New Delhi : A claim by a top leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) about jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s likely release hints that Army Chief Asim Munir may have finally flinched. This assertion by Gohar Ali Khan comes just days after Imran Khan appointed himself patron-in-chief of the PTI, even as he announced the planned nationwide protests which he vowed to lead from behind bars.
Faced with swelling public support and Imran Khan’s decision to steer nationwide protests from his prison cell, Army Chief Asim Munir, already on the back foot after India’s Operation Sindoor, may have felt the pressure, prompting what may be seen as a quiet retreat from his arch-nemesis. The Islamabad High Court (IHC) is scheduled to hear the petitions seeking suspension of sentences of Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi in the GBP 190 million Al-Qadir Trust case on June 11, a day that PTI chief Gohar Ali Khan has described as key for the couple.
Gohar added that no compromises will be struck for Imran Khan’s freedom, according to news agency PTI. The Islamabad High Court had previously postponed the hearing of petitions in the Al-Qadir Trust case to June 11. Seventy-two-year-old Khan, facing multiple cases, has been held at Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail since August 2023, a detention he calls illegal. Bushra Bibi, wife of Khan, was jailed for 14 years in January 2024 after being convicted in the Toshakhana case for illegally retaining and selling state gifts.
Khan’s defiant stand against the Munir-led army stems from his ongoing feud with the latter, whom he accuses of orchestrating his ouster and subsequent imprisonment. Gohar Ali Khan’s claim that Khan is likely to secure bail on June 11 in the Al-Qadir Trust case follows Khan’s announcement last week, where he declared himself patron-in-chief of PTI and vowed to lead a nationwide protest movement from prison. Gohar’s statement also comes after Khan directed his party to prepare for a mass movement across Pakistan against the military and government, whom the cricketer-turned-politician has termed as mandate thieves.
Read Also : People Rejected Rahul, Now He Is Rejecting Democracy’: Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis