ISLAMABAD – Hajra Khan Panezai, a Pakistani television and film actor, is set to launch the original version of her book written back in 2014 that carries some explosive allegations against former prime minister Imran Khan.
The memoir titled “WHERE THE OPIUM GROWS: Surviving Pakistan as a Woman, an Actress And Knowing Imran Khan” is available on Amazon but the writer in a recent podcast said it is a sanitized version.
Panezai, who made her television debut in 2009 with Geo’s drama “Buri Aurat” and also appeared in film titled Pinky Memsaab in 2018, hails from Quetta, Balochistan.
The foreword about the book, which is available on the Amazon site, says: “This is a stunning memoir of one woman’s escape from a deprived region of Pakistan, Quetta, known for opium trade and influx of refugees post-Soviet war, to becoming a successful actress, capturing the attention of the country’s most eminent figure, Imran Khan. Hajra Panezai’s brave account of surviving abuse as a child, to her trials finding love and a compassionate purpose in life provides a rare insight into what being a modern, sensuous, thinking woman in 21st century Pakistan means today. ‘Where the Opium Grows’ is a brutally honest, page-turning read from a rebellious woman, seeking justice for all women, minorities, animals, gays and all those denied rights in Pakistan – an unassuming woman who refused to be silenced”.
The “organic version” of the book will be launched at Serena Hotel, Islamabad, on November 24.
In the podcast, she said the book was written in 2014 in London after taking a break from showbiz. “It is my biography starting from her childhood to days in entertainment industry”.
She explained how she was chased by a popular person, adding that he was misused by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief, who is currently in jail in the cipher case, calling it a “dark experience”.
She claimed that she was forced to leave the country by Imran Khan in 2014 as he was afraid of being exposed by her. She alleged that her social media accounts were also hacked by the PTI chief through his team.
“I already said in 2014, This is wrong number”
Actress Hajra Khan Panezai sharing her “dark experience” and the book “Knowing Imran Khan” which she wrote in 2014, but….
Watch shocking details in this interview 👇 pic.twitter.com/scwnBHeYhf— Dr Shama Junejo (@ShamaJunejo) October 24, 2023
She said it was her bad experience with that person [Imran Khan] and that ruined her career. Hajra said she was not the first person to make some claims, adding: “Whether everyone is telling lies”.
Saying “I have no political agenda since the book was written in 2014,” she urged the people to open their eyes and stop regarding the PTI chief as a saviour of country. “I have judged in 2014 that this [Imran Khan] is a wrong number,” she concluded.
