Imagine an aged, undernourished individual spending much of the 24 hours allotted to him by the clock in a gloomy cell. The lack of proper lighting is double cruel because Imran has lost 90% of sight in one of his eyes and 30% in the other. He navigates his way by groping around what may turn out to be his tomb, his cell in a prison in Pakistan.

The ill-treatment of Imran Khan by a regime controlled by Field Marshal Asim Munir resembles the most dystopian nightmares of storytellers. Basking in the support from both CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping and President Donald Trump of the US, Munir has acquired a perception of omnipotence about him visa-vis what he can get away with in Pakistan. Even US Vice-President J.D. Vance, among the most intellectually gifted of world leaders, flattered Munir by saying that his two most favourite people were his wife Usha and Field Marshal Munir. The Field Marshal took the diplomatic effort by Vance to secure the compliance of Munir at face value, and hugged him passionately the next time he met Vance. The US Vice-President visibly recoiled from the expression of affection of Munir, although that body language was lost on the self-declared Field Marshal.

None of the potentates who meet Munir ever discuss the plight of Imran Khan, who has been forgotten by much of the world. However, within Pakistan Imran still has a substantial following, many of whom keep their preference secret. Should they become aware of the conditions under which Imran Khan is being mistreated, no police force will be enough to stop the riots that will break out. Stories are deliberately floated by GHQ Islamabad about the "many comforts enjoyed by Imran Khan in prison", all of which is fiction. The man is going through an ordeal by fire every day just to stay alive, but his tenacity has not dimmed. Braving the torture, he refuses to kowtow to the Pakistan army in the way the families of the Bhuttos and the Sharifs have.

They each know the fatal consequences of defying the men in Khaki. Benazir was shot dead as soon as she began to say that she believed that she should stand by her father's promise to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi that the Line of Control would be recognized by Pakistan as the international border (IB). That there was no other way to achieve peace with India, a nightmare for the Pakistan Army, which swallows up 40% of state funds "to protect Pakistan against foe India".

Imran Khan still believes that Pakistan can remain united. However, the reality is that the people of the country would be much better off were there to be a partition of Pakistan into Sindh, Pashtunistan (which could merge with the Pashtun areas of Afghanistan), Balochistan and West Punjab. Meanwhile, Imran must be repenting the error he made by divorcing Jemima, who loved him, for a political career. Jemima and her two sons are distraught over the fate of their father but are helpless to do anything about it, as Imran and Jemima are divorced.

It is only if international public opinion were to get voluble about the situation of Imran Khan that there is some hope of his release and exile. However, to the international media, filled as it is with other news, there is no space for the travails of Imran Khan. He moves about his cell each day, becoming more frail by the day, his steps uncertain and shaky. And yet Imran remains defiant, unwilling to kiss the hem of the uniform of Field Marshal Asim Munir in the way the Sharifs and the Bhuttos have.

In the beginning of his political career, Imran was a protege of the army generals in Pakistan, but soon after becoming Prime Minister, saw that he was expected to act as a puppet in the control of the men in khaki. His Pashtun spirit rebelled at such servitude and he began to show his independence, after which he was quickly removed from office by the puppeteers. Soon afterwards began the path of torture that was laid for him, prison and conditions worsening by the season.

Those who truly care for democracy need to understand that Pakistan as a construct was an artificial entity, built on the ridiculous premise that Hindus and Muslims are two nations rather than a single people united by nationality and many shared common values. The army seeks to wipe out all traces of the influence of Imran Khan in Pakistan, but in more and more houses, the conversation is turning to Imran and about the injustice done to him.

The fate of Imran Khan shows why the people of Sindh, Balochistan and Pashtunistan seek freedom from GHQ Islamabad. It also shows the myopic vision of the international media, which needs to direct the spotlight towards a living martyr, the brutalised but unbowed former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan and to the rebellions in the provinces. Only a partitioned Pakistan can ensure peace with India, a country the generals in Pakistan use as their excuse for impoverishing the people to feed their coffers.