Islamabad/London, July 26: Oxford-educated former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan is likely to run for the position of the chancellor of his alma mater in the UK from his prison cell through an online ballot, according to his close aide and media reports.
Since August 2023, Khan, 71, has been incarcerated after he was arrested under several cases and convicted for some of them, the longest sentence among them being nine years as of date. Founder of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) party, Khan was the prime minister of Pakistan from August 2018 to April 2022.
Khan studied Economics and Politics at Keble College, Oxford in 1972. He made a Test debut for Pakistan in 1971 and also captained the cricket team of Oxford University. In 2005, Khan became the chancellor of Bradford University and served in the post till 2014.
“Imran Khan will run for chancellor of Oxford University from his prison cell in Pakistan. The former Pakistani prime minister and cricket star will enter an online ballot, despite serving a 10-year jail sentence,” The Telegraph, UK reported.
The newspaper quoted entrepreneur Sayed Zulfi Bukhari, who is Khan’s advisor on international affairs, as saying: “Imran Khan will contest for the chancellor of Oxford University as there is a public demand that he should contest.”
Imran’s party workers arrested from across Pak
Except in the Pakistani capital, party leaders and supporters of Imran Khan held demonstrations across the country where hundreds of workers were arrested on Friday while protesting the inflated electricity bills and demanding the former prime minister’s release from jail.
After the government banned protests in Islamabad, Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) approached the Islamabad High Court, urging it to order the administration to allow it to hold protests. The court, after hearing arguments, reserved its judgment.
The main opposition party, PTI, could not hold its much-publicised protest in the national capital after the government banned public gatherings.
However, its ally, the rightwing Jamaat-i-Islami (JI), went ahead with its protest rally by defying the ban and claimed that police arrested several workers. (Agencies)
