Islamabad, Jan 24: Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has questioned the transparency of the elections set to be conducted on February 8 and added that the ‘preferential treatment’ meted out to a single political party had turned these polls into the ‘mother of all selections’, Pakistan-based Dawn reported.He asked Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) members to engage in electioneering with full force. Imran Khan made these remarks during his routine interaction with reporters after the hearing of the cypher case being held at Adiala Jail. However, his interaction was abruptly ended after the jail superintendent, Asad Warraich, asked Khan not to speak to reporters in the makeshift courtroom.
In response, Imran Khan said that it was his right to speak to reporters. However, Warraich reminded him that journalists were only allowed to cover the case proceedings, not highlight his political statements. At this, Imran Khan said he would only speak about his trial. The jail superintendent asked him to get permission from the judge if he wanted to speak to media persons.
Eventually, DIG Prisons Rana Rauf reached the courtroom and asked journalists to leave the premises as the proceedings had already been concluded. The prison staff escorted the media persons out of the court premises while Khan was protesting the ‘censorship,’ according to Dawn report.
Khan also asked Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf to hold a protest next Sunday. Notably, Imran Khan, his wife Bushra Bibi, Mirza Shahzad Akbar, Zulfi Bukhari, Farah Gogi, Malik Riaz and his son are facing a reference in the National Accountability Bureau since Malik Riaz sent money to purchase the property through money laundering.