- Web Desk
- 29 Minutes ago
Are Imran Khan’s sons Kasim and Suleiman visiting Pakistan next month?
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- Web Desk
- 1 Hour ago
WEB DESK: In an emotional interview, the sons of incarcerated former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, Kasim Khan and Suleiman Khan have announced plans to travel to Islamabad in January in a bid to see their father, whom they accuse authorities of holding in torturous, substandard conditions they described as a “death cell.”
Kasim and Suleiman Khan, speaking to Sky News presenter Yalda Hakim from London, revealed they have applied for visas for the trip. This comes after Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif publicly stated the brothers were welcome to visit.
“We are now planning to because they said it openly,” Kasim Khan stated. “We have applied for our visas… We are expecting it to come through, so we are planning a trip in January.”
The announcement coincides with heightened tensions outside Adiala Jail, where Imran Khan is held. Earlier this week, police used water cannons, which Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party alleges were “chemical-laced”, to disperse a sit-in protest by the ex-premier’s sisters, who were also denied a meeting.
“Awful” Conditions and a “Death Cell”
The brothers provided grim details about their father’s detention, citing information from family and lawyers. They vehemently contested the government’s portrayal of his treatment.
“The conditions are awful. Like, they are not bad, they are awful,” Kasim said. Suleiman elaborated, stating the cell has been described as a “death cell.”
“There are barely any lights, sometimes the electricity is cut off, there’s dirty water… completely substandard conditions that don’t meet international laws for any sort of prisoner,” Suleiman claimed.
Their allegations align with a recent warning from a United Nations special rapporteur, who said Khan is being held in conditions that could amount to “inhuman or degrading treatment.”
A Father’s “Life’s Purpose” Versus a Family’s Plea
When asked what they would say upon seeing their father, and whether they would urge him to secure his release by cutting a deal with authorities, Kasim was emphatic about his father’s resolve.
“What you have to understand is it’s his life. It’s literally his passion and his goal. He calls it his life’s purpose to help rid Pakistan of corruption,” Kasim explained. “If he just took a deal and came over to us… he would be depressed, to be honest. I know he would.”
Instead of discussing his own plight, Kasim shared that during their limited past interactions, Imran Khan consistently turned the conversation to his family, even inquiring about their grandmother, Lady Annabel Goldsmith, who passed away in October. The brothers have not spoken to him since her death.
“We haven’t spoken to him since she died only a couple of months ago… He called her his mother after his own mother had passed… I’d love to speak to him about that,” Kasim said, his voice tinged with emotion.
Fear for the Future and a Call for International Pressure
The brothers expressed deepening pessimism about their father’s prospects for release. “The conditions are getting worse. The people in power are becoming more entrenched,” Kasim said. “We’re now worried we might never see him again.”
They dismissed the idea of a political compromise, with Suleiman noting their father is “not the sort of person who’s going to make any compromises.” They pinned their hopes on sustained international scrutiny.
“International pressure is always an effective way of forcing change in these situations,” Suleiman asserted. Their message to the global community was a plea for the enforcement of basic rights: “At minimum, just to make sure that the standards of international human rights are being upheld.”
They specifically called for independent monitoring of his jail conditions and the implementation of court-ordered visitation rights.
Government Spokesman Rejects Allegations
In a separate segment of the Sky News program, Mosharraf Zaidi, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s spokesperson for foreign media, starkly rejected the brothers’ characterization of Khan’s imprisonment.
Citing prison data, Zaidi claimed that in approximately 860 days of incarceration, Khan has had 870 “interviews” or visits, including 137 meetings with his sisters and 451 with his lawyers. “This doesn’t sound like solitary confinement to me,” Zaidi stated.
He attributed any recent suspension of visits to security concerns, alleging that family and legal meetings were being misused for political messaging, referencing hundreds of posts made from Khan’s official X account since his jailing.
When confronted by Hakim with his own 2023 social media post calling Khan’s initial arrest “disgraceful,” Zaidi said he stood by the posts “at the time,” but argued the security situation had since evolved.
Pressed on whether he believed Imran Khan was a threat, Zaidi replied, “Absolutely.” He framed the government’s actions as a matter of upholding rule of law for a convicted individual, stating, “The whole purpose of being a convicted criminal is that you’re in jail and you lose your freedom.”
The dueling narratives, a family’s desperate portrait of isolation and degradation versus the state’s ledger of permitted visits, highlight the intense battle over Imran Khan’s legacy and current condition. As his sons prepare for a fraught January journey, their planned visit is set to become the next flashpoint in Pakistan’s enduring political crisis.
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