Daily Times

Former prime minister Imran Khan Thursday informed DW that an “unprecedented crackdown” is occurring in Pakistan.

During a conversation with DW, he expressed his belief that he will soon be rearrested. He stated, “7,500 of my workers have been arrested. All my senior leadership has been arrested. So what will happen? I don’t know. But I expect to be rearrested,” he said from Lahore.

He alleged that this crackdown is an attempt “to crush the party so that we don’t contest the election; this is why all of this is happening.”

“My fight is not with them. They are angry with me,” said Imran, apparently referring to military establishment “Who is [actually] against me? Let’s set aside the PDM (Pakistan Democratic Movement), they have no value. My fight is not with them (an apparent reference to the military establishment). They are angry with me, and I still don’t know why.”

“Who wants to fight their own army? Whoever fights the army will only lose the country … all this that is being done, only the PDM will benefit from it,” PTI Chairman Imran Khan says. “The democracy in the country has been destroyed.”

“All this that they [the government] is doing has never been seen before in the history of the country,” PTI chief Imran Khan has said, referring to the oppression of his party members. “Efforts to eliminate PTI have been under way for over a year now. But all what they are doing is just strengthening the party,” he said.

PTI Chairman Imran Khan has said that all his sympathies were with those who were leaving the party, saying that “they have faced a very difficult time”. “I know immense pressure have been put on them,” the ex-premier said in response to a question if he would welcome those leave the party back.

Imran Khan said that he commended and saluted the senior leadership of the party for resisting “extreme pressure” to leave the PTI. “My sympathies go to all those who under pressure have been made to leave the party,” he tweeted.

PTI chief Imran Khan lamented the police action at his Zaman Park residence in his absence, saying that his wife was alone at home when an armoured personnel carrier stormed into the house with over 40 policemen. “They came with a warrant only because she [Bushra Bibi] is a trustee of the Al-Qadir [case] … this has never happened before.”

Imran Khan said that any option other than holding elections would lead to destruction. “Where Pakistan is standing today, except for free and fair elections, any route you take will lead to the destruction of Pakistan,” he said in a conversation with journalists at Zaman Park. “The only way out of this swamp are free and fair elections.”

“Whenever an independent commission [investigates into May 9 riots], you will see that there was an organised conspiracy behind this. “Everything was planned.

“So I demand that an independent commission is constituted. “And let me tell you what will be revealed after its probe. We will give you evidence – how people were made to attack as part of a plan.”

“Even if I am left alone, I will continue to fight for Haqeeqi Azadi (true freedom) for this country. “No one should have the misconception that I will back off due to this pressure. “Those who are still standing with me despite pressure, the nation will not forget you.”