PTI Founder first party head jailed for three consecutive years, claims Gohar

ISLAMABAD, August 4, 2026: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, while referring to Imran Khan’s incarceration, said no party head in Pakistan’s history has remained in jail for three consecutive years since 1947, ARY News reported.

“Not even Wali Khan was jailed for this long. Asif Zardari was not party chairman at the time,” Gohar said while speaking to the media. “In the last 20 years, the PTI founder is the first leader to be kept in prison for such a long period.”

Gohar announced that a formal movement for the release of Imran Khan will begin from August 5. “The movement starting August 5 will only end with the release of the PTI founder and Bushra Bibi,” he added.

He clarified that no “release force” was being formed. “We had only called for volunteers for a peaceful movement,” he said.

Commenting on AJK elections, the PTI chairman said the boycott decision was taken in consultation with the people. “The people of Azad Kashmir were not in the mood to vote at all. The turnout was the lowest in the country’s history,” he claimed.

“An election is only real when all political parties and the public take part,” Gohar said. “The three-phase election process adopted in AJK is unconstitutional. Elections are not held like this even at the village council level. The current AJK government has completely failed on every front.”

On political talks, Gohar said, “We have no political contacts with anyone, nor have we ever had any. It has been a long time, there are no talks at the moment. Those who think negotiations are just an offer are making a big mistake.”

He warned that rising political temperature puts both the country and the federation at risk. “It is the responsibility of those running the system to sit with everyone and find solutions. Those who don’t resolve issues are actually putting the federation in danger,” he said.

“We are not getting sherwanis stitched for power,” he added. “I support capable people coming forward.”

Responding to a question about English, Gohar said, “I haven’t heard whether Mena Khan could answer in English or not. Urdu is our national language, but one should also have command over other languages. There are several ministers who cannot even read English.”

He said there has been no contact with the PPP or Maulana Fazal ur Rehman so far. He also noted that the KP Chief Minister had later submitted his detailed statement to the constitutional court.