Pakistan Tehreek-Insaaf (PTI) has found renewed hopes for the release of Imran Khan after the former PM’s wife and close confidante Bushra Bibi walked out of jail. Having secured bail in the Toshakhana 2.0 case earlier this week, she was released from Adiala Jail on Thursday, thus ending nearly nine months of her detention. In a post on X, PTI confirmed that Bushra had reached Bani Gala and hailed saying, “Welcome back Bushra Bibi!”
Pertinently, Bushra and her husband were convicted in the earlier Toshakhana case and sentenced to 14 years in prison. However, the legal troubles for the duo had been easing out when they were accused in another Toshakhana case.
The timing of that case had strengthened the PTI’s apprehensions that the cases were filed solely to target Imran and Bushra Bibi as they were about to secure bail in the earlier case. This backs the question – what has changed in Pakistan that Bushra Bibi was allowed to walk out of jail? Could this signal that Imran Khan may also be released soon?
Brief details of Toshakhana cases 1.0 and 2.0
Before delving further, let us understand the whole case. In August 2022, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), the opposition coalition at the time, filed a case against Imran Khan for failing to report a Toshakhana gift in his annual asset declaration to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). For those unversed, Toshakhana is a government department that keeps records of gifts received by high-ranking officials like the Prime Minister, MPs, and the Foreign Secretary.
Following the allegations, the ECP initiated an inquiry and ruled that Imran gave a false statement. This resulted in a five-year disqualification from public office. Later, the ECP sent the reference to a trial court, which convicted Imran, sentencing him to three years in prison in August 2023. This conviction was, however, suspended, and he was granted bail. However, relief was not in sight for the PTI leader.
In December 2023, another Toshakhana case was filed against Imran. This time also, his wife Bushra Bibi was named as a co-accused. After several hearings, the couple was convicted and sentenced to 14 years in January 2024. Bushra had been in jail since then. Interestingly, this conviction was also later suspended, and both of them secured bail.
Meanwhile, Imran Khan had been facing several cases related to the May 9 riots, but he was acquitted in most of them.
In July, Imran and Bushra’s conviction in the Iddat case was overturned, and they were set to receive bail. However, on the same day, a new Toshakhana case was filed regarding a Bulgari jewelry set gifted by a foreign leader, in which Bushra Bibi was named again. Now, she has now walked out of jail thus giving new hope to the PTI cadre.
Is the Pakistan Army signaling a thaw with Imran?
Once a blue-eyed boy, Imran Khan has been a thorn in the eye of the Pakistan Army. Despite the crushing blow to the Imran Khan-led PTI, a substantive section of the party cadre has remained intact behind their jailed leader. Spearheaded by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa CM Ali Ameen Gandapur, the party still continues to be up in arms with the Pakistan Army-backed Shehbaz Sharif government.
In the meantime, the National elections, conducted earlier this year, gave clear intentions that the Pakistan army’s efforts in crushing the PTI have failed.
The elections were followed by massive public protests in Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Pakistani-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (POJK). The Baloch Yakjehti Committee’s protests against enforced disappearances, the December 2023 march to Islamabad, and the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement’s advocacy exposed the Army’s ties with terrorist groups and its neglect of essential amenities in these regions.
In every region, a significant segment of the population believes the Pakistan Army is the root cause of many issues. Sensing that the public support has not fizzled out for Khan, the Pakistan Army, in the recent past, has dropped hints of a thaw with the jailed PTI leader.
A day after Bushra Bibi got relief, Imran Khan’s two sisters – Aleema Khan and Uzma Khan, were released from the Jhelum District Jail on Friday after a judge granted them bail. They were arrested last month when they reached Islamabad in March led by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa CM Ali Gandapur to demand the release of their brother.
The major relief for the wife and sisters of Khan has fueled speculations that senior PTI leaders like former Foreign Affairs Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi could be next in line to be released from jail, if the current trend of a thaw between the Pakistan Army and Imran Khan-led PTI continues. The progress on that line will then make Khan’s release imminent.
Nonetheless, Bushra Bibi’s release also brings renewed hope to the PTI ranks, which, despite winning seats as independents, has faced fragmentation. One major cause has been the unwarranted cases stemming from the May 9 protests. As Imran Khan has been acquitted in most of those cases, Bushra Bibi’s release may create an environment conducive to PTI’s reunification.
It will be worth watching to see if Imran Khan gets bail. The broader question remains: what is the future of Pakistani citizens when such a malicious power struggle is at play, with none other than the Pakistan Army at its center?