LAHORE: Former prime minister Imran Khan on Wednesday congratulated US president-elect Donald Trump for winning the US presidential election, as conflicting narratives prevailed in the PTI regarding the impact of Mr Trump’s victory on the fate of the incarcerated party founder.

A statement posted on Imran Khan’s X account said: “Congratulations on behalf of myself and PTI to Mr Trump for winning the US presidential elections. The will of the American people held against all odds”.

Mr Khan stated US president-elect Donald Trump would be good for the Pak-US relationship based on mutual respect for democracy and human rights. “We hope he will push for peace, human rights and democracy globally,” Mr Khan concluded.

It may be noted that the PTI founder is in jail and his official X account is being managed by someone else from his party.

Aleema rebuffs hopes, held by some leaders, of prospects of her brother’s ‘release’

PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja also posted pictures of Imran Khan and Donald Trump, using captions such as ‘Coming Soon!’ and ‘Partners in Peace — Imran Khan and Donald Trump’.

Punjab PTI’s acting president Hammad Azhar also congratulated Donald Trump. He drew comparisons between Imran Khan and Mr Trump. Ham­mad Azhar said Mr Trump was framed, victimised and survived an assassination attempt, adding that Imran Khan faced a similar ordeal. “The only difference is that our mandate was brazenly stolen,” he lam­ented and added that Imran Khan would also be successful soon as people’s power could not be suppressed for long. He took potshots at PML-N lea­ders Maryam Nawaz and Ahsan Iqbal for deleting their anti-Trump posts from ‘X’.

On the other hand, Imran’s sister Aleema Khan dismissed the impression that the PTI was looking towards Mr Trump for the release of its founder.

“Are we slaves? Is Donald Trump our Abba (father)? Are we a US colony?” Aleema Khan sharply responded as media persons mentioned that the party leaders were happy that Trump’s victory would lead to the release of Imran Khan. “We are 240 million Pakistanis and we need to respect ourselves and rise to get our legitimate rights,” she stressed.

A senior PTI leader and former central spokesman, Raoof Hassan, also asserted that no one in the party had ever thought that Imran Khan would be released if Donald Trump won the US elections. “This narrative is mere propaganda,” he said in an interview with Geo news channel.

Mr Hassan said the party was making its struggle through state institutions, including judiciary and parliament, as well as using its right to hold peaceful protests.

He, however, said the Pakistani diaspora across the world, including the US, was protesting the incarceration of the PTI chief and had also held meetings with Mr Trump’s team, which assured Mr Khan’s incarceration would remain their priority after winning the election.

“Mr Khan’s release will materialise only after the PTI will sit across the table and hold dialogue with the powerful establishment in the country,” Mr Hassan asserted in his interview.

Published in Dawn, November 7th, 2024