Lahore: Former prime minister Imran Khan has said that democracy in Pakistan was “at an all-time low”, terming the judiciary as the “only hope” the country had in this situation.
In a first detailed interview with a foreign media outlet since getting bail in the highly-dramatic Al-Qadir Trust case, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan said that the coalition government, led by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) was “petrified of elections”, adding that they feared being “wiped out” by his party at the polls.
He went on to say that the government had decided that the only way they would allow elections was if “I am inside jail or killed”.
Talking about the danger to his life, Imran Khan said that there had been two attempts to kill him.
He survived an assassination attempt last year in November when, during his long march to Islamabad, Imran Khan was shot multiple times at Wazirabad.
Imran Khan was forcefully taken into custody by the Rangers on May 9 from the premises of the Islamabad High Court (IHC). Following his arrest, violent protests broke out across the country.
His detention sparked countrywide violence that left at least 10 people dead and dozens injured.
When asked about the violent protests in his support following his arrest, Imran Khan condemned “all violence”.
“The first time they showed me an arrest warrant was inside the jail. It happens in the law of the jungle,” the PTI chairman said, narrating his experience of receiving a heavy hand from the authorities, with his house being raided twice by the police, even breaking down of his residence’s doors at one instance.
During the raid, he said, his wife was alone in the house terming it an alarming and unprecedented situation for him.
The former premier mentioned that approximately 150 cases had been filed against — an unprecedented number of cases that no other politician of the country has been slapped with.
