AI and covert canvassing: How Imran Khan is campaigning from jail in Pakistan

Supporters of Imran Khan, Pakistan’s jailed former prime minister, are restricted in their ability to campaign ahead of the country’s election this week.

Days before Pakistan’s election on Thursday, a masked and headscarf-clad Komal Asghar led a team of similarly dressed women through alleys in the eastern city of Lahore.

Their mission: to knock on doors and distribute campaign pamphlets adorned with photos of the South Asian country’s jailed former prime minister, Imran Khan.

Asghar, a 25-year-old insurance company employee, gave up her day job for a month to canvass for Khan’s embattled Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party.

Khan has been in prison since August. Numerous PTI candidates are behind bars or on the run from criminal and terrorism charges that they say are politically motivated. A Reuters reporter witnessed one of the many rallies that PTI supporters say have been disrupted.

“I’m with Khan. I don’t care about my life. My God is with me,” said Asghar, adding the former premier’s opponents can “do whatever.”

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/pakistan-election-imran-khan-rcna137413

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