Imran Khan’s political career is ‘far from over’, says close aide, as Pakistan sets stage for polls

Pakistan’s Tehreek-e-Insaf remains resolute despite challenges, Zulfiqar Ali Bukhari tells Maroosha Muzaffar, as the party believes Khan’s imprisonment may actually galvanise support

Imran Khan might currently be lodged in a small jail cell in the high-security Attock prison facing nearly 200 pending criminal cases, but colleagues loyal to him insist that the charismatic former prime minister’s political career is “far from over”.

In fact, Zulfiqar Ali Bukhari, a close aide and adviser to Khan, says the disruption within Pakistan’s Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party will bring its members closer.

“We’re making sure that our party stays intact. That Imran Khan’s leadership, his popularity stays intact,” Bukhari tells The Independent. “Actually, I think people think it’s a time of great flux, but they don’t understand that things like these, moments like these, actually gel the party closer together.”

But that confidence belies the worries not just about Khan’s legal and political journey ahead, but also about his alleged condition during incarceration, as the country dissolves its parliament, setting the stage for a national election amid political and economic crises.

On Tuesday, Pakistan’s election commission disqualified Khan from holding any public office for a duration of five years. This came shortly after his arrest over the weekend on corruption allegations.

The former PM was arrested for allegedly engaging in “corrupt practices” – a turn of events that didn’t come as a surprise to many, not even to members of his party.

Khan had admitted, in an exclusive interview with The Independent in June, that it was “only a matter of time until they jail me again”. Saturday’s arrest was the second time this year he had been detained by the police.

The PTI has appealed the decision of the Islamabad trial court in the High Court. But the trouble is far from over for the former cricket star, who has had around 170 criminal cases filed against him since he was ousted from office in a vote of no confidence. The charges range from corruption, murder, arson and blasphemy to sedition and terrorism. He denies all the charges against him.

He and his party say the charges are politically motivated to prevent him from returning to power. He told The Independent earlier in an interview that he expected more cases to be filed, joking that he was “waiting to reach a double century soon”.

Bukhari says the party is aware of the battles ahead. “We’re well aware of this. We are well aware of our legal battles, and that’s why we have a very good legal team and we’re fighting.”

He says that, despite the arrest (and disqualification), Khan will still call the shots. “This is just an open and shut case. So he will have to come out. He’s not a flight risk. He’s not going anywhere. So we’re very confident.”

Lawyers who support Pakistan's former prime minister Imran Khan hold a protest against his imprisonment, in Lahore, Pakistan (AP)

Lawyers chant slogans during a protest against Khan’s imprisonment (AP)

Police officers stand guard on the watchtowers of district prison Attock, where Pakistan’s former prime minister is being held (AP)

Khan is a polarising figure in Pakistan, with critics accusing him of enacting his own crackdown and censorship against political opponents during the three years he was in power before he lost a no-confidence vote in parliament. His successful 2018 election campaign is widely believed to have been backed by the military, and Khan says it was the army chief at the time who made the call to remove him from office in April last year.

He has since survived an assassination attempt that left him with nerve damage, and has repeatedly accused the “establishment” – the government, allegedly working in tandem with the powerful military – as being behind it. The government and military have denied all accusations.

This time around, Khan has been transported to the Attock jail in Attock city, Punjab province, a significant departure from the guesthouse on a police compound in Islamabad where he was staying in May when he was arrested at the Islamabad High Court.

At that time, he could receive visitors and conduct meetings with fellow party members. Bukhari claims that Khan is being treated badly in prison. “I don’t know if he’s being tortured. We know that he laughed and said [to the legal team that met him], ‘I’m being treated like an animal.’”

Khan’s legal team has alleged that his attorneys and family members are being denied access to him. Situated in the eastern Punjab province, Attock is notorious for its harsh living conditions and its population, which includes individuals convicted of militant activities.

According to Khan’s team, he has been assigned to a “C-class” jail cell – the most minimal classification, typically reserved for inmates on death row. “He’s a former prime minister. He’s allowed by law to have Category A jail. He’s been given Category C and he’s been put in a six-by-eight or an eight-by-eight room. We don’t know what his feeding pattern is. He’s not been given anything to sleep on. He’s in solitary confinement.”

In May, Khan’s dramatic arrest within the premises of the Islamabad High Court saw his supporters launch massive protests across the country that included unprecedented displays of anger against facilities associated with the country’s all-powerful military.

Latif Khosa, centre, a lawyer who is part of Imran Khan’s legal team, speaks with the media outside a court after Khan’s appeal hearing on Wednesday 9 August (AP)

The government and military responded with a crackdown against Khan’s PTI, which saw thousands of its workers arrested and his own residence besieged by the police, while some of his most senior aides and former ministers quit the party under pressure from the authorities, in an effort to avoid the threat of arrest and jail time.

This time, any protests in the wake of Khan’s arrest were largely muted. Bukhari says: “I think this time [the arrest] was more expected and there have been protests. They haven’t been covered by media, especially local media, and no one’s been allowed to air them.”

The other reason is that Section 144 was deployed in many cities – which means that there was a ban on all gatherings, public meetings, demonstrations, sit-ins and rallies.

“... Anyone who is coming out, and there is a gathering of four or more people, automatically is arrested, and you can be imprisoned for a month without any reason. So I think that also curbed our decision to make people come out, or ask them to come out too much.”

The PTI has planned protests in the UK and the US. “We are going to do a couple of big protests. We’re mobilising the overseas Pakistanis.”

The PTI believes that Khan’s arrest will drum up even more support for the embattled leader, and that it will work in the party’s favour in the long run.

“As long as Imran Khan is in prison, alive and kicking, and his core committee is making the right decisions, we’re not going to have a single problem.”