All that is left for them now is to murder me: Former Pak PM Imran Khan

Islamabad, May 3 (IANS) Former Pakistan Prime Minister and chief of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, Imran Khan has said that the country's Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Syed Asim Munir should be held directly responsible if anything happens to him or his wife.

In an article written from the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi, Khan alleged that Pakistan's powerful military leadership could make an attempt to eliminate him.

Serving a jail term in various cases of corruption, incitement to violence and matters of national security, Khan alleged in his piece written for the UK's Telegraph that all the charges levelled against him are politically motivated.

"All that is left for them now is to murder me," he wrote.

Khan wrote that Pakistan has become a "laughing stock" in front of the whole world after conducting flawed elections on February 8. He also mentioned that the 240 million people of the country are angry over the way their voices and support, broadly represented through the power of vote, has been ridiculed.

"The people have shown in no uncertain terms their rejection of state electoral machinations and of the oppression, incarceration and torture of not just the PTI leadership but also of its workers," he wrote.

"The military leadership has been subjected to overt criticism at a level unseen before in our history. The government is a laughing stock," he added.

Slamming Pakistan's military establishment, he stated specifically that the Army Chief General Asim Munir is doing everything to keep him out of politics.

"The establishment has done all they could against me. All that is left for them is to now murder me. I have stated publicly that if anything happens to me or my wife, the Chief of Army Staff Gen Asim Munir will be responsible," he wrote.

"But I am not afraid because my faith is strong. I would prefer death over slavery," he added.

Khan said that the only way to get Pakistan out of the current crisis is "to restore the people's mandate and release all political prisoners including those being held for trial under military courts".

Khan's opinion piece has again established his strong and rigid opposition against the military establishment, especially against the current Army Chief General Asim Munir.

It is also a fact that the former PM was not in favor of the appointment of General Munir as the country's army chief and launched a long march from Lahore to Rawalpindi, smartly delaying it to assert political and public pressure while blocking Munir's appointment.

He has also blamed the previous military chief General (Retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa for facilitating his government's opposition alliance, which led to his ouster through a Vote of No Confidence (VONC). Since then, Pakistan's political outlook has been in shambles with ongoing protests, rallies and campaigns being launched by PTI against the military establishment and the ruling governments.

Last May, the PTI workers stormed military installations in Rawalpindi, Lahore, Karachi and other parts of the country, in protest against the arrest of their leader.

The authorities also launched a similar crackdown against the PTI workers and leaders, blocking their election campaigns during the February 2024 elections, paving the way for Shehbaz Sharif, leader of Pakistan Muslim League–Nawaz (PML-N) to become the country's Prime Minister.

Khan is serving a jail term of three years in a corruption case and a 14-year term for the Toshakhana case besides an additional 10-year jail term for revealing state secrets.