Imran Khan threatens to go on hunger strike

RAWALPINDI: Former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan has threatened to go on a hunger strike over alleged ill-treatment in Adiala jail.

Speaking to journalists in Adiala jail, Imran Khan urged party leaders to keep internal differences private and avoid bringing them to the public. He expressed frustration over being unable to meet with party leaders who came to visit him, stating, “Party leaders came to me yesterday for a meeting but they were not allowed to meet. I waited for three hours and my party leaders stood outside. I had called both groups to jail to end the differences.”

Khan emphasised the importance of resolving these internal issues but lamented the restrictions that prevented him from doing so.

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“When people are not allowed to meet me, how will the differences end? I am going on a hunger strike because of my ill-treatment of me in jail. I will announce the date of the hunger strike after consulting the party leaders and lawyers,” he said adding “If I had met my team yesterday, I would have resolved their differences.”

He said: “I am sending a message to the party leaders to keep their differences private. Don’t go public with your differences; otherwise, you will deviate from your original purpose.”

He accused authorities of attempting to weaken PTI by creating internal conflicts, adding, “They think they will weaken my party by creating differences. The time for talks has passed. The time for talks was on February 8 when the people gave a huge mandate to the PTI. Due to election rigging, Article 6 may be invoked against the Chief Election Commissioner.”

Khan also mentioned the jail authorities’ concern about his possession of the Hamudur Rehman Commission report and his treatment in jail. “The jailers are worried about how I got the Hamudur Rehman Commission report in the jail. The jailers are looking into the matter. It is going to be one year that I have been kept in the jail mill. Despite the intense heat, I will not complain about it.”

He criticised the election commission for conducting what he described as a fraudulent election, stating, “The election commission which conducted the fraudulent election is being referred to him for justice.”

Earlier, he said, Pakistan was a hybrid, but now it has gone to authoritarianism. There is a dictatorship in the country, the whole world knows what is happening in Pakistan.”

Reflecting on the political landscape, Khan remarked, “After the budget, the politics of PML-N and PPP has ended. What should not happen to the enemy has happened to them.

Web Desk