Islamabad, Sep 21 A plea has been filed in the Islamabad High Court against the alleged inflammatory posts made on former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s X account during his imprisonment, local media reported on Sunday.
An individual named Ghulam Murtaza Khan filed the petition in the court through Barrister Zafarullah Khan Advocate. In the petition, Khan mentioned that sharing “provocative and malicious” content from a convicted prisoner’s social media platform is unlawful and contrary to prison rules, Pakistan daily Dawn reported.
The petitioner urged the court to order the National Cybercrime Investigation Agency and the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to carry out a thorough investigation to determine who has been sharing posts on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan’s account while he remains in prison. He further requested court block and remove such content from social media platforms.
The petitioner requested the court to direct the jail superintendent to make sure that the prisoner is not permitted to use or operate social media in violation of jail regulations, calling such activity “unconstitutional and illegal”. Furthermore, the petitioner requested the court to ask PTI not to redistribute or promote content originating from Imran Khan’s account while he remains in prison.
Imran Khan, 72, who served as Pakistan’s Prime Minister from 2018 to 2022, has been kept in Adiala Jail since August 2023 on multiple charges, including the Toshakhana case. However, posts are regularly shared on his X account.
On September 18, a post was shared on Imran Khan’s social media, where he accused Pakistan’s Army Chief Asim Munir of inflicting psychological torture upon him and his wife, Bushra Bibi. He accused Munir of using the army to create an atmosphere of lawlessness and fascism in Pakistan.
In a post on X, he stated, “The psychological torture being inflicted on me and Bushra Begum in prison is being carried out by Asim Munir, and the sole purpose is to make us break down and submit. The army did not choose General Yahya Khan to govern the country; rather, he used the army to establish a dictatorship, and unleashed a reign of oppression and tyranny upon the nation. In his greed to rule for ten years, he split our country apart. Today, Asim Munir is also doing the same: using the army to create an atmosphere of lawlessness and fascism in our country”.
“Asim Munir has left no stone unturned for the extension of his illegitimate rule for ten years. First, he strangled democracy. By staging the false flag of May 9th (2023) he attempted to crush the country’s largest political party. Then, on February 8th (2024), when people voted in large numbers for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf to give the party a clean sweep, that election was shamelessly stolen. The people’s mandate was taken and handed to convicted criminals. After that, the judiciary was incapacitated and, through the 26th Amendment, judges were subjugated. The judiciary has been turned into nothing but a subordinate department of the government,” he added.
He stated that restrictions were imposed on the freedom of the press in Pakistan, and the notion of a free press has been eradicated. He wrote, “The tenuous hold of democracy that existed in Pakistan — consisting, to some degree, of an independent judiciary and a free media — has been terminated by Asim Munir. Democracy in the country is suspended, human rights violations are at their peak, the judiciary is subservient, and the media is intimidated.”
He claimed that Pakistan’s ties with Afghanistan have been strained after Asim Munir took over as Pakistan’s army chief. He stated, “Ever since Asim Munir took over as Army Chief, he has been attempting to sour relations with Afghanistan. Upon taking office, he first issued threats to Afghanistan, then expelled Afghan nationals who had lived here for three generations, followed by drone strikes there, making every effort to provoke them into fighting Pakistan, creating a climate of terrorism. He is doing this to portray himself as a ‘mujahid’ (warrior) to lobbies in the West that oppose the current Afghan government, in order to convince them that he is the one who can fight the war against terrorism.”
“Because of this oppression, Pakistan’s economy is experiencing historically slow growth. Foreign investment is virtually zero. Never in Pakistan’s history has investment been as low as it is at this time. In three years, the national debt has doubled. Every Pakistani is now trapped in a quagmire of debt. Until a government of the people is established, it will not be possible to solve the country’s economic challenges,” he added.
Imran Khan recalled that he had predicted PTI’s win in the elections despite the atmosphere of fear created prior to the polls. He stated that injustice, fascism, lawlessness and economic devastation are pushing Pakistan towards a situation like the one seen in Nepal, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. He urged people of Pakistan to participate in the rally set to take place in Peshawar on September 27.
In a post on X, he wrote: “Prior to the elections, although an atmosphere of fear prevailed, I had predicted that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf would achieve a clean sweep, and that is exactly what happened. Today I am making another prediction: the injustice, oppression, fascism, lawlessness, and economic devastation in our country are propelling Pakistan rapidly towards a situation like the one seen in Nepal, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka.”
“I instruct all PTI parliamentarians and party officials: now is the time to perform as the genuine opposition. Whoever does not do so, will dig their own political grave because that is what the people expect. We sought legal remedies against every injustice, including the theft of our mandate, but did not get justice; therefore, now is the time to stand firmly in opposition. The more you cooperate, the more you will be oppressed. Those who do not resolutely stand against this dispensation will dig their own political graves. I call upon the entire nation to focus their attention on the Peshawar rally to be held on September 27th. People from across the country should participate in this gathering and raise their voices against oppression,” he added.
(Auto generated news from IANS Feed. This has not been edited by enewstime desk)
