Khan, Imran, the former prime minister of Pakistan, told BBC Hardtalk that the government is terrified of an election that is anticipated later this month.
He claimed that” fascists” are pushing the nation into the” dark ages.”
Mr. Khan was elected in 2018, held office for just under four times, and was removed from office last year in a parliamentary vote of no confidence.
According to observers, a major factor was him losing favor with the strong army.
Pakistan’s government has long had a strong hold on how the nation is governed.
Even though many critics contend that Mr. Khan had the support of the army during his ascension to power, he asserts that his Pakistan Tehreek – e Insaf( PTI ) party is” the only party that was not created by military dictators.”
He claims that this is the reason behind the effort to destroy it.
Major defections and arrests of important party members have occurred in recent months. But Mr. Khan is adamant that it is unharmed.
” How come we won 30 out of 37 by-elections despite the brass openly opposing us and attempting to destroy us?” He stated this during a conversation with BBC reporter Stephen Sackur.
He claimed that the creation had hoped that his party did lose strength if he were to be removed from office. It typically occurs when you’ve been without electricity for a while. Instead, Mr. Khan claimed that the group’s popularity continued to rise.
” They have made every effort. 10, 000 people, including women and nonviolent activists, have been imprisoned. And to make matters worse, they have tortured people ,” he continued, adding that the authorities would have announced the election date if the party had not” finished” as his critics claimed.
Mr. Khan’s supporters accuse the army of planning his removal from office because they see him as a political outsider free from corruption, but the army refutes these claims.
When he was detained from inside a judge in May, which sparked widespread protests, the depth of his reputation was evident.
Hundreds of his followers marched through Pakistan’s streets, destroying defense structures and setting some on fireplace. Some have accused Mr. Khan of going too far and encouraging violence, including people of his own party.
The former foreign baseball star-turned-politician, but, disputes involvement in the arson cases and asserts that separate investigations are required.
When they saw the troops, the captain, picking me up from that, what did you think the followers would do? Was a rally not going to occur? he remarked.
Mr. Khan has insisted that the government, which sent soldiers rather than authorities officers to stop him, was the one who incited the violence.
The fact is that the nation is on the verge of a big crisis, Mr. Khan, who portrays himself as an liberal, said to the BBC from his two-story house in Lahore. We are moving toward what I perceive to be the dark years.
” Free and fair elections are the only alternative to Pakistan. He continued,” That’s the only way we will get out of this clutter.
Over the past several months, a number of laws have been discussed in parliament, many of which, according to reviewers, are intended to make it harder for Mr. Khan and his party to work in the poll or to completely stop them from doing so.
One of the expenses put forth calls for three years in prison for anyone found guilty of disclosing an military intelligence officer’s personality.
Mr. Khan has been criticizing the army and intelligence officials more and more lately. He is the first legislator to publicly accuse top intelligence officers of plotting against him.
However, conservatives have taken control of the nation, and they are terrified of elections. The purpose I’m suffering is because they are aware that we would easily win the elections. And as a result, they are dismantling democracy, he claimed.