LAHORE
\nPakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan has said that he believes his opponents will try to have him killed or jailed and predicts they will try to delay federal elections slated for this fall \u2014 elections that he believes his party would \\sweep.\u2019
\nThe PTI chief says he does not know if he will end up getting disqualified or not, but that it also \u201cdoesn\u2019t matter\u201d because he believes his party has a popularity wave \u201cunprecedented\u201d in Pakistan\u2019s history.
\nKhan highlighted that it doesn\u2019t matter if he is disqualified or not because \u201cthe party I lead now has a popularity wave unprecedented in our history. So whether I\u2019m in jail or not, the party is going to sweep the elections anyway,\u201d said Imran while speaking to American media group National Public Radio\u2019s Steve Inskeep over Zoom from his home in the Pakistani city of Lahore, which he called a fortress.
\n\u201cFortress Lahore,\u201d Khan said, smiling. He said his home was attacked by police and paramilitary forces known as Rangers. \u201cTo abduct me, not arrest me,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s been exciting times here.\u201d
\nThe former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that he believes his opponents will try to have him killed or jailed, and predicts they will try to delay federal elections slated for this fall \u2014 elections that he believes his party would \u201csweep.\u201d
\n\u201cWhat is happening is that the government is petrified of elections,\u201d said Khan. \u201cThey\u2019re scared that we\u2019re going to win the elections. Therefore, they\u2019re trying everything to get me out of the way, including assassination,\u201d said Khan, who survived an apparent attempt on his life in November when a gunman shot him in the leg.
\nKhan was referring to an attempt by the police last Tuesday to arrest him after he skipped multiple court sessions of a corruption case he is embroiled in \u2014 one of the dozens of cases he is currently fighting.
\nKhan\u2019s supporters, who maintain a constant vigil outside his residence, clashed with the police for nearly 24 hours, pelting them with stones and beating them with sticks as the forces responded with tear gas volleys.
\nClashes erupted again on Saturday in the Pakistani capital Islamabad as Khan sought to attend a court hearing to avert arrest.
\nKhan said his supporters were \u201cextremely worried\u201d that security forces would either \u201cabduct or kill me. So, you know, you have these supporters all standing there, you know, camped outside my house to protect me.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LAHORE Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan has said that he believes his opponents will try to have him killed or jailed and predicts they will try to delay federal elections slated for this fall \u2014 elections that he believes his party would \\sweep.\u2019 The PTI chief says he does not […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":321792,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-321764","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"\n