LONDON: Jemima Goldsmith, the former spouse of PTI founder Imran Khan, has revealed that she had to block emails from Pakistan due to alleged cyber harassment.

Ms Goldsmith posted a statement on her Instagram and X accounts on Friday blaming opponents of her ex-husband’s party, PTI, for the alleged “cyber harassment operation”.

“To friends in Pakistan legitimately trying to contact me - I have had to block all emails from Pakistan thanks to a cyber harassment operation against me, no doubt instigated by PTI’s desperate opponents,” Ms Goldsmith said in a post on her X account.

She also quipped that since the platform is banned in Pakistan “by said desperate opponents,” only users accessing X via VPNs will see her post.

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“Pakistani politics, the gift that keeps on giving even after leaving the country 20 years ago,” the British film producer said in an apparent reference to years of social media campaigns against her due to her past relationship with Mr Khan, Though many social media users often adore Ms Goldsmith, the critics of her ex-spouse have targeted her by using misogynistic and racist language.

When former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was self-exiled in London between 2019 and 2023, PML-N supporters staged demonstrations outside the Surrey home of Ms Goldsmith’s mother.

Some reports indicated that protestors were threatening to break into the residence if she did not come outside.

At the time, PML-N supporters said it was payback for PTI staging frequent protests outside the Avenfield House where Mr Sharif was living.

Ms Goldsmith lived in Pakistan when she was married to PTI founder Imran Khan from 1995 to 2004. They had two sons together, Sulaiman and Kasim.

Published in Dawn, August 17th, 2024