Imran Khan’s former wife Jemima Goldsmith comes forward in his support after assassination attempt

Image by Sky News

Former wife of Imran Khan, Jemima Goldsmith, took to Twitter to express relief at Khan’s life not being under threat after the assassination attempt during a protest march in Pakistan on Thurday, 3 November.

The British screenwriter and producer also conveyed their sons’ gratitude to the man who caught the attacker. She wrote: “The news we dread… Thank God he’s okay. And thank you from his sons to the heroic man in the crowd who tackled the gunman.”

Dr Faisal Sultan, the former assistant to the prime minister on health, confirmed that the PTI chairman’s condition is stable. However, he told media persons outside the Shaukat Khanum Hospital in Lahore last week that “according to X-rays and scans, there are fragments of bullets in his legs and there’s a chip in his tibia shin bone,” The Dawn reported.

Khan had then been taken to the operation theatre for further evaluation and removal of bullet fragments, Sultan added.

Goldsmith proceeded to post a series of tweets praising a young man who shielded the ex-PM from the bullet, calling him a “hero”.

She also retweeted a video of another man who died trying to save Khan and conveyed her condolences to his family.

“Another hero, who tried to stop the gunman, who very sadly didn’t survive. Condolences to his family,” Khan’s ex-wife tweeted.

The suspect was soon caught by the police after the attack and in a video released by Pakistani police, he said that he wanted to kill the PTI chief as “he was misleading the public”.

“I thought of this as there was Azaan going on and on the other side, Imran Khan is taking out his container and making noise. My conscience did not approve of this. I decided this suddenly… I conspired against Imran Khan when he kicked off his long march from Lahore. I made up my mind that I will not leave him alive,” the shooter said in the video shared on social media.

Senior PTI leaders have suggested that the attack was carried out under the orders of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the country’s Interior Minister and a top ISI General.

Khan was ousted from his position as the prime minister of Pakistan in April this year after a vote of no confidence was carried out against him. Since then, he has been actively challenging the current government under Shehbaz Sharif, conducting protest marches and demanding snap elections in the country.