Pakistan’s jailed former prime minister Imran Khan on Wednesday accused army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir of pursuing “disastrous” policies and deliberately stoking tensions with Afghanistan. Khan’s comments were posted on X one day after his sister, Dr Uzma Khan, was allowed to visit him at Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail following more than a month of being denied access and after the Shehbaz Sharif government granted special permission.
In an Urdu post, the 73-year-old Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder said Munir’s decisions have coincided with a surge in terrorism and asserted that the army chief places Western interests ahead of Pakistan’s. Khan accused Munir of deliberately provoking Afghanistan to cast himself internationally as a “mujahid” (Islamic fighter).
Khan reiterated his opposition to drone strikes and military operations against Pakistanis, saying such measures only fuel further violence. He blamed Munir for threatening Afghans, expelling refugees, and authorising drone strikes whose consequences he says have contributed to increased unrest and attacks.
He went on to describe Munir as “mentally unstable” and accused him of moral bankruptcy, alleging these traits have contributed to a breakdown of the constitution and the rule of law in Pakistan. Khan claimed Munir ordered fabricated cases against him and his wife and said he and his family have been subjected to severe psychological torture.
On his detention conditions, Khan said he had been kept in complete solitary confinement for four weeks with no contact with other people, cut off from the outside world and denied standard jail entitlements. He said court directions to allow meetings with political colleagues were ignored and that access to his lawyers and family was blocked. “Pick up any human rights charter,” he wrote, “psychological torture is considered ‘torture’ and is deemed even more severe than physical torture.” He also alleged that his sister Noreen Niazi was dragged along the road after demanding her lawful right to meet him.
Khan praised Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi and urged continued resistance rather than compromise amid what he described as an environment of repression. He claimed there is effectively no law or constitution in Pakistan and argued that laws are applied selectively against PTI while others are exempt. He warned those threatening to impose governor’s rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to try it and “then watch what happens to them.”
An undeclared ban on visits to Khan, who has been imprisoned since August 2023 in multiple cases, had fuelled speculation about his health. After her meeting, Uzma Khan said his physical health was “perfectly fine” but confirmed he was being subjected to “mental torture in solitary confinement” and that he was extremely angry about his treatment.
