Imran Khan turns 73 in jail; Pakistan govt wants to block his X account for “anti-state” content

LAHORE: Pakistan government has sought to block Imran Khan's X account for posting “anti-state” material, a minister said Sunday even as the incarcerated former prime minister's party celebrated their leader's 73rd birthday in Lahore and elsewhere.

The former cricketer-turned-politician has been in jail for over two years in multiple cases. He is currently lodged in the Adiala Jail, Rawalpindi.

“We have contacted the X (management) seeking blocking of Imran Khan's account for anti-state, especially anti-army tweets,” Federal State Minister on Law Barrister Aqeel Malik said in a TV interview on Sunday.

“We have also launched a probe to know who is running Khan's X account and making anti-state posts,” he said, adding, the government would soon uncover the network behind it.

Khan, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder was grilled in jail by a government investigation agency last month to divulge details about his X (formerly Twitter) account that carries posts against Army Chief Gen Asim Munir and state institutions on regular basis.

The National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA, formerly Federal Investigation Agency cybercrime wing) officials visited the Adiala Jail Rawalpindi recently and quizzed Khan about his posts and the anti-state content.

A NCCIA official had said that Khan did not cooperate with the investigators and refused to respond to queries, especially questions such as “who is running his X account?”

Khan, in a latest post on X had said he was interrogated for voicing his views on matters like “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.”

Earlier, Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif alleged that India is managing and shaping the narrative of Imran Khan on X.

Former federal minister and PTI senior leader Moonis Elahi lashed out, saying that Asif is trying to paint every domestic failure as a foreign conspiracy.

“Khawaja Asif’s comments are irresponsible -- a desperate attempt to silence dissent and an insult to the intelligence of the Pakistani people,” Moonis Elahi said.

Meanwhile, Khan's party, the PTI celebrated his 73rd birthday with a rally outside Khan's Zaman Park residence in Lahore and chanted slogans in his favour.

Police were deployed at Zaman Park to forestall any pro-Imran rally. The participants of the rally, however, did not try to march towards his residence.

The main cake-cutting ceremony was held in Lahore and was attended by PTI leaders Salman Akram Raja, Shaukat Basra and Rehaba Dar.

Khan's son Kasim Khan said in a post on X: “On his 73rd birthday, our father Imran Khan remains locked in a death cell - 790 days without his family, without his doctors, without his lawyers. Yet his courage endures. We must not give up, because he never will.”

Elahi, while offering birthday wishes to “the nation's great and most beloved leader,” said, “Your sacrifices are a debt upon the nation.”

The PTI said it also held rallies in other parts of the country, including different cities of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh and Gilgit Baltistan and Kashmir.

It said it would continue its struggle against the oppressors and for the release of their leader from jail.