'Mentally Ill': Pakistan Army Responds To Imran Khan's Criticism Of Field Marshal Asim Munir

Last Updated:December 06, 2025, 08:48 IST

Vowing to crush former Pakistan PM Imran Khan's "narrative", the army accused him of using family visits and social media posts to attack the armed forces and sow division

Pakistani Army spokesperson Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry (R) described former PM Imran Khan (L) as a "narcissist", whose political ambitions had grown extreme. (Image: AFP File/Sourced)

The Pakistani Army labelled former prime minister Imran Khan as “mentally ill" after he called Field Marshal Asim Munir “mentally unstable".

Vowing to crush Imran Khan’s “narrative", which the army called a “national security threat", it accused him of using family visits and social media posts to launch such attacks and sow division.

Army spokesperson Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry described Khan as a “narcissist" whose political ambitions had grown so extreme that he believed “if I am not in power, nothing else should exist".

“Imran Khan is mentally retarded and ill person. His ego and desires have grown to such an extent that he says if not me, then nothing," Lt Gen Chaudhry told a televised news conference. “You meet a convict and he creates a narrative against the army and its leadership.

His remarks came after one of his sisters met with him at a prison, and said her brother was angry at Field Marshal Asim Munir. In a message to Khan, he said the armed forces respect Pakistan’s political leadership but the army must be kept “away from your politics".

“The Pakistan armed forces will not allow you to incite the people against the army," he said.

Lt Gen Chaudhry also put the blame on Indian and Afghan media for “promoting Imran Khan’s negative narrative". He said people meeting him in prison were being used “to spread poison against the army".

“Attack and agenda against the army will be responded to. Uzma Khan (Imran Khan’s sister) is sitting before Indian media and telling the PTI (Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf) to attack," he said.

Talking about dialogue with Afghan militants and the Taliban, he said: “By the logic of this mentally disturbed individual, if India had attacked, he would have walked around with a begging bowl saying, ‘Come, let’s talk’," adding that, “Pakistan will fight against all odds and all fronts."

The army spokesperson’s rare remarks followed a post by Khan on X a day earlier in which he labelled Munir a “mentally unstable person" and accused him of moral decline that had caused “the complete collapse of the Constitution and rule of law in Pakistan". He said he and his wife were jailed on fabricated charges “at his command" and claimed he was being held in solitary confinement and subjected to psychological pressure.

Khan, 73, has been imprisoned since 2023 following a corruption conviction and faces a series of other charges. He was ousted in a no-confidence vote in April 2022, and his party now sits in opposition and continues to allege that the 2024 parliamentary elections were rigged to favour current PM Shehbaz Sharif, a claim that has been denied.

This news conference also came a day after President Asif Ali Zardari and Sharif approved the promotion of Field Marshal Munir as the chief of defence forces, a position that was established last month to improve coordination among the army, navy and air force.

(With agency inputs)

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