A Pakistani media house released a documentary on Imran Khan’s rise, and all hell broke loose. The outlet, Raftar, is now being targeted by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf supporters, who say framing Khan as a ‘military puppet’ is an act of bad faith when he has been jailed for over two years. Many are asking why no such documentary had been made on Pakistan Army chief Asim Munir.
The hour-long documentary, titled The Untold Story of Project Imran Khan, has a warning in the title itself: “Do not watch if you are a blind supporter.” The disclaimer did not stop Khan’s supporters from attacking the outlet and its credibility. The digital channel was founded by former Samaa TV news director Farhan Mallick, who resigned from Samaa three days before Imran Khan was ousted from power in 2022. The same year, he launched Raftar, which regularly covers political stories and has over 749,000 subscribers. In March 2025, Mallick was arrested on accusations of running “several programs against the security establishment”. Raftar has previously released documentaries on the Nawaz family, Musharraf, Bhutto, and others.
The new documentary depicts the uneasy relationship between Imran Khan and the Pakistani Army, from when he decided to enter politics in 1995 to his rise as a serious political challenger in 2011 to his victory in the 2018 elections. It features voices such as political analyst Zaigham Khan, GEO News Europe bureau chief Murtaza Shah, author and veteran journalist Matiullah Jan, independent journalist Asad Ali Toor, commentator Amjad Bukhari, and political analyst Aasif Bashir Chaudhry.
Was Imran Khan genuinely an outsider, or was he part of Pakistan’s entrenched power structures from the start? Even before the formation of PTI, his associations with figures like General Hameed Gul and former minister Muhammad Ali Durrani were shaping a new political trajectory. The documentary traces Khan’s ascent from early pressure-group activism to the 2011 power demonstration, the 2014 Dharna, confrontations with media outlets like GEO and Dawn, and the landmark Panama Papers case, which forced Nawaz Sharif out of office in 2017 and reshaped Pakistan’s political landscape.
Most analysts who feature in the documentary agreed that his rise and popularity were organic despite the Establishment’s support.
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‘One-sided’
The documentary’s reading of various events has stoked plenty of disagreement. Hamid Mir, one of Pakistan’s most prominent journalists and who was cited in the film, told ThePrint that its narrative was “one-sided”.
The documentary says Geo, which Mir is associated with, was targeted by the Establishment and Khan for its reporting on him. Mir, however, also pointed to his allegation that he was shot in 2014 at the behest of the ISI.
“Geo management was forced to apologise in 2014 by Nawaz Sharif government. They never stood behind us. I never apologised and never withdrew my allegations against the DG ISI. Even this government refused to make it public last year,” he said.
An X account, FrameTheGlobe known for their commentary on Pakistan wrote a long, analytical thread on the documentary.
‘The documentary’s argument is this: because the establishment was present at various points in Khan’s rise, the rise was their product. By that logic, every politician who navigated those same corridors, took that same institutional support, played those same electoral games and then made peace with the outcome is also a project,” the write-up said. “The documentary does not make that argument about any of them. It makes it exclusively about the one man currently in a cell who refused the offered exit.”
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Why people rally behind Khan
Khan’s supporters have attacked the documentary and instead trained their guns on the Army.
“The title of the video should be ‘MILITARY INFLUENCE IN Pakistani POLITICS’,” a YouTube comment read.
Another wrote: “I understand your point completely, and I have also been researching Imran Khan for many years. I know he is not perfect and has made many mistakes, but I believe he did the right thing by exposing a corrupt system. Not only that, he also tried hard to improve Pakistan’s growth and governance system.”
Documentary producer Osama has also been targeted as an Army stooge, with people posting his old tweets, hinting at his proximity to the Establishment.
Osama was planning to get ‘Launched’ by Pakistan Army since last year June, 2025.
This 👇tweet from @WordsByOsama was part of that planning.
Now Pakistan Army Finally Launched 🚀 Osama in April of 2026. 👍🥱 https://t.co/ufmpcG2DTc
— Sofia (@Sofia_0071) April 1, 2026
Pakistani gynaecologist Hina wrote in Urdu: “If Imran Khan is the project of the Establishment then that is the only saving grace of theirs in this country”.
Yet another Khan supporter, Adeel asked: “According to what people say, Khan was launched just like Nawaz and Benazir, so why are the people still standing behind him? According to you, wherever the establishment takes the people, the people just follow along??”
The documentary, for its part, argues that Project Khan was designed to build mass popularity and deliver votes.
It is perhaps only apt that the film ends with Chaudhry reflecting on the Army’s role in the rise of every political leader in the country: “The names are replaced, the main power is not.”
He adds: “For the love of God, spare this country and its people and let them decide their own fates.”
(Edited by Asavari Singh)