A jailed Imran Khan leaves Pakistan divided ahead of election - BBC News

No other politician has caused as many rifts in Pakistan as the cricket star-turned politician.

1 day agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Once seen as the Pakistan army's golden boy, Imran Khan was ousted in a no-confidence vote widely seen as orchestrated by the armed forcesBy Kelly Ng, Tarhub Asghar & Farhat Javedin Singapore, Lahore and IslamabadIn the Zeshaan household there is a ground rule - conversations about politics are not allowed when the family gets together.

It was a rule laid down shortly after Imran Khan was elected Pakistan's prime minister in July 2018.

"I remember my father didn't vote for Imran Khan in the 2018 elections. My sister and I didn't talk to him for three months. We couldn't sit together at meals or anything," said Nida Zeshaan, who calls herself a "diehard Khan supporter".

While political differences among families and friends are nothing unusual, no other politician has caused as many rifts in relationships in Pakistan as the former cricket star who rose to be PM before being ousted.

Khan was elected after he vowed to to fight corruption and fix the ailing economy, but he has been fighting a series of cases since he fell out of power in 2022. Several criminal convictions have now barred him from standing in general elections on Thursday. The 71-year-old claims these are politically motivated to boot him off the ballot.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-68177777?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA

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