WASHINGTON: Since Donald Trump’s election to the White House, US media have highlighted the global issues the new president may prioritize during his early days in office and Pakistan has been notably absent from this discussion, while both opposition and government leaders in Pakistan are embroiled in a heated debate over whether Trump will pressure Islamabad to release Imran Khan and other political prisoners.

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif expressed skepticism, claiming that PTI leaders were making exaggerated claims. “We don’t think Trump will call for the PTI founder’s release. Let’s wait for 15 to 20 days and see what stand he takes,” he said.

When Dawn asked Zalmay Khalilzad, a senior US diplomat who negotiated the peace deal with the Taliban, whether the president-elect would intervene to secure Mr Khan’s release, he replied, “It is too early to say definitely. But I expect him to pay attention to Pakistan and to Imran Khan’s unwarranted and unjustified incarceration.”

Separately, Mr Khalilzad in a tweet urged the Pakistani establishment to consider ending Mr Khan’s detention, stating, “How would they explain the ongoing unjustified imprisonment of Trump’s friend Imran Khan? It is time to release Imran Khan and others who are being held without a fair judicial process.”

Khalilzad’s statement raised concerns in Islamabad, as he has traditionally played a role in Republican administrations.

However, Minister of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives and Inter-Provincial Coordination Ahsan Iqbal on Saturday termed PTI’s hope for Trump to get its leadership released from jail ‘a joke’, though he said the PML-N government respects the mandate given by the Americans to Trump.

“Saying of a political party (PTI) that Trump, after coming into power, would get Imran Khan released is not less than a joke. It is very funny,” the federal minister remarked in his interaction with media after at a laptop distribution ceremony in Lahore. He said it was because of a minister in the PTI government that PIA suffered credibility crisis.

The debate over Trump’s potential role in getting Mr Khan released intensified after the latter congratulated the Republican leader on social media, expressing hope that the new administration would foster “Pak-US relations based on mutual respect for democracy and human rights”.

PTI leaders in the US at a roundtable discussion with Lara Trump, co-chair of the Republican National Committee, alongside a group of Pakistani-American physicians last week briefed her on treatment of Mr Khan. “Ms Trump instructed her staff to maintain this engagement and expressed support for our cause,” the PTI claimed.

Encouraged by Trump’s victory, PTI supporters in the US drafted a new congressional letter urging the release of Mr Khan and other political prisoners.

Speaking to Dawn, Dr Malik Usman, president of First Pakistan Global (FPG) —the group behind the previous letter in mid-October — said, “We have already collected over 30 signatures from both Republican and Democratic lawmakers and are hoping to secure up to 60 once again.”

Senior PTI leader Atif Khan, who also met Lara Trump, said, “PTI calls on the Trump administration not to follow the Biden administration’s silence on severe human rights abuses in Pakistan.

PML-N supporters claimed Trump’s aides had assured their leaders the new administration would refrain from interfering in Pakistan’s domestic politics.

Michael Kugelman, director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center in Washington, highlighted the strong involvement of Pakistani Americans with the PTI, warning that “in Pakistan, Trump’s silence on Imran Khan could send signals that each group may interpret in its own way”.

“We do want Trump to condemn Pakistan’s current rulers as he would any dictatorial regime, like those in North Korea or Venezuela,” Dr Usman said. “We don’t expect him to spring Mr Khan out of jail tomorrow, but we do hope he grasps the urgency of Pakistan’s situation and speaks out.”

Pointing to “restrictions on social media, suppression of free speech, disregard for constitutional values, and human rights violations,” Atif Khan argued the situation warranted Trump’s attention. He said the PTI sought Trump’s support for an independent inquiry into the Feb 8th elections and for action on US House Resolution 901.

Khalid Hasnain in Lahore also contributed to this report

Published in Dawn, November 10th, 2024