Pakistan taken over by fascists who’re terrified of elections: Imran Khan

By Press Trust of India: Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan has mentioned that the nation has been taken over by “fascists”, and they’re “petrified” of the upcoming normal elections, in an obvious reference to the highly effective navy.

The 70-year-old former cricketer-turned-politician, in an interview with the BBC, mentioned the institution had hoped that his removing from energy would weaken his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) get together.

“Normally, it happens when you’re out of power for quite a while. But instead, what happened was the party’s popularity kept growing,” Khan, who was ousted from energy via a no-confidence vote in April 2022, mentioned.

“They (the establishment) have tried everything. They have put 10,000 people in jail, including women and peaceful protesters. And worse, they have tortured people,” Khan mentioned, referring to his supporters arrested following the unprecedented violence on May 9 following his arrest in an alleged corruption case.

He added that if his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf get together was not “finished” as his detractors claimed, the authorities would have introduced the date of the election.

“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 mentioned.

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The highly effective navy has straight dominated for about half of the historical past of Pakistan and remained in charge of the nation’s affairs through the different half. The normal elections are due later this 12 months because the time period of the National Assembly will expire on August 12.

Khan claimed that his get together is “the only party that was not created by military dictators”. He alleges that for this reason there was a marketing campaign to dismantle his get together.

In latest months, the get together has seen vital defections and arrests of key leaders. However, Khan insisted that his get together is unbroken.

“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 mentioned.

On May 9, violent protests erupted after the arrest of Khan by paramilitary Rangers in Islamabad. Over 20 navy installations and state buildings, together with the military headquarters in Rawalpindi, have been broken or torched within the violent protests that adopted Khan’s arrest.

The violence elicited a robust response from the federal government and navy vowing to take motion towards the culprits, resulting in an ongoing crackdown towards these concerned. However, Khan denied his involvement within the arson.

“What did you think the supporters would do when they saw the army, the commander, was picking me up from there? Was there not going to be a protest?” he mentioned. Khan insisted that it was the navy who incited the violence by sending troopers as a substitute of cops to arrest him.

“The fact is that the country is on the brink of a major disaster. We are heading [into] what I feel like are the dark ages. “The solely resolution to Pakistan is free and honest elections. That’s the one approach we’ll get out of this mess,” he added.

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