Currently imprisoned former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for the second time. This year, members of the Pakistan World Alliance (PWA), an advocacy group founded last December, announced Khan’s nomination for his work for human rights and democracy in Pakistan.
“We are pleased to announce on behalf of the Partiet Centrum that former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for his work for human rights and democracy in Pakistan, in alliance with a person with the right to nominate,” the Partiet Centrum said in a statement. Khan’s nomination was announced on Monday by the PWA advisory group, which is part of the Norwegian political party Partiet Centrum.
In 2019, Khan was nominated for the prestigious award for his alleged efforts to escalate tensions with India, and a resolution was tabled in the Pakistani parliament seeking his approval. The resolution said Khan’s decision to release Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, an Indian Air Force pilot who was in custody when his plane was shot down over Pakistani territory during the Balakot airstrikes in February 2019, had escalated hostilities between Pakistan and India.
However, Khan said he was not worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize and wrote in X, “The person who is worthy of this will be the one who resolves the Kashmir dispute in accordance with the wishes of the Kashmiri people and paves the way for peace and human development in the subcontinent.”
The founder and former head of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is currently serving multiple prison sentences for convictions in multiple cases. Khan has been held in Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail since mid-2023. The PTI has clashed with the federal government since the general elections in February 2024, and protests have erupted in the country several times.
In January this year, Khan was sentenced to 14 years in prison in a case related to abuse of authority and corruption.
Of the multiple cases Khan was involved in, three were overturned or suspended by the courts, involving the sale of state gifts, the disclosure of state secrets, and illegal marriage.
Countless nominations pile up before the Norwegian Nobel Committee, which selects the winner through an eight-month-long process.
