Ex-Pak PM Imran Khan interrogated about his social media account, anti-establishment posts

Islamabad, Oct 2 (PTI) Pakistan’s jailed former prime minister Imran Khan has been questioned by government investigators about his social media account on X, which frequently posts against Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir and state institutions.

Officials from the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (formerly Federal Investigation Agency cybercrime wing) visited the high-security Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi this week and interrogated Khan about his "anti-state" posts, a NCCIA officer told PTI on Thursday.

He said Khan did not cooperate with the investigators and refused to respond to queries like "who is running his X account." Khan, the patron-in-chief of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), posted on Wednesday details of his meeting with the investigators on X.

He said that the FIA sent a team to interrogate him for voicing his views on the "anti-state content in my tweets, Afghanistan, foreign policy, 'Asim Law', my comparison of Asim Munir’s actions to those of Gen Yahya Khan that led to the Fall of Dhaka and psychological torture in jail." He was referring to General Yahya Khan, under whose regime East Pakistan witnessed a civil war, resulting in the rise of an independent state - Bangladesh.

Khan said he reminded the authorities that he's the former prime minister and also claimed that he represents 80 per cent of the Pakistani population.

"I will speak on every issue that is in the interests of my people. I have every right to raise my voice for them. No power can strip me of this right, nor can anyone silence my voice on matters that concern the interests of my country and my people," he said.

The PTI founder claimed that he reminded the investigators that during his tenure, policies towards Afghanistan had brought "unprecedented" peace, especially in the tribal regions.

"There can be no peace until all four stakeholders in the region - the Afghan government, the people of Afghanistan, the Pakistani government, and the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa - sit together. History shows that military operations cannot establish peace, no matter how much force is used," he said.

Khan claimed that he was "abducted" from inside the Islamabad court premises by paramilitary Rangers in 2023, and the "preplanned" and "false-flag operation" of May 9 was orchestrated.

He also compared Army Chief Field Marshal Munir with Gen Yahya Khan, saying that just like Yahya’s refusal to hand over power to Mujibur Rahman led to the Fall of Dhaka in 1971, Munir too was pushing Pakistan towards a similar crisis.

Earlier, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif alleged that India was managing Khan’s anti-state social media narrative.

PTI leader Moonis Elahi hit back, saying the government was trying to cover its failures by blaming "external forces".

"Asif’s comments are irresponsible -- a desperate attempt to silence dissent and an insult to the intelligence of the Pakistani people," Elahi said. PTI MZ SKS GRS GRS