Dear Ms. Bennett,
I just read your column in @guardian about Pakistan's most loved politician/leader @ImranKhanPTI who also happens to be the founding Chairman of Pakistan's largest political party @PTIofficial .
Please allow me to respond to some of the points you have raised in your column, but before I do, may I please say that you have conveniently ignored to write about the illegal incarceration of Mr. Khan. He is languishing in jail under bogus cases since more than a year. Perhaps you ignored to write about it because you know very well that United Nations' Working Group conducted its investigation and said:
“UN working group concludes that Imran Khan's detention had no legal basis and appears to have been intended to disqualify him from running for political office”
Here are some links for your quick reference:
UN Report: https://t.co/EThnRSmhEw
News coverage of the report:
https://t.co/lzqZM9ekJQ
https://t.co/GQEOrKeD0l
Now that we have established that you ignored to mention such an important point, let's talk about your claims in the article:
Salman Rushdie:
You seem to be unaware that not just Mr. Khan, but almost entire Muslim community across the globe would refuse to share the stage with Mr. Rushdie due to his awful views about the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Secondly, you have not mentioned that when Mr. Rushdie was violently attacked, Mr. Khan said in August 2022 that:
"he understands anger The Satanic Verses created ‘but you can’t justify what happened’
Incidentally, the news was published in The Guardian:
https://t.co/zkVpn9os85
Taliban / O*ama Bin L*den:
You have mentioned about Mr. Khan calling Laden a martyr. It was a slip of tongue and it was clarified in the Parliament in 2021. Here is the link:
https://t.co/eeFaNPBJOi
Mr. Laden was an asset of US/UK/Europe when he was fighting against the Russians. In fact CIA trained him and his associates. He was labelled a terrorist ofcourse, when he turned his guns towards the West. A worth reading piece:
https://t.co/1J5hyQUCEL
You have also conveniently ignored to mention that Imran Khan's government helped evacuate over 10,000 people from Afghanistan including diplomats, staff of diplomatic missions and international agencies and journalists, when Taliban took over Afghanistan in August 2021. Links for your quick reference:
https://t.co/DGIuZFV5su
https://t.co/RuvLijry6Q
China:
Again, you seem to be unaware that Pakistan and China are decades old regional strategic allies, and China has always helped Pakistan during difficult times, when the UK and US looked away. Yes, China has major human rights issues, perhaps this is why, the UK's bilateral trade with China is valued at £86 billion?
https://t.co/PWDPxPVtuo
Comments about Women:
Give me a break! This comment, taken out of context, has been clarified several times, but here is one of the articles, incidentally published in The Guardian:
https://t.co/BLgN6EnJIo
He compared western society with what we have here in Pakistan. There is a vast difference between these societies, and people in this part of the world are not used to the freedoms that come naturally to the western world. What he said is that while strict and stringent laws should be promulgated to deal with heinous acts like rape, it may also be worthwhile to look at why there was a mention of observing purdah in Islam and whether that can help in the avoidance of rape crimes through these evolutionary times.
It is to the credit of Imran Khan’s government that a series of groundbreaking laws have been enacted in quick sequence by parliament for safeguarding human rights, the rights of women, and minorities.
I hope this post satisfies your concerns, but if not, I am happy to have a conversation, if you like of course.
In the second photo attached, are the screenshots of my email to Oxford University, detailing some of the the reasons why he is an excellent candidate for the Chancellor of @UniofOxford and just some of his achievements.
Ms Bennett is not on X. I really hope The Guardian will pick up this post and share with Ms Bennett.
Thank you.
1/2
#AbbaForChancellor
#PakistanUnderFascism
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf has launched its Election Manifesto 2024, a manifesto representing a road to Haqeeqi Azadi.
Web link to complete document: https://t.co/M7q3a5vsLp
Another innovative way to find PTI nominated candidate for your constituency, along with the allotted electoral symbol!
Just send a message to Imran Khan’s official FB page https://t.co/SPaTZbjzFO with your constituency number & you will receive the information within a few minutes.
To find your constituency number, please text your ID number to 8300.
Be prepared for 8 February 2024!
#اب_غلامی_نامنظور
#IKisComing
Azam Khan has considerably toned down his statement against IK in the cypher case, there isn't much left in the case now. Also, it is very interesting that Azam Khan admits that the cypher was stolen from the PM's office. IK said the same in leaked audio (next tweet)
The former prime minister of Pakistan writes from prison that his party is being unfairly muzzled, in a guest essay for The Economist https://t.co/Hho0bLGRDu
"The State Bank has around $500MN of usable reserves in the kitty. The IMF review must be concluded by the end of Jan. Otherwise, a messy default is in the waiting. There could be severe shortages of essentials – like petroleum products,....."
Ali Khizar, Business Recorder