PTI denies funding NYT ad, but backs it online

KARACHI/ISLAMABAD: The PTI has denied financing a widely circulated full-page advertisement in The New York Times calling for the release of former prime minister Imran Khan, even as the party’s official social media accounts and diaspora-linked supporters widely amplified the campaign online.

Though the party has denied financing the advertisement, the campaign was heavily promoted by PTI-linked accounts. PTI USA’s official X (formerly Twitter) handle shared a photo of the ad, stating: “The Pakistani diaspora community placed a full-page advertisement in the United States’ leading newspaper to raise awareness about Imran Khan’s arbitrary, politically motivated, and inhumane imprisonment.”

The main PTI account in Pakistan also retweeted several posts highlighting the ad, including one by political analyst Hussain Nadim, who wrote: “Their wish is to make Imran Khan irrelevant and forgotten; ours is to make sure it remains a wish.”

PTI Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram clarified the party’s position on Sunday amid growing speculation about the funding behind the ad, which appeared in the August 2 edition of the American newspaper.

“I talked to our party in the US and they denied having given the advertisement but said that [the]Pakistani diaspora, perhaps a doctors’ organisation, was behind it”, he told The News.

The advertisement, headlined ‘Free Imran Khan’, alleges that Imran Khan has been held in “unjust detention” for over 700 days and describes alleged inhumane conditions, solitary confinement and suppression of dissent. It calls on the US government to impose Global Magnitsky sanctions and support civilian supremacy in Pakistan.

PTI USA president Sajjad Burki appeared to endorse the campaign, tweeting: “Full page in The NY Times about Imran Khan’s illegal detention, horrible living conditions and demand for his release to the international community. Thanks to First Pakistan Global and the Pakistan American diaspora for their continuous support.”

The ad was placed by a group called First Pakistan Global, in collaboration with the Pakistani-American Diaspora, and appeared just two days ahead of the PTI’s planned nationwide protests on August 5.

Online, the ad sparked an intense debate on the funding behind it, with questions arising over how much the placement had cost -- users turning to AI chatbots and public ad rate sheets to estimate the price tag of a full-page ad in The New York Times, which can run into tens of thousands of dollars.

As supporters hailed the ad as a powerful tool to internationalise Imran Khan’s cause, critics pushed back. Veteran journalist Syed Talat Hussain tweeted: “From ‘Absolutely No America’ to ‘Ad-solutely Pls America’, PTI, Goldsmiths and Company have tried to swing, sway and manipulate public and policy sentiment to portray Imran as a victim. This too shall not go very far. Ps: It’s a paid Ad and NOT an Op-ed. And Trump hates NYT.”

The labelling of the ad as an “op-ed” by some supporters, too, became a point of contention. Critics emphasised that the placement was a paid advertisement and not an editorial endorsement by The New York Times.

Others have also argued that the ad’s appeal to the US government to intervene in Pakistan’s internal affairs undermines national sovereignty, a concern echoed by rival political factions, who have accused the PTI of seeking external validation instead of engaging in democratic political processes at home.

Meanwhile, the PTI organised protests across several American cities on Sunday, as well as in parts of Europe and the UK. In London, PTI supporters gathered outside 10 Downing Street, chanting slogans calling for Imran Khan’s release.