Daily Times

Imran Khan, a former prime minister of Pakistan, stated on Monday that he will be imprisoned for the next ten years on sedition-related charges by the nation’s powerful military establishment.

The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf leader tweeted in the early hours of Monday, saying: “So now the whole London plot is out. They acted as judge, jury, and executioner while I was in custody under the guise of violence. The current strategy is to degrade me by locking Bushra Begum, Khan’s wife, in for ten years while also imprisoning me under sedition legislation. The tweets were sent after Khan hosted a gathering of PTI leaders at his house in Lahore.

The 70-year-old leader, who has been on bail in more than 100 cases, further said: “To ensure that there is no public reaction, they have done two things — first deliberate terror is unleashed not just on PTI workers but on common citizens as well. Second, the media is totally controlled and muzzled.” He said never has the sanctity of chadar and chaar dewaari been violated the way it is being done by these “criminals”.

“This is a deliberate attempt to instill so much fear in people that when they come to arrest me tomorrow, people won’t come out. And tomorrow they will again suspend internet services and ban social media (which is only partially open). Meanwhile, as we speak, houses are being broken in and shamelessly police are manhandling the women of the houses,” he said.

Giving his message to the people of Pakistan, Khan said: “My message to the people of Pakistan; I will fight for Haqeeqi Azaadi till the last drop of my blood because for me death is preferable than to be enslaved by these assortments of crooks.

“I urge all my people to remember that we have pledged LA Illah ha illalah, that we bow to no one except the One (Allah). If we bow to the idol of fear there will only be humiliation and dismemberment for our future generations. Countries where there is injustice and law of jungle prevails, don’t survive for long.”

Khan, who had been granted bail on Friday, spent hours on Saturday locking himself in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) building out of dread of being arrested again.

The Lahore High Court was summoned to hear Khan’s case on May 15 after the IHC granted him bail, preventing officials from detaining him in any proceedings filed against him after May 9.

Khan added that the “drama” being staged by JUI-F outside the Supreme Court has only one goal: to intimidate the chief justice of Pakistan into not rendering a decision in accordance with the Constitution.

“Pakistan has already seen a such brazen attack on the Supreme Court when in 1997 PMLN goons physically attacked it and had one of the most respected Chief Justices Sajjad Ali Shah removed,” he said.

Khan’s arrest by the Pakistan Rangers at the IHC premises last Tuesday triggered unrest in Pakistan that continued till Friday and led to several deaths and dozens of military and state installations being destroyed by the protesters.

The demonstrators broke down the barricades for the first time in the nation’s history, entered the army headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi, and set fire to the home of the corps commander in Lahore.

Khan’s party claims 40 of its employees died as a result of security staff shootings, while the police placed the number of fatalities in the violent skirmishes at 10.