Islamabad:
Failure to Pakistan Tehreek-E-Insaf (PTI) founder and former Prime Minister Imran Khan once again expressed the will to hold direct conversations with the country’s powerful stakeholders on Thursday and said he was ready for a “give and take” only in Pakistan’s interest.
In a speech with party leaders at Rawalpindis Adiala prison, the PTI founder said, stressing that he was not seeking any personal relief, that the doors of dialogue with the establishment were open and said he was ready to speak at all times for the sake of the country and national unity.
PTI senator Ali Zafar told Khan in prison the media that the former prime minister had made it clear that any solution would be for the country, not for personal gain. “There is no personal giving and taking involved,” Zafar said, before quoting Khan as saying, “If I would have concessions for myself, I would have asked for them a long time ago and would not have spent 600 days in prison.”
To a question about the recent comments from Khan’s sister, Aleema Khan, Zafar said Khan clarified that any perception of a giving-and-take approach would be strictly to Pakistan’s advantage. “I do not ask for any relief in my case,” attributed to Zafar Khan, adding “I only want justice and I want my cases to be heard without delay.”
Recently, Aleema recently called for direct conversations with the “unseen forces” to ensure his brother’s release through a possible “give and take” arrangement.
When she spoke with the media in Islamabad, she claimed that the judges who handled Khan’s cases were under pressure, pointing out that Khan’s cases are coming on the causal list but then not being recorded.
Khan, who was removed from Embed via a vote without confidence in 2022, has been in prison since August 2023. He faces a number of charges, including corruption and abreast of violence, which his party maintains is politically motivated.
To another question, Zafar said Khan also confirmed that a protest campaign against the reigning PML-N-led coalition had already been announced and that the party would reveal its strategy in the coming days.
Zafar said Khan has instructed party leadership to prepare for the movement and warn that he would no longer remain patient if no one comes out. “No one is allowed to play from both sides of the fence,” he said.
Khan’s renewed search has come at a time when his party has not been able to get any relief for him since he was arrested and sent behind pillars in August 2023. His party says the prison is aimed at adaming him from the national political landscape.
Nevertheless, Khan’s continued prison has not only remained a rallying point for PTI leaders and supporters, but becomes a key issue in the party’s ongoing standoff with the establishment.
The rift between PTI and powerful stakeholders was clear last Friday when Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa chief minister Ali Amin Gandapur had skipped a formal dinner hosted by the newly high-ranking Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir-Og to Chief of Army Staff.
Surprisingly, as it may look, PTI leaders were not invited to dinner to celebrate success in Operation Bunyanum Mursoos. On May 10, 2025, Pakistan had launched a retaliatory response to unprovoked Indian aggression, including missile attacks on Pakistani Airbases and civilian areas.
