Imran Khan urges UK to support democracy amidst political turmoil in Pakistan

Former Prime Minister Imran Khan, who has been imprisoned for over a year on various charges, has raised concerns about the state of democracy in Pakistan, urging the United Kingdom to speak up for "freedom and fairness." 

Speaking through his lawyers, who conveyed questions from London-based ITV News, Khan congratulated Starmer on his recent election victory but asked him to consider a scenario where senior Labour Party members were “abducted in the dead of night” during the UK election campaign to grasp the gravity of the situation in Pakistan.

Khan, who was ousted from office in a no-confidence vote in April 2022, has been behind bars since August 2023.

Despite some of his convictions being overturned or suspended, new charges were recently brought against him, which he claims are politically motivated.

Khan accuses his rivals in the coalition government, led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, of using the legal system to suppress him, with alleged backing from the military—an accusation both the government and the military deny.

Khan’s party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), emerged as the leading party in the February 8 elections but fell short of securing enough seats to form a government.

The PTI has since alleged widespread state-sponsored repression against its members and supporters, both before and after the elections, which it claims were manipulated.

Many of Khan’s key allies are either behind bars or have distanced themselves from the party, while critics of the government and the military report ongoing harassment—a charge that authorities reject.

In a written response to questions from ITV, Khan was asked about his expectations from the UK government regarding his imprisonment. He called on PM Starmer’s administration to take a firm stand on the principles of peace, freedom, and fairness, emphasising that the UK’s commitment to these values would be closely watched on the global stage.

Starmer, who recently became the UK’s 58th prime minister after leading the Labour Party to a decisive electoral victory, is the first Labour leader to win a national election since Tony Blair’s successive victories beginning in 1997.

Khan, who maintains that the February elections were rigged to undermine his party’s mandate, urged Starmer and his cabinet to consider how they would feel if their electoral triumph was unjustly taken away.

He painted a hypothetical scenario where a party with minimal electoral success usurps power, while his party’s leaders are detained or coerced into abandoning their political careers.

Khan also described his harsh conditions in Rawalpindi Jail, where he claims to be confined in a small cell under constant surveillance, with no privacy.

The government has denied these allegations, asserting before the Supreme Court that Khan is provided with adequate amenities, including an exercise bike, a separate kitchen, a room cooler, a study table, and an LED TV.