Pakistan's ex-PM Imran Khan turns 71 in jail

Pakistan's former prime minister and cricket legend Imran Khan turned 71 on Thursday while incarcerated in a high-security jail in Rawalpindi in a case related to the violation of the country's secret laws.

Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party observed the day by having small gatherings in different cities across the country.

In one of its posts on X, PTI shared a picture of a group of supporters celebrating the former premier's birthday at Lahore’s Liberty Chowk.

“Birthday wish for Chairman Imran Khan at Liberty Chowk, Lahore!,” it wrote.

A hashtag #HappyBirthdayImranKhan was also trending on X.

Google joined the celebration with a special doodle on the occasion, while the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) also wished the cricketer-turned-politician by sharing stats of his achievements in cricket.

“3,807 runs and 362 wickets in 88 Tests; 3,709 runs and 182 wickets in 175 ODIs; 1992 @cricketworldcup winning captain; Member of the PCB Hall of Fame...Happy birthday to Imran Khan!,” the PCB tweeted.

Khan was born on October 5, 1952, in Lahore where he studied and played cricket before joining the national team earning a cult-like following across the cricketing world.

His father was Ikramullah Khan Niazi and his mother was Shaukat Khanam. He belongs to the Niazi tribe of Pashtuns. The tribe lives in the Mianwali district of Punjab. Khan graduated from the UK's Oxford University.

In 1994, he laid the foundation stone of Shaukat Khanum Hospital for cancer treatment in the name of his mother. He has built two hospitals in Lahore and Peshawar and a third is under construction in Karachi.

Khan became prime minister on August 18, 2018, and served until he was ousted on April 9, 2022. He was arrested on August 5 this year in the Toshakhana corruption case and was later granted bail. However, he was again arrested in the cipher case and kept in Adiala jail in Rawalpindi, where he turned 71.

His party has claimed that Khan is facing more than 150 cases across the country since he was ousted last year and that efforts are being made to keep him in jail to prevent him from contesting elections in January next year.