‘Pakistan under Asim’: Former Pakistan PM Imran Khan targets army chief after verdict; urges nationwide protest
NEW DELHI: Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, currently incarcerated for now over two years, on Saturday called on his supporters to prepare for nationwide protests and announced his intention to challenge the recent Toshakhana-II verdict, which he alleged was delivered in “haste” by the Islamabad high court. Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, were sentenced to 17 years in prison in the corruption case earlier this week.He also alleged that Pakistan is being governed by solely under “Asim law.”
With no access to his social media accounts, Khan conveyed his message through his legal team. According to a post on X summarising a conversation between the PTI founder and his lawyer, Khan instructed Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister Sohail Afridi to begin preparations for a mass street movement.In the detailed message shared by his team, Khan said: “To strive for justice is a sacred duty, and I am ready to lay down my life for Haqeeqi Azadi (true freedom) of my nation. At this moment, Pakistan is being governed solely under ‘Asim Law’. Here, verdicts are pre-written and merely announced aloud. Like the baseless decisions and sentences of the past three years, the Toshakhana 2 verdict is nothing new for me. This ruling, too, was delivered in haste, without any evidence and without fulfilling legal requirements. Neither we nor our lawyers were even given opportunity to present our case.”He alleged that both he and Bushra Bibi were being subjected to harsh solitary confinement. “The sustained solitary confinement imposed on me and my wife constitutes severe mental torture. We are barred from books, television, and meetings… The books sent by my family are confiscated by jail authorities, and we are kept in solitary confinement for weeks at a time. This treatment is inhumane, yet all this oppression and brutality cannot weaken my resolve.”Khan also accused the authorities of persecuting women linked to PTI. “It is not our tradition to target women and children… I am deeply saddened and distressed by the mistreatment and brutality faced by my sisters and other women outside Adiala Jail. The treatment meted out to Bushra Bibi, Dr. Yasmin, Mahrang Baloch, and other women stands in clear violation of Islamic traditions and moral values.”The former prime minister again directed his criticism at army chief Asim Munir. “The army is mine and belongs to the people of Pakistan. When I criticise Asim Munir, it is criticism of an individual… Whatever is happening to me in jail is being carried out on the instructions of a colonel acting under Asim Munir’s orders.”Urging the legal fraternity to mobilise, Khan said: “For the struggle to restore the rule of law and uphold the Constitution, it is essential for the Insaf Lawyers Forum and legal fraternity to step forward decisively.”He added that he had instructed his legal team to appeal the verdict: “I have full confidence in Salman Safdar and his team and have instructed them to file an appeal against these bogus decisions in the Islamabad high court.” Concluding his message, he said: “My message for Sohail Afridi is to prepare for a street movement. The entire nation must rise for their rights!! To strive for justice is a sacred duty, and I am ready to lay down my life for Haqeeqi Azadi (true freedom) of my nation.”The message was signed off as: “Illegally Incarcerated Former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, speaking to his lawyers after the verdict of a military-style trial in Adiala Jail.”In an official statement, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) described the verdict as “blatantly unconstitutional, illegal, malicious and the worst form of political revenge and a textbook case of victimisation.” The party-led by Imran Khan alleged that the conviction aimed to prolong Khan’s imprisonment and ease pressure on what it called a “petrified ruling clique,” claiming political vendetta was being executed through a “subservient” judiciary.Addressing a press conference alongside senior party leader Asad Qaiser, PTI secretary general Salman Akram Raja said Khan had met his lead counsel, Barrister Salman Safdar, in the courtroom and shared a message for the nation. He quoted Khan as saying, “I am standing firm and resolute and will not seek an apology from anyone, come what may.”Raja added that the case lacked substantive evidence. “They have no witnesses except the person whom the PTI founder himself brought forward,” he said.
