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

A man views a computer screen displaying the AI-crafted speech of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, to call for votes ahead of the general elections in Karachi, Pakistan February 2, 2024. (REUTERS)
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Updated 05 February 2024
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How Imran Khan is campaigning from jail in Pakistan: AI and covert canvassing

  • Khan has been in prison since August and numerous members of his party are behind bars or on the run from criminal, terrorism charges
  • His party is deploying two-pronged strategy of secretive campaigning, often led by female teacher volunteers and generative AI technology

LAHORE/KARACHI: Days before Pakistan’s Feb. 8 election, 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 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.”
Asghar said the face and hair coverings — which not all the women usually wore — made it easier for them to canvass without attracting unwanted attention. The public perceives women as non-threatening, she said, making it less likely their campaigning would lead to conflict.
The PTI is deploying a two-pronged campaign strategy of secretive campaigning, often led by female teacher volunteers, and generative AI technology, according to interviews with fifteen of its candidates and supporters, as well as political analysts and IT experts.
The party has used generative AI to create footage of Khan, its founder, reading speeches he conveyed to lawyers from his prison cell, urging supporters to turn out on election day. It has organized online rallies on social media that have been watched by several hundred thousand people at a time, according to YouTube data. Khan, who was barred by a court from holding political office last year, is not the first Pakistani leader to be imprisoned during a campaign. But PTI’s ability to tap into new technology and the former cricketer’s personal popularity have kept him in the headlines.
ONE-MAN SHOW?
Khan was sentenced to ten years imprisonment on Jan. 30 for leaking state secrets. He then received a 14-year sentence on Wednesday for illegally selling state gifts. And on Saturday, he was sentenced to seven years for unlawful marriage. He denies all charges and his lawyers say they plan to appeal. The 71-year-old won the last election, in 2018, but was ousted in 2022 after falling out with the country’s powerful military, which PTI has accused of trying to hound it out of existence.
The military denies the allegations and interim Information Minister Murtaza Solangi told Reuters that PTI was only stopped from campaigning when it did not have the required permits or if supporters clashed with law enforcement.
Usman Anwar, police chief of Punjab, Pakistan’s most populous province, said his force’s job was to provide security: “We have not and will not interfere in any political process.”
Rights groups and rival politicians have accused Khan of undermining democratic norms when in power by cracking down on media and persecuting his opponents through the same anti-graft tribunal that sentenced him on Wednesday.
PTI and Khan have called the allegations baseless.




Supporters of former Prime Minister Imran Khan wave flags during a rally ahead of the general elections in Lahore, Pakistan January 28, 2024. (REUTERS)

No reliable polling is publicly available but PTI’s workers and independent analysts such as Madiha Afzal of the US-based Brookings Institution think-tank say Khan maintains strong support, especially among the nation’s large youth population. Nonetheless, restrictions are likely to limit PTI’s ability to compete with rivals such as the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), led by the frontrunner, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, said Afzal. Sharif returned from exile late last year and his corruption convictions and lifetime ban from politics were recently overturned by the Supreme Court.
A PML-N spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
“The major structural barriers to the PTI in this election ... make it likely that the party will lose despite its popularity,” said Afzal, adding that Khan’s dedicated supporters meant it was too early to write off the party entirely.
PTI has not said who it will put forward as prime minister if it is victorious on Feb. 8.
VIRTUAL CAMPAIGN
The restrictions on the party have forced it to prioritize digital campaigning, said PTI’s US-based social media lead Jibran Ilyas, who like the party’s other digital leaders is based abroad. Though only about half of Pakistan’s 240 million people have smartphones and Internet connectivity is patchy, PTI hopes that it can reach enough young people to impact the election. The voting age is 18 and more than two-thirds of the electorate is under 45.
Central to this strategy is reminding people who may have voted for PTI due to its famous founder that it is still Khan’s party.
“We have never had a political rally without Imran Khan so when we were planning the online rally, we wanted to find a way to present him to the people,” Ilyas said.
His team used generative AI software from US startup ElevenLabs to create three clips of the former premier delivering speeches. Khan’s lawyers passed messages between PTI and its founder during jailhouse visits and the party wrote the speeches off his notes.
“We debated the misuse potential and decided to stick with audio AI only,” Ilyas said.




Women supporters of former Prime Minister Imran Khan hold flags during a rally ahead of the general elections in Lahore, Pakistan January 28, 2024. (REUTERS)

ElevenLabs didn’t immediately return a request for comment. PTI also created an app that allows Facebook and WhatsApp users to find the party’s candidate in their constituency. Many voters had identified PTI with its cricket bat electoral symbol but the electoral commission recently banned PTI from using it on the technical grounds that it did not hold an internal leadership election. The decision means the PTI candidates are running without official party affiliation.
The PTI has also held online rallies in an attempt to recreate jalsas, the massive Urdu-language rallies that take place in parks and major intersections nationwide.
But voters have had trouble accessing the rallies. Since Khan’s first arrest in May, the Netblocks global Internet monitor found six disruptions of access to social media platforms including YouTube, X and Facebook at times when the PTI was holding virtual jalsas.
Information minister Solangi said the national disruptions were due to technical reasons unrelated to PTI’s campaign. Pakistan’s IT ministry and telecommunications authority did not return requests for comment.
POLICE PRESENCE
Despite PTI’s online reach, elections in Pakistan — whose voters live in teeming port cities, vast desert and some of the world’s highest mountains ranges — depend on election workers generating turnout.
Banners and posters for parties such as PML-N are a common sight nationwide, but Reuters reporters in Karachi and Lahore — cumulatively home to more than 30 million people — saw almost no PTI banners.
Lahore-based PTI organizer Naveed Gul said that posters were often taken down by authorities shortly after being put up, an accusation that Punjab police chief Anwar called “malicious.” Reuters could not independently verify that PTI party material was taken down.
The ongoing crackdown boiled over on Jan. 28, when PTI planned to hold nationwide rallies on a cool Sunday morning.
But in Karachi, Pakistan’s most populous city, police and Khan’s backers violently clashed. Law enforcement fired tear gas shells, according to television footage. A police spokesperson said 72 arrests were made in the three days after the clashes.
In Lahore, hundreds of PTI workers and supporters gathered at the home of Khan’s lead lawyer, Salman Akram Raja, who is also a PTI legislative candidate. As he emerged from his house, Reuters reporters saw him met by a large police contingent.
Raja said that he was threatened with detention if he did not cancel the planned rally, and Reuters reporters heard a police official telling him they had “orders from high ups.” Asked about the incident, police chief Anwar said he would hold an inquiry if a formal complaint was made.
After consulting with his aides, Raja told supporters to disperse peacefully. He told Reuters that it was important to be free from detention and able to campaign, even in a limited way, in the immediate run-up to the election.
“Each time we go out to campaign, there is fear hanging over our most candidates,” he said. “Everybody feels that each day of campaign ... is a war.”


Pakistan PM to visit Saudi Arabia Monday, reaffirm support for Palestine at international conference

Updated 11 sec ago
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Pakistan PM to visit Saudi Arabia Monday, reaffirm support for Palestine at international conference

  • Arab-Islamic Summit in Riyadh will bring together heads of state and governments from Muslim countries
  • Visit will be Sharif’s second trip to the kingdom within days, as both sides bolster economic collaboration

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will visit Saudi Arabia next week to attend the second Arab-Islamic Summit in Riyadh, the foreign office said on Thursday, where he will emphasize Pakistan’s unwavering support for Palestine.
The visit marks Sharif’s second trip to the kingdom within days, as Pakistan and Saudi Arabia strengthen economic ties, having recently signed 34 memoranda of understanding and agreements totaling $2.8 billion.
The summit, convened at Saudi Arabia’s initiative, will address escalating tensions in the Middle East, where Israel’s military operations in Gaza and Lebanon have intensified, while tensions between Iran and Tel Aviv have led to recent missile exchanges.
Foreign office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch noted in her weekly briefing that the summit builds on the extraordinary gathering held on November 11, 2023, focused on Gaza and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
“Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif will visit the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to participate in the second joint Arab-Islamic Summit being held in Riyadh on 11th of November,” she said.
“Heads of state and government and senior officials from Arab League and OIC [Organization of Islamic Cooperation] member countries are expected to participate in the summit,” she added. “The prime minister will reiterate Pakistan’s full support for the Palestinian cause, calling for an immediate end to the genocide in Gaza.”
Sharif is expected to advocate for an urgent, unconditional ceasefire and a halt to Israeli military actions that threaten Middle Eastern security, according to the spokesperson.
Pakistan will also push for international protection for Palestinians and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state based on the June 4, 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
“On the sidelines of the summit,” Baloch continued, “the prime minister is expected to hold bilateral meetings with leaders from other Arab League and OIC member states.”
Amid ongoing Middle Eastern conflicts, Pakistan has dispatched over a dozen relief consignments to Gaza and Lebanon and provided diplomatic support, urging the international community to hold Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government accountable for its actions in the region.


Pakistan’s northwestern province urges public to expose proxy ownership, help curb tax evasion

Updated 07 November 2024
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Pakistan’s northwestern province urges public to expose proxy ownership, help curb tax evasion

  • KP chief minister promises 40 percent share to people for identifying ‘benami’ properties in the province
  • CM Gandapur says while addressing a seminar his administration wants to introduce a whistleblower law

PESHAWAR: In an effort to document the economy and broaden the tax net, the chief minister of northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province announced Wednesday that attractive rewards would be offered to whistleblowers who assist the government in identifying instances of proxy ownership, locally known as benami properties, in the province.
Benami properties are assets registered under another person’s name to disguise the actual owner’s identity, often used to conceal movable or immovable assets for tax evasion or other purposes.
Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur outlined his plan to introduce a whistleblower law at a seminar on combating drugs in Peshawar aimed at rooting out corruption from the province.
“Anyone providing information in helping the government identify a benami property will get 40 percent share,” he said.
Gandapur maintained people should help out the government, adding they should benefit from the opportunity that his administration was providing.
Pakistan’s tax collection body, the Federal Board of Revenue, announced in 2019 it would confiscate vehicles and properties with proxy ownership, as well as fictitious bank accounts.
The chief minister said public cooperation was crucial to the government, which could not advance without their support.
He also spoke out against the widespread availability and use of drugs in the province.
“The KP government has a zero-tolerance policy on drugs, and we have issued clear directives to relevant departments and institutions to crack down on the drug trade,” he added.
He stressed the government should deal sternly with those involved in drug trafficking. Gandapur described the drug trade as a heinous crime and vowed to impose exemplary punishment on those engaged in it.
“During our tenure, we have rehabilitated 2,400 drug users, including individuals from other provinces and even Afghan nationals,” he said, adding that the rehabilitation program would continue until drug users take control of their lives and become responsible citizens.


Bomb and mortar attacks in northwest Pakistan kill four security officers, two schoolchildren

Updated 07 November 2024
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Bomb and mortar attacks in northwest Pakistan kill four security officers, two schoolchildren

  • Pakistan has launched dozens of operations against militants, but they continue to carry out attacks
  • The bomb attack took place in South Waziristan while the children were killed by a mortar in Tirah valley

PESHAWAR: A roadside bomb exploded near a vehicle carrying security forces in northwestern Pakistan, killing four officers and wounding five others, officials said Thursday, while two schoolchildren also lost their lives when a mortar exploded nearby elsewhere in the region.

The roadside bombing happened Wednesday in South Waziristan district, a former stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban, local police officer Dilawar Khan said.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, has stepped up its assaults in the region since its ally the Afghan Taliban seized power in neighboring Afghanistan in 2021.

Later the same day, a mortar fired by insurgents landed near a road in the Tirah valley in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Wednesday, killing two schoolchildren who was going to school on foot, police said.

The Pakistani military has launched dozens of operations against the Pakistani Taliban and other insurgents in South Waziristan and other former tribal regions nearby, but the militants continue to carry out frequent attacks.

On Thursday, Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi met with Chinese ambassador Jiang Zaidong in Islamabad to brief him about an investigation into an attack Tuesday in which a guard shot and wounded two Chinese nationals at a textile mill in the port city of Karachi, allegedly over a private dispute.

China has frequently demanded better security for its nationals who are in Pakistan to work for Beijing’s multibillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative.


Pakistan condemns Israeli efforts against operations of UN agency for Palestinian refugees

Updated 07 November 2024
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Pakistan condemns Israeli efforts against operations of UN agency for Palestinian refugees

  • Israel’s parliament voted last month to ban UNRWA from operating within Israel and occupied East Jerusalem
  • Almost all of Gaza’s population of more than two million people are dependent on aid and services from UNRWA

ISLAMABAD: Acting Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations, Ambassador Usman Jadoon, has “strongly condemned” Israel’s attempts to dismantle the operations of the UN relief agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), calling it a part of Israel’s “genocidal campaign” against the people of Palestine.

Israel’s parliament voted last month to ban the UNRWA from operating within Israel and occupied East Jerusalem, crippling its ability to work in Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Almost all of Gaza’s population of more than two million people are dependent on aid and services from the agency.

The move has faced widespread condemnation, with UNRWA warning the new law could see aid supply chains “fall apart” in the coming weeks. Israel has defended the move, repeating its allegation that a number of the agency’s staff were involved in Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks last year, which killed 1,200 people.

“The adoption of the law by the Israeli parliament [is] a flagrant violation of the UN Charter, international law, provisional measures set by the International Court of Justice, and the ICJ’s advisory opinion issued on July 19,” Jadoon said while speaking at a UN General Assembly meeting, calling on the international community, in particular the UN Security Council, to hold Israel accountable for its actions and ensure unimpeded operations of UNRWA.

Jadoon demanded a stop to the “demonization and delegitimization” of UNRWA.

“By targeting the UN relief agency for Palestinian refugees, Israel not only obstructs vital humanitarian assistance but also threatens the collective effort to uphold the Palestinian people’s identity, rights and aspirations for justice and peace,” Jadoon added.

Founded in 1949, UNRWA works in Gaza, the West Bank, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan, initially caring for the 700,000 Palestinians who were forced from or fled their homes after the creation of the state of Israel. Over the decades, the agency has grown to become the biggest UN agency operating in Gaza.

Since the war in Gaza began in October last year, the agency says it has distributed food parcels to almost 1.9 million people and also offered nearly six million medical consultations across the enclave over the course of the conflict.

More than 200 UNRWA staff have been killed in Israeli attacks since October 2023 in the course of those duties, according to the agency.
 


Pakistan, China to form joint security strategy following attack on Chinese workers in Karachi

Updated 07 November 2024
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Pakistan, China to form joint security strategy following attack on Chinese workers in Karachi

  • Mohsin Naqvi says ensuring the safety of Chinese citizens and projects is Pakistan’s top priority
  • Chinese envoy maintains Beijing is ready to enhance bilateral security cooperation with Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and China agreed on Thursday to develop a joint security strategy, following an incident where two Chinese nationals suffered gunshot wounds in an attack by a security guard at a factory in Karachi, an official statement said.
An unknown number of Chinese nationals work in Pakistan, primarily as part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a multibillion-dollar energy, infrastructure development, and regional connectivity initiative.
Chinese workers have increasingly come under attack in Pakistan in recent years, with notable incidents including a suicide bombing in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province that killed five Chinese engineers in March 2024 and an October blast near Karachi’s airport that left two other Chinese nationals dead.
The latest shooting occurred earlier this week, when a Pakistani security guard opened fire at a factory in Karachi, wounding two Chinese employees.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi met with Chinese Ambassador Jiang Zaidong to discuss the situation and Pakistan’s response to the rising security risks faced by Chinese nationals.
“We fully agree with China’s vision of integrating development and security,” he was quoted as saying in a statement released by his office after the meeting. “Ensuring the safety of Chinese citizens and projects is our top priority. Those involved in the incident will be brought to justice.”
The interior ministry informed the two officials “agreed to develop a joint strategy to prevent such incidents in the future.”
Ambassador Jiang also underscored the need for a stable environment for ongoing bilateral cooperation and expressed his country’s readiness to strengthen bilateral security ties.
“China is ready to enhance bilateral security cooperation and build the capacities of Pakistani institutions,” he said.
Attacks on Chinese nationals have put the bilateral relations between both states under increasing stress, with the Chinese envoy previously calling such incidents “unacceptable” publicly.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif personally visited the Chinese embassy in Islamabad on Wednesday to offer sympathies to the families of the Chinese who got injured in the recent shooting incident.
Pakistan and China have been discussing to upgrade CPEC in recent months, hoping to launch yet another phase marked by enhanced business-to-business relationships and further Chinese investment in the country.