Jail Staff Take Home Prayer Mat Used By Imran Khan, Claims Mazhar Barlas

Two officers fought over the chair Imran Khan sat on at Attock Jail, the analyst said. LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 28th Oct, 2026) Analyst and columnist Mazhar Barlas says the charisma of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf founder Imran Khan has deeply influenced not only the public but also prison staff and government officials. Despite cameras and strict restrictions inside the prison, staff members reportedly appear to express their devotion to Imran Khan, even under compulsion. Speaking in anchorperson Asma Chaudhry's vlog, Mazhar Barlas revealed that prison staff consider the prayer mat used by Imran Khan for prayers extremely sacred and take it to their homes for safekeeping. He said that when Imran Khan was imprisoned at Attock Jail for the first time, the jail superintendent and deputy superintendent reportedly quarrelled over the chair on which he had sat. He claimed that the deputy superintendent said the chair had been brought from his home. The chair is now reportedly being preserved by his children, who have placed Imran Khan's photograph on it and decorated it with ribbons, while no one is allowed to sit on it. He said that no leader as brave as Imran Khan had emerged in the five-hundred-year history of the Indian subcontinent and that he is the heartbeat of millions of Pakistanis. Mazhar Barlas said serious questions were also being raised about the administrative and financial policies of provincial governments, particularly in Punjab. For example, the alleged setting of a target involving billions of rupees in fines for the traffic police in the recent budget has drawn strong criticism, reportedly because the aim is to collect revenue by placing a financial burden on the public. Fines are meant to ensure enforcement of the law, not to meet revenue targets, he said, adding that this has caused considerable unease among ordinary citizens. He said discussions also continued regarding past judicial and political decisions and old traditions, including how political figures and influential families had used national institutions for their own interests. Historical references also indicate how deals over vested interests were allegedly made between important judicial figures and rulers in the past. Their effects remain clearly visible in the country's politics and judicial system, he said. Unless merit, the rule of law and genuine democracy are promoted in the country, public problems will not be resolved and there will be little hope of improving the system.