” during the UK election campaign to understand the erosion of democracy in Pakistan.
“For nearly a year now, I have been confined in a seven-by-eight-foot death cell, a space typically reserved for terrorists and those on death row,” Khan said via lawyers. “Surveillance is constant, stripping away any semblance of privacy.”
Khan, 71, who served as prime minister from 2018 to 2022, remains in jail despite having three long prison sentences overturned.
“I am both mentally and physically prepared for the struggle ahead. True democratic change and freedom in Pakistan were never going to be easy,” Khan said.
Khan urged Starmer and his cabinet to imagine if their overwhelming victory was stolen. His supporters say his imprisonment six months ahead of the February 2024 elections was part of a politically motivated plot to prevent him and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party from returning to power.
“Picture a scenario where a party that barely won 18 seats usurped your mandate, where your party symbols were stripped, and your leaders were imprisoned or tortured until they switched allegiances or left politics altogether. Imagine homes broken into and women and children abducted in the dead of night,” Khan said.
Khan says Pakistan’s Muslim League (PMLN) party legitimately won only a handful of seats, a claim which it denies. His party, PTI, had to run as independents after Pakistan’s Election Commission blocked them from contesting under the party symbol, a cricket bat. But together they won 93 seats in the National Assembly – more than any party and far exceeding expectations.
“The people of Pakistan yearned for change, for democracy, and for the rule of law to prevail. Their votes were a cry for justice, self-determination, and freedom,” Khan said.
Despite being behind bars, Khan is seeking to become the next chancellor of Oxford University, where he studied during the 1970s. An application form was submitted on his behalf for an election later this year, Sayed Zulfiqar Bukhari, an aide of Khan confirmed to ITV News.
Khan warned that the new British government carries “tremendous responsibility and high expectations” on the world stage. “The world is watching them and looking to them for leadership, especially in light of the horrific situation in Gaza and the erosion of democratic principles globally. We have a collective duty to uphold the values of peace and strive for freedom and fairness for everyone. Where the UK stands in its commitment to these values will speak volumes.”
A list of questions was sent to Khan by ITV News on July 11 via his media advisors and lawyers, but even before the responses were received, the party aide who organised the conversation was arrested. When asked by ITV News whether a new British government should amplify calls for his release, Khan said: “The world is watching them and looking to them for leadership.”
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