Salman Rushdie attack was unjustifiable, says Pakistan’s Imran Khan

In a wide-ranging Guardian interview, the former prime minister says he understands anger The Satanic Verses created ‘but you can’t justify what happened’

Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan has condemned the attack on Salman Rushdie, describing it as “terrible” and “sad”, and saying that while the anger of the Islamic world at Rushdie’s book The Satanic Verses was understandable, it could not justify the assault.

Khan also said he expected Afghan women to “assert their rights” in the face of Taliban restrictions in a Guardian interview in which he sought to moderate his reputation as a firebrand. He is fighting for his political survival after being ousted from office in April. Khan says his staff and followers are being persecuted and intimidated and he is battling eight-year-old charges of illicit campaign financing that could lead to him being banned from politics.

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Pakistan ‘inches away’ from civil unrest after ousting of Imran Khan

Former PM is accused of creating wave of public anger that could prove difficult to control

On Tuesday, two days after Imran Khan had been ousted as Pakistan’s prime minister in a dramatic no-confidence vote, Noor Alam Khan – a politician and former member of Khan’s party – was eating dinner at a restaurant when he was confronted by another diner.

The man began shouting “traitor”, “American agent” and “turncoat” and then lunged over to punch Khan, who had been attempting to ignore him. In the middle of the restaurant, the politician and the angry voter began to brawl, with food and tables going flying.

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Imran Khan threatened to impose martial law, documents suggests

Pakistan’s now ousted PM appeared to give opposition ultimatum: agree to fresh elections or I’ll bring in army

Imran Khan, who was ousted as Pakistan’s prime minister on Saturday, threatened to implement martial law rather than hand over power to the opposition, according to documents seen by the Guardian.

According to security officials and opposition figures, he attempted several moves to hold on to power in the days and hours leading up to the no-confidence vote. However, he failed to stop it happening, and in the final minutes before midnight on Saturday, he was ousted from office.

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Pakistan parliament ousts Imran Khan in last-minute vote

Pakistan’s prime minister found to have broken the law by attempting to stop vote going ahead

Pakistan’s prime minister, Imran Khan, has lost a no-confidence vote in parliament after a dramatic week in which he violated the constitution in an attempt to stop the move going ahead.

Khan, the former premier cricketer turned pious Islamist politician, has been fighting for his political life for weeks, after losing his parliamentary majority.

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Pakistan court orders Imran Khan confidence vote to go ahead

Supreme court rules PM acted unconstitutionally in dissolving parliament before confidence vote

Pakistan’s supreme court has dealt a devastating blow to the prime minister, Imran Khan, by ruling that he acted unconstitutionally in dissolving parliament prior to a confidence vote he was expected to lose, and ordering the vote to go ahead this weekend.

In the conclusion to a hearing that has gripped Pakistan for the past four days, the chief justice of Pakistan, Umar Ata Bandial, said Khan had violated the law in his attempt to stop the vote, which was widely expected to oust him.

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Pakistan’s supreme court delays verdict on fate of Imran Khan

Country remains in political turmoil as it awaits ruling on PM’s move to dissolve parliament and call election

Pakistan remains without a government and engulfed in political turmoil after the supreme court delayed its verdict on whether the prime minister, Imran Khan, had violated the constitution by dissolving parliament rather than face a no-confidence vote.

Khan’s decision to call for parliament to be dissolved on Sunday, rather than allow a no-confidence vote on his premiership that was expected to oust him, had been justified by him on the basis that it was an alleged “foreign conspiracy” led by the west against his government.

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Imran Khan appears to want to keep power in Pakistan at any cost

Prime minister cuts an increasingly isolated figure – and his dramatic dissolution of parliament is a very risky move

Imran Khan’s dramatic move to dissolve Pakistan’s parliament on Sunday morning, ahead of a vote that almost certainly would have removed him from office, reads to many like the desperate actions of a prime minister who will try to hold on to power at any cost.

While his repeated allegations of a “foreign conspiracy” and pressure from the US being behind the no-confidence vote has played well to his diehard supporters, most of whom are vehemently opposed to the west, it is still a very risky move for Khan.

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Pakistan’s PM calls for early election after vote of no confidence thrown out

Imran Khan alleges ‘foreign conspiracy’ to topple his government as US denies involvement

Pakistan is on the brink of a constitutional crisis and the prime minister, Imran Khan, is facing accusations of treason after he dissolved parliament and called fresh elections in order to block a no-confidence vote that was expected to remove him from power.

The former superstar cricketer turned politician stunned the country after he took the dramatic action of dissolving the legislature prior to a parliamentary vote that could have stripped him of his prime ministership.

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Imran Khan claims US threatened him and wants him ousted as Pakistan PM

Khan makes claims in live televised address as no-confidence vote debate begins in parliament

Pakistan’s embattled prime minister, Imran Khan, has claimed that the US “threatened” him and is seeking his removal from office as he faces a no-confidence vote in the coming days that could mean the end of his premiership.

Khan, who opposition parties accuse of bad governance and economic incompetence, had claimed at a rally on Sunday he had a letter that showed a foreign country was conspiring against him and his political opponents working at its behest.

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Pakistan PM Imran Khan loses support days before no-confidence vote

Key coalition partner has switched allegiance ahead of a parliamentary no-confidence vote this weekend

Imran Khan’s future as prime minister of Pakistan is looking increasingly in doubt after a key coalition partner switched allegiance ahead of a parliamentary no-confidence vote this weekend.

The former cricketer was expected to address the country in the evening, as weeks of political turmoil come to a head – including allegations of foreign interference.

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‘No one will marry your children,’ Pakistan PM warns MPs ahead of no-confidence vote

Imran Khan cajoles and threatens his own and opposition lawmakers on eve of vote

With a vote of no-confidence looming over his government, Pakistan’s prime minister, Imran Khan, warned those planning to vote against him that they risk social disgrace, and that “no one will marry your children”.

The no-confidence vote is expected to be tabled on Friday 25 March, backed by a coalition of politicians who accuse Khan of bad governance and economic incompetence. In January inflation reached 13% and the cost of fuel and food rocketed.

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Pakistani PM steps up criticism of west as confidence vote looms

Imran Khan seeks to bolster domestic support amid threat from opposition coalition and cooling relations with military

Addressing the crowds at a public rally in Punjab last week, Pakistan’s prime minister was on the attack. Western leaders, Imran Khan said, treated Pakistan as their “slave” and presumed that “whatever you say, we will do”.

Days before, it had been announced that Khan would be facing a vote of no confidence in parliament at the end of March, after more than 100 members of Pakistan’s united opposition successfully tabled a motion to oust him. The vote will take place on Friday 25 March.

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‘Imran Khan is crushing the poor’: anger rises as inflation grips Pakistan

Economic meltdown heaps pressure on Pakistani PM, with record inflation bringing threat of unrest

On Friday night, 27-year-old Asadullah, who sold old shoes on a cart, set himself on fire in the Pakistani city of Karachi.

Ghani, a relative, blamed the state of an economy where rampant inflation is hitting those least able to cope. In comments to local media, he said Asadullah used to get calls from his wife and parents asking him for money, but he could not afford to pay the rent and meet his own expenses and sending money back home was no longer possible.

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‘We will be homeless’: Lahore farmers accuse ‘mafia’ of land grab for new city

The futuristic Ravi Riverfront City development, championed by Imran Khan’s government, has been met with determined opposition

It has been called Pakistan’s answer to Dubai, a brand new multitrillion-rupee development of towering skyscrapers, futuristic domes and floating walkways.

But Ravi Riverfront City, described as the “world’s largest riverfront modern city” also faces accusations of rampant land grabs by prime minister Imran Khan’s government, which has championed the project. Hundreds of thousands of farmers who could never afford to live in the modern urban utopia are now at risk of eviction.

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Outrage after Pakistan PM Imran Khan blames rape crisis on women

Khan accused of being a ‘rape apologist’ after saying rise in attacks is down to women wearing ‘very few clothes’

Pakistan’s prime minister, Imran Khan, is facing backlash after he blamed victims of rape for wearing “very few clothes”.

The former cricket captain was questioned by the Axios journalist Jonathan Swan about the ongoing “rape epidemic” in Pakistan and responded by saying: “If a woman is wearing very few clothes it will have an impact on the man unless they are robots. It’s common sense.”

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‘A haven for free-thinkers’: Pakistan creatives mourn loss of progressive arts space

‘Tragic’ closure of Sabeen Mahmud’s community venue T2F in Karachi comes as PM Imran Khan accused of fostering censorship and intolerance

Danial Shah turned to Sabeen Mahmud, for help with his first photo exhibition when all other organisations refused to show his work. Shah’s photographs cover political and cultural issues, such as local elections and women’s rights. Some refused to work with him on political grounds, while others did not reply at all.

After a meeting at Mahmud’s community space, T2F, in Karachi, Pakistan’s biggest city, she agreed to host his exhibition. But Mahmud, a 40-year-old human rights activist who oversaw a programme of progressive arts at T2F, did not get to see Shah’s first exhibition. She was murdered a few months after their meeting.

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‘Worse day by day’: journalists speak out after Pakistani vlogger tortured

As Imran Khan’s government moves to outlaw virtually any criticism, media figures fear ‘darkest era’ of press freedom

Gathered before a solemn crowd, Hamid Mir, one of Pakistan’s best-known journalists, spoke defiantly. “Do not ever enter the homes of journalists again,” he said. “We don’t have tanks or guns like you, but we can tell the people of Pakistan about the stories that emerge from inside your homes.”

Mir may have been addressing journalists in Islamabad on Friday, but his words were not directed at them; they were a clear message to Pakistan’s all-powerful military establishment.

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‘Every year we dig mass graves’: the slaughter of Pakistan’s Hazara

Decades of persecution has left the Shia minority with little space left in its graveyards but prime minister Imran Khan is in no hurry to listen

Ahmed Shah had always dreamed of bigger things. Though just 17, the high school pupil had taken a job in the coalmines of Balochistan, Pakistan’s south-western province, one of the harshest, most dangerous working environments in the world. Shah was determined to earn enough to educate himself, so he could escape the tough life of the Hazara Shia community, the most persecuted minority in Pakistan.

Related: In Pakistan, tolerant Islamic voices are being silenced | William Dalrymple

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Pakistani government accused of ‘sabotaging’ rights watchdog

Islamabad high court orders government to fill vacant post at head of National Commission for Human Rights

The prime minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, and his government have been accused of trying to “sabotage” the country’s independent human rights watchdog to prevent accountability for mounting abuses and oppression.

Legislators, activists and lawyers told the Guardian that Khan’s government “punished” and immobilised Pakistan’s National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR) over reports that it had produced into human rights abuses and torture carried out by the military, which plays a powerful role in running the country.

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