Pakistan jailed former prime minister Imran Khan on Thursday asked his party’s leadership to abandon all attempts at negotiating with the establishment, asserting that such talks only strengthen their adversaries. Khan said this during an informal chat with the media person in the Adiala Jail Rawalpindi where he has been imprisoned for more than a year and where he often interacts with media on the occasion of hearing of cases against him in the jail premises, reported The Express Tribune.
“There is no point in engaging with the establishment. The more we retreat, the more they crush us. This is not the institution’s policy but that of the third umpire,” Khan reportedly said. In response to questions about party leader Ali Amin Gandapur, Khan reaffirmed that all leadership, including Gandapur, had been instructed not to engage in talks with the establishment. “Since Bajwa’s era, they’ve told us not to talk about neutrality. The more we step back, the more they crush us. This is the policy of the third umpire, not the institution.” Khan said that his opponents thought that he would break under the pressure of a hard life in jail but they were mistaken.
“They thought I’d crumble, that I wouldn’t survive solitary confinement. I’ve spent 21 to 22 hours a day in isolation. In the summer, I sweat so much that my clothes deteriorate. They don’t understand what sportsman training is like; we are conditioned to endure under pressure,” he said. He once again targeted his opponents without naming anybody, but apparently his target was the army, the judiciary the election commission of Pakistan and those having leading roles in those institutions.
“When institutions and morality remain intact, a country survives. Here, however, the ‘extension mafia’ is destroying both for its own gain. The Gang of Three is ruining the nation’s future and institutions for their extensions,” he said. He once again talked about the Hamoodur Rahman Commission Report that probed the fall of East Pakistan in 1971 and said that it was a lesson as to how one man’s lust for power devastated Pakistan’s democracy, resulting in the loss of East Pakistan.
“The Dhaka debacle cost us billions, shamed us globally, and saw 90,000 troops captured while 50,000 Pakistanis were killed. The commission’s report was hidden away instead of being used as a learning tool,” he said. The jailed leader also announced a protest in Rawalpindi on Saturday, rejecting the need for official permission to hold a rally.
“Our lawyers will also protest outside the Supreme Court tomorrow. It has been proven that [Chief Justice] Qazi Faez Isa is with them. He is one of their players, alongside Sikandar Sultan Raja, while the third umpire is their captain, controlling everything.” Khan reiterated that Saturday’s event in Rawalpindi would not be a rally but a protest, as he withdrew his application from the Lahore High Court’s Rawalpindi bench.
“We know they won’t grant permission, or if they do, it will be far from the city. So, we will hold a full-fledged protest instead, and our lawyers will be outside the Supreme Court as well.” Regarding the Al-Qadir Trust case, Khan insisted that he had not gained financially. “They’ve accused us of benefiting from a £190 million adjustment, but nothing was proven. The property tycoon donated the land to the trust, just as he has donated millions to Shaukat Khanum Hospital, which raises 10 billion rupees annually.”
Criticising Justice Isa further, Khan accused him of providing cover for the injustices against his party. “It was Isa’s job to protect fundamental rights, but he didn’t even order a single judicial inquiry. People from my party have been in jail for 16 months without trial, including Mehmoodur Rasheed and Ijaz Chaudhry, despite their health conditions.”
Khan likened the current political climate to the situation in Palestine, claiming Western powers delay ceasefires to crush Palestinians. “They want to crush us in the same way.” Khan also called for the timely appointment of the next Chief Justice of Pakistan, urging that Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, the senior-most judge, should be announced as the next Chief Justice.
“There are only 30 days left, and the Constitution mandates that the senior-most judge be appointed. They delayed the announcement, even though Isa’s appointment was declared three months in advance.” He criticised Justice Isa for failing to act when judges in the Islamabad High Court were threatened. “Isa doesn’t even pretend to be neutral,” he said.
