LONDON (Diya TV) – Imran Khan, the former Pakistani prime minister and cricket legend, plans to run for chancellor of Oxford University from his prison cell in Pakistan, his team told The Telegraph. Despite serving a ten-year jail sentence, Khan will participate in the online ballot for the prestigious position.
The chancellorship at Oxford University is now open after Lord Patten, the 80-year-old former governor of Hong Kong and Tory Party chairman, resigned after 21 years. For the first time, Oxford will conduct the election online, moving away from the traditional in-person voting that required graduates to dress in full academic regalia. Typically, university graduates, often politicians, hold the chancellor position.
Khan, currently jailed over accusations of inciting protests against the Pakistani military on May 9 last year, denies the charges. He studied Economics and Politics at Keble College, Oxford, in 1972 and captained the university’s cricket team. From 2005 to 2014, Khan served as the chancellor of Bradford University.
“Imran Khan will run for the chancellorship of Oxford University due to public demand,” Khan’s advisor on international media, Syed Zulfi Bukhari, told The Telegraph. “We will announce it publicly once we get the go-ahead from Khan and start the signature campaign.”
Despite his popularity, Khan faces stiff competition from former prime ministers Sir Tony Blair and Boris Johnson, making his victory unlikely.
Since his removal from power in 2022 through an army-backed vote of no-confidence, Pakistani authorities have filed over 150 cases against Khan, including charges of inciting violence. In a recent case, a Pakistani court overturned the conviction and seven-year sentences of Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, regarding their 2018 marriage’s legality. However, officials quickly filed new cases to keep him in prison.
On Tuesday, more than two dozen members of parliament called for Khan’s immediate release during a House of Lords Committee Room hearing, addressing the erosion of democratic norms in Pakistan and Khan’s “illegal incarceration.” The hearing was convened by Labour MP for Bradford West, Naz Shah, and Conservative Peer, Lord Hannan of Kingsclere.
The PTI reported that Pakistani dissident Azhar Mashwani, a close aide of Khan living in the UK, received threats that his parents would be abducted if he attended the House of Lords event. Mashwani was scheduled to speak on Tuesday.
Since Khan’s imprisonment in August 2023, which the UN described as having no legal basis, hundreds of his supporters have been arrested, and the government has indicated plans to ban his party, PTI.
The role of Oxford University chancellor is largely ceremonial. According to the university, the chancellor is “usually an eminent public figure elected for life” and presides over major ceremonies. This election will involve around 350,000 university convocation members voting online.
