ISLAMABAD: Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan will continue his hunger strike in jail till Pakistan judges deposed under the emergency are reinstated, his Tehreek-e-Insaf party said on Tuesday.
Khan is currently being held in the Dera Ghazi Khan Jail in Punjab province, where he was taken shortly after he was arrested in Lahore last week.
"Our leader's hunger strike will continue till all the judges removed by President Pervez Musharraf after the imposition of emergency are restored," Tehreek-e-Insaf spokesman Ahmed Awais told.
"Imran Khan was treated very badly after his arrest and detained illegally. He has started the hunger strike as he had no other option for protesting against what is happening in the country," he said.
During a meeting with his sister Aleema Khan and brother-in-law Hafeezullah Khan Niazi yesterday, the former cricket captain said "sacrifices needed to be made" to resolve Pakistan's political crisis.
Khan, who is being held in solitary confinement, has refused to eat or drink since Sunday afternoon, his family said.
"He (Imran Khan) says it doesn't matter how he is being treated. The Musharraf government needs to realise that its time is up and if it means giving his life, he is ready for it," Aleema told reporters in Dera Ghazi Khan.
"Anybody familiar with Imran knows that physical discomfort can't break his resolve. If he sets his mind to do something he doesn't rest till it is achieved," she said.
Awais also said their party will boycott parliamentary polls held under the state of emergency. "In such conditions, free and fair polling will not be possible and we will not participate in the election."
The Tehreek-e-Insaf is also in touch with other opposition parties on the issue of boycotting the polls scheduled to be held on January 8.
"A decision on all parties boycotting the polls may be announced shortly," he said.
Khan's party does not have a very large base but he has been one of Musharraf's most vocal critics.
He was among the political leaders targeted for arrest hours after the emergency was imposed on November 3, but managed to escape from his home near Islamabad and went into hiding in Lahore.
Khan was arrested when he went to join a student protest in the Lahore University.
Khan's ex-wife Jemima Khan is leading protests in Britain demanding that he be freed and emergency lifted.
