I will never bow to these people, says defiant Khan
Imran Khan was sitting in a makeshift studio set up in his home in Lahore. Dressed in a khaki shalwar kameez, he looked tired and played impatiently with the gold ring on the little finger of his right hand.
But Pakistan’s opposition leader insisted, despite the arrest of thousands of his supporters and the looming threat of military court trials, that his political movement was stronger than ever.
‘‘Do not take my negotiations as me being in a position of weakness,’’ he said when asked if he was considering ending his fight to regain power. ‘‘You’re asking me would I step back and allow myself to live as a slave to those who are in power? I am a person who has always been free. I will never bow down to anything. I cannot imagine living in a country that is enslaved by the powerful.’’
Khan was ousted from power in April last year after losing a vote of confidence in parliament. He had been deserted by coalition partners who blamed him for a crumbling economy and failure to deliver on campaign promises, as well as a fractured relationship with the ever-powerful military.
Khan announced on Saturday that he had assembled a seven-member committee to lead negotiations on behalf of his Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party with the government, after about 10,000 PTI supporters were arrested in response to violent protests after his arrest on May 9.
Speaking to The Times via Skype, Khan said: ‘‘The committee is there to work out what we do from now on because this reign of terror is untenable. The economy is crashing, the rupee has gone into virtual freefall, unemployment is mounting and the only roadmap this government has is to crush PTI. There is no question of giving up. This fight will continue as long as I’m alive.’’
Shehbaz Sharif, the prime minister, is said to have declined to hold discussions with the committee, although Ishaq Dar, the finance minister, told Geo News that negotiations could be a possibility if Khan apologised publicly for the damage caused by the protests.
Khan, 70, admitted he is not optimistic about the talks. ‘‘I don’t think they will hold elections even in October until I am crushed, in jail, eliminated.’’
He is convinced he will be targeted for assassination in the near future, and has alleged that a failed attempt at a political rally in November was orchestrated by the government and army. He says he fears for his wife, Bushra Bibi Khan. He claimed also that their home was raided by police this month and said women and girls supporting PTI had been targeted by the government and army in recent weeks.
Previous reports suggested Bibi Khan, 48, was at the centre of a feud between her husband and General Asim Munir, the head of the army, who allegedly threatened to investigate her for corruption. Khan denied this and claimed to know the ‘‘series of reasons’’ behind Munir’s alleged vendetta but would not elaborate.
Khan enjoyed the support of the former military chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa before they fell out in 2021 over the economy.
He spoke of the heavy-handedness of the security forces that arrested him after a court appearance in Islamabad. He claimed that officers dressed in riot gear hit him and left him bleeding from the head. He was released days later after the Supreme Court ruled that the arrest had been unlawful.
Khan said he has little regrets from his time as prime minister.
The rise in inflation and decrease in foreign exchange reserves while he was in power was caused, he said, by a ‘‘bottleneck’’ after two years of pandemic-related problems and energy prices ‘‘shooting up all over the world’’.
On his criticism of the United States, Khan said he had never been ‘‘antiAmerican or anti-West’’; he previously claimed the US was involved in his downfall but has since backtracked.
‘‘It was wrong that they sent a humiliating message,’’ he said, referring to his claims to have evidence of a conversation between an American official and the Pakistani ambassador that suggested the US government wanted him out of power. ‘‘But much more important than my government going is Pakistan’s relationship with the US, because the US is our biggest trading partner.’’
‘‘Khan insists he wants open dialogue with extremist cells in Pakistan such as the Taliban and insurgents in northern Baluchistan, who carried out 13 attacks in the region in April. All terrorism eventually ends with dialogue – like the IRA.’’
He said he hoped to organise ‘‘a programme of rehabilitation’’ to address terrorist attacks by young men in the country if he was able to regain his seat.