LAHORE: Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Monday that the country’s powerful military plans to imprison him for the next 10 years on charges of treason.
Early on Monday, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader tweeted: “Now the complete London plan has come out. Using violence as an excuse when I was in jail, they have played the role of judge, jury and executioner. Putting Bushra Begum (Khan’s wife) in jail and humiliating me, some Now the plan is to use the Sedition Act to imprison me for the next ten years.” The tweets came after Khan hosted a meeting of PTI leaders at his Lahore residence.

The 70-year-old leader, who is out on bail in more than 100 cases, added: “To ensure that there is no reaction in the public, they have done two things – first deliberate terror unleashed on PTI workers. Second, the media is completely controlled and confused.” He said never has the sanctity of chadar and chaar dewaari been violated the way it is being done by these “criminals”.

“This is a deliberate attempt to create fear among people that when they come to arrest me tomorrow, they will not come out. And tomorrow they will shut down internet services again and ban social media (which is only partially open). , as we speak, houses are being broken into and policemen are brazenly manhandling the women of the houses,” he said.

Giving his message to the people of Pakistan, Khan said, “My message to the people of Pakistan is; I will fight for Haqiqi Azadi till my last drop of blood, because death is preferable to me than being a slave to this kind of fraud.”

“I ask all my people to remember that we have taken an oath LA ILLAH H ILLALLAH that we will bow down to none but Allah. If we bow down to the idol of fear, our future generations will only be disgraced and ruined. In countries where injustice and the law of the jungle prevail, we cannot live long.”

Khan returned to his Lahore home on Saturday after locking himself inside the Islamabad High Court (IHC) premises for hours fearing re-arrest despite being granted bail on Friday.

The IHC granted bail to Khan, barred authorities from arresting him in all cases registered against him after May 9, and asked him to approach the Lahore High Court on May 15 for further relief.

Khan added that the JUI-F “drama” being conducted outside the Supreme Court was only for one purpose — to prevent the Chief Justice of Pakistan from passing judgment according to the Constitution.

“Pakistan has already seen such a brazen attack on the Supreme Court in 1997 when PMLN thugs physically attacked the Supreme Court and removed one of the most respected Chief Justices, Sajjad Ali Shah,” said.

Khan’s arrest by Pakistan Rangers at the IHC premises last Tuesday triggered unrest in Pakistan that continued till Friday.

For the first time in the country’s history, protesters broke barricades, entered the Army Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi and burnt down the Corps Commander’s house in Lahore.

Police put the death toll in violent clashes at 10, while Khan’s party said 40 of its workers were killed in firing by security personnel.