‘Guerilla jalsa’: How Imran Khan is fighting Pakistan election from jail
Al Jazeera
Amid a crackdown against it, the former PM’s party is resorting to tech-driven, unconventional campaigning strategies.
Lahore, Pakistan — It was a eureka moment for Jibran Ilyas.
Like much of his party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Ilyas had been swamped by a sense of uncertainty. Their charismatic leader, former Prime Minister Imran Khan, has been in jail for months. Senior party officials are in hiding. Campaigning in any meaningful way for the February 8 elections to the National Assembly and provincial legislatures appeared difficult, if not near-impossible.
Then an idea struck the Chicago-based social media lead for PTI. It was December when Ilyas and his team sent across a message to Khan in jail, through the party’s lawyers.
“We saw the suppression against our party. We saw how depressed the people were. We saw some of our rallies scuttled by the authorities. It made us think, what if we try to hold a ‘virtual rally’ and dodge this ban on us,” Ilyas told Al Jazeera.
“He [Khan] was unclear what a virtual rally meant, and thought we would do something on Zoom. But we explained what we will do, that we will show testimonials from PTI chapters globally, and when we explained our idea, he gave the go-ahead,” the social media lead added.
