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Pakistan's jailed former prime minister Imran Khan has appealed to the international community, particularly the United States, to reaffirm its commitment to democracy, human rights, and regional stability. Dawn reported that in an article published in Time magazine in his name, the incarcerated politician congratulated US President Donald Trump on his political comeback. He also expressed the hope that the US would work with Pakistan to foster economic partnerships, promote stability, and prevent conditions that lead to conflict and extremism. It remains unclear if the article was indeed penned by Khan, and how it was delivered to the magazine. Khan reflected on the political turmoil' in Pakistan and his ongoing fight for democracy. He expressed deep concern over the alleged erosion of democracy in the country, describing the current period as one of the most challenging in the nation's history. He underscored that his imprisonment and the charges brought against him were politic
Ex-PCB chairman Najam Sethi has indirectly blamed former Prime Minister Imran Khan for triggering the downslide of Pakistan cricket. In a post on X, Sethi whose last PCB stint was from December 2022 to June 2023, said the nation is justifiably angry at the performance of the national team. Champions Trophy hosts Pakistan are out of the tournament after back to back defeats. The cricket fraternity says Pakistan has hit rock bottom. How come a cricket team that was once no 1 in T20s (2018) and Tests (2016) and ODIs (1990 and 1996), which won the WC in 1992 and CT in 2017, is today equated with Zimbabwe? According to Sethi, the downfall started in 2019 when a new management under a new PM/Patron (Imran Khan was prime minister at that time and had brought in Ehsan Mani as PCB chairman) changed the domestic cricket structure that had served Pakistan reasonably well for decades and replaced it with an ill-suited Australian hybrid model. Political interference continued; contradictory PC
Pakistan's Supreme Court will take up on Friday petitions filed by jailed former prime minister Imran Khan seeking a judicial probe into the May 9 violence and alleged rigging of last year's general elections, according to media reports on Tuesday. A five-member constitutional bench of the apex court led by Justice Aminuddin Khan will conduct the hearing, The Express Tribune newspaper reported. Khan's petition for the May 9 investigation was filed in December last year. On May 9, 2023, violent protests erupted after Khan's arrest by paramilitary Rangers from the premises of the Islamabad High Court. His party workers vandalised a dozen military installations, including the Jinnah House (Lahore Corps Commander house) and the ISI building in Faisalabad. The PTI leadership alleges that May 9 was planned by its opponents. Khan had said he was implicated in the cases related to the violence as a result of a well-orchestrated plan to harass him for political reasons. In March 2024, Khan
Jailed former premier Imran Khan wrote a letter to Pakistan Army chief Gen Asim Munir, criticizing the establishment's policies and urging him to review its approach towards national security and governance as his party prepares for protests on the first anniversary of the general elections later this week. Khan, who has been incarcerated in Adiala Jail Rawalpindi for over a year, sent the letter from the prison, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Gohar Ali Khan told the media on Monday. The contents of the letter would be shared with the public, Gohar added. He said that Khan in his letter pointed out that the distance between the people and the establishment was widening. This [mistrust] should not take place at all, but there are certain reasons because of which this gulf is wideningOwing to those reasons, the army is being blamed, so the policy reasons must be reevaluated, Khan wrote in the letter. His lawyer, Faisal Fareed Chaudhry, told the media that Khan argued in his letter t
The Pakistan Cricket Board has dismissed speculation that legendary cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan's name would be removed from an enclosure at the recently-renovated Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore owing to his incarceration on charges of corruption. Speculation was doing the rounds that PCB had removed the name of the 1992 World Cup-winning former captain from one of the enclosures at the stadium due to the "current political situation". "No names have been changed or removed on enclosures," an official of the PCB said without taking any names, adding that names of all enclosures will remain as they were earlier. The Gaddafi stadium has been renovated for the Champions Trophy that starts on February 19. The Imran Khan enclosure, which is one of the VIP stands in the stadium, has been a permanent fixture at the venue since 1992. The former Prime Minister is presently in Attock jail of Punjab province and has vehemently denied allegations of corruption, insisting that he is a vi
Pakistan's jailed former prime minister Imran Khan has claimed that he was offered a chance to leave the country on exile for three years but he declined. In a post on X on Friday, the 72-year-old former cricketer-turned-politician said, I was offered the opportunity of a three-year exile while I was in Attock Jail, but I will live and die in Pakistan. In conversation with media persons at Rawalpindi's Adiala Jail where he is incarcerated since August 2023, Khan said he has been indirectly approached with an offer to transfer him to his Bani Gala residence in Islamabad. However, he said on X that he refused the offer. "My stance is clear: release my detained workers and leaders first. Only then will I consider discussing my personal situation.