ISLAMABAD: After some media reports suggested that imprisoned Imran Khan’s article published by The Economist was an AI creation, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) elucidated that it was a genuinely authored opinion piece of the party founder.
The former ruling party claimed that the said article in the UK publication was originally authored by Khan, without any “use of artificial means including artificial intelligence”.
In an official statement on X, the former ruling party responded to the local media reports questioning the actual mode of publication of the incarcerated PTI founder’s column in a foreign publication.
It read: “It is clarified that the news/reports carried by local media on the contents and mode of publication of an article by the PTI Chairman-for-life in a foreign publication The Economist does not reflect the actual state of facts regarding the matter.”
“The said piece has been authored by the PTI Chairman-for-life, Imran Khan, vindictively incarcerated at Central Jail, Rawalpindi. In no way, this has been compiled through the use of artificial means including artificial intelligence,” it added.
The PTI, which rose to power after the 2018 general election, urged the local media to “present the facts and carry this clarification in its true letter and spirit by publishing it at same prominent place in their upcoming editions”.
Days after the jailed former premier's article in the UK publication caused a furor, Khan told journalists that he had dictated the column.
“I take full responsibility for the article published in The Economist recently,” he said in an informal conversation with reporters in the courtroom at Adiala Jail, Rawalpindi.
When asked whether he wrote that article, he replied in the affirmative and clarified that he had dictated it.
He also shared that “next week” his party will share his fresh “speech” on “social media”.
When asked whether that speech would be an audio or a video, Khan replied: “Today is an era of artificial intelligence.”
The ousted prime minister, who was removed from power via a no-confidence motion in April 2022, is currently incarcerated in the Adiala jail.
In the article, Khan lamented the lack of a level-playing field for his party, alleging that the establishment is not ready to provide one, as the general election is scheduled to be held on February 8.
He added that the polls conducted in such circumstances would be "farce".
Khan has stuck to his cipher narrative in the piece, writing: "I believe that the American official’s message was to the effect of: pull the plug on Khan’s prime ministership through a vote of no confidence, or else”.
He adds that "within weeks our government was toppled" and he discovered that former army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa had "been working on our allies and parliamentary backbenchers for several months to move against us".
Ever since its publication, the federal and Punjab governments claim it was a "ghost article".
While Punjab’s jail authorities are investigating the matter, the real question is: do Pakistan’s prison rules allow an inmate to write a letter or article to any publication (national or international)? Can a prisoner be actively involved in politics while in prison? What do the Pakistan Prison Rules 1978 say about the rights of prisoners, their involvement in politics, or if they can write to or for a foreign publication?
Talking to The News, caretaker Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Murtaza Solangi said that Adiala Jail comes under the Punjab government’s jurisdiction, and as such the provincial government must be investigating this matter.
Saying that he believes this was a “ghost article”, the caretaker minister added, “The federal government will approach The Economist and write [to] them that if Imran Khan sends an article/letter following due process and the jail manual then it is publishable. But according to my information, he hasn’t written any such article, and the foreign publication has misled its readers. We are working on it and will soon write a letter to The Economist.”
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