Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan has told BBC HARDtalk that the country is under undeclared marital law, adding that the military is petrified of an election.
He alleged that “fascists” are leading the country into the “dark ages”.
“How come, despite the establishment openly going against us, trying to dismantle us, how come after we are out of government, we won 30 out of 37 by-elections?” he said in an interview with the BBC’s Stephen Sackur.
“Basically , we are currently going through an undeclared martial law”
PTI Chairman @ImranKhanPTI on @BBCHARDtalk with @stephensackur #ImranKhanOnBBC pic.twitter.com/75n3RNnQ66
— PTI (@PTIofficial) August 3, 2023
He said the establishment had hoped that his removal from power would weaken his party. “Normally, it happens when you’re out of power for quite a while. But instead, what happened was the party’s popularity kept growing,” Mr Khan said.
Mr Khan claims that his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party is “the only party that was not created by military dictators”.
“In order to keep me out, they’re dismantling Pakistan’s democracy”
PTI Chairman @ImranKhanPTI on @BBCHARDtalk with @stephensackur #ImranKhanOnBBC pic.twitter.com/ZmfkkJbmBV
— PTI (@PTIofficial) August 3, 2023
“They have tried everything. They have put 10,000 people in jail, including women and peaceful protesters. And worse, they have tortured people,” he said, adding that if the party was not “finished” as his detractors claimed, the authorities would have announced the date of the election,” he added.
The former premier said that the country is on the brink of a major disaster.
“We are heading [into] what I feel like are the dark ages,” he said.
“Unfortunately, the country has been taken over by fascists, and they are petrified of elections. The reason why I’m suffering is because they know that [in the] elections, we would win hands down. And because of that, they’re dismantling a democracy,” he said.
